Lost power while riding

[Gbannish]

Hi,

A friend was riding his 89 vmax, heard a rattle, then the engine quit along with all power. He had it towed today, the shop suspected a bad stator but hadn't looked at it yet.

Any ideas?

Greg

 

[naughtyG]

My bike has a suspected bad stator, and still runs. So maybe, maybe not..

 

[satariel666]

Hi,

A friend was riding his 89 vmax, heard a rattle, then the engine quit along with all power. He had it towed today, the shop suspected a bad stator but hadn't looked at it yet.

Any ideas?

Greg

DOH.

I get the "quit along with all power" as a engine power but he ment electrical power...I guess?

 

[OU812]

Dammit ! I hate when my rod collapseseses...:shot:

 

[Buster Hymen]

Based on your post, a bad stator wouldn't make a bike shut down as soon as it went bad. The bike would run off the battery until the battery was dead.

 

[one2dmax]

Could be really bad news. Will it turn over just not fire?

Sean

 

[Gbannish]

Not sure if it could turn over since he lost all electrical power (no lights, etc.). He did push the bike home, so I guess he must have got it into neutral.

 

[Thevmaxrider]

Something that would cause these symptoms that is electrical would be if the main fuse blew out. Would immediately cut all electrical power to the entire bike and do just what the OP described.

 

[one2dmax]

Correct, most people only remember the 4 fuses under the airbox cover and forget about the main fuse under the seat (over top of the battery). Check that fuse (note that there is only one active fuse in there and the other is a spare fuse to replace a blown one).

Sean

 

[SpecOps13]

This is exactly what happened to me when my Voltage Regulator shorted out and blew the main fuse. I replaced it with the latest version from ElectroSport in Ca. and everythings been fine.

 

[KenStark]

Hey Guys thanks for the input. I am they guy who's bike lost power. It was a blazing 103deg out and I pushed it home, only about 1.5miles ...but all up hill! One2DMax is correct, I only knew of the 4 fuses under the airbox and did not see the main fuse. After it lost power, I had no power at all, no lights or anything. Its at the shop now and Ill post their findings when I find out.

 

[KenStark]

Well it turned out the problem was just a dead battery. Although the battery is only a year old, it went completely dead. Cycle battery's dont have warranties beyond a few months, and the VMax is a battery killer. While replacing the battery had had the shop do the crimp fix, hopefully this may help with battery life.

Thanks for all the input.

 

[RaWarrior]

When you get the bike back, check the voltage at the battery with the motor running. Ideally you should have at least 13.5 volts, 14-14.4 is perfect. I say this because batteries rarely just "randomly" crap out...short of them being dropped or such to shatter the plates. Capacity fades over time. If the bike died on the road due to a dead battery, it went dead for a reason, probably it wasn't being charged. Replacing the battery may "fix" the problem for a short time, but unless you find the reason it went bad you'll just be replacing it again in no time. If I'm wrong here correct me, but even with a dead battery(or no battery), the bike would still run off the stator, assuming you bump started it or something. If the main fuse popped, there's definitely something wrong that needs to be addressed.

Vmaxes are known for having "marginal" electrical systems, and a lot of people replace the stock r/r (regulator rectifier) with a newer MOSFET style, off a modern sportbike. This often significantly boosts voltage and adds capacity for accessories and such.

You can test the stator a couple ways. Take off the left side cover and seat, and find the three connectors going to the r/r behind the left passenger peg. One with three wires, a red, and a black. Unplug the one with three wires and get an ohmmeter, set it on the lowest scale(usually 100 or 200 ohms). Trying all combinations of the three terminals, you should get between .4 and 1 ohm, with all of them being very nearly the same. If one is drastically higher, or zero ohms, the stator may be bad. Another test is to put one lead on ground and touch the other to each of the three terminals...should be no circuit, infinite ohms. Any continuity= bad stator. Third way is to disconnect the three wire connector, start the bike, and set the meter to AC volts. At a 1000 RPM idle, any combination of the three should get you around 18 VAC, which increases to around 60 as the bike is revved up. Again, all combinations should be very nearly the same. If the stator checks out, the r/r is probably on it's way out....it's pretty common on 97 and older bikes that have the "old" style r/r.

 

[KenStark]

Thanks RaWarrior. These are great suggestions and probably the root cause of my issues. Ill have to pick up an ohmmeter and check this out. Even with the new battery and "crimp fix" me starter barely cranks unless Im fresh off my trickle charger.