Hey y’all. I’m honestly lost and feel super down.
- Facts: CBF1000 sc58
- Last thing I did was get my alternator and regulator repaired/changed. My alternator was burnt out. The mechanic said that it’s am usual problem with this model and the regulator is the problem.
- I had to learn to take it out and rebuild it myself. About a month ago, I finally put the alternator back in and my bike actually started! I was overjoyed.
- Since a week now I’m trying to actually ride it again and it won’t start. I recharged the battery (Li-ion). When I tried starting it, the battery kinda drained immediately. It just didn’t start. Luckily, I have a second (gel) battery that was full. I put that in and my bike didn’t even light up. The fuses all look fine to me. The cables should be correct (there aren’t that many options).
I just don’t even know where to start. Thanks for reading
In addition to checking ground connections per the other good comment chain, many DVMs (digital voltage multimeters) include a current test feature, including cheap ones from harbor freight.
Instead of measuring the system voltage, you can see how many electrons per second are going in, or out, of the battery in terms of amps, very useful when you need to see if something is sucking battery even when the bike is supposed to be “off”.
On my fluke meter, you switch the knob over to the A symbol that isn’t squiggly (farthest position in this particular model), as you’re measuring DC current. You’ll then unplug the red wire from the usual voltage position and plug it into the left-most A position.
After checking ground connections, while the bike is off and battery at least somewhat charged, disconnect the positive lead from the battery (leave negative connected). Now, jump the now disconnected positive lead back to the battery, you can do red dvm wire to positive bike wire, black dvm wire to battery’s positive terminal. Do not measure directly across battery while dvm leads are in this mode, it will look like a short circuit to the battery!
Anyway, the reading in the DVM should be low, something like 100ma at most. You’re measuring how much energy the bike computer etc is drawing from the battery while it’s supposed to be “off”. Anything more than 100mA indicates there’s something possibly wrong with ECU (less likely), wiring harness (less likely), or there’s an accessory that is poorly installed or poorly designed.
Good luck, if this doesn’t work, next step is starting the bike without dvm in current mode, and either check system voltage (should be about 14.4v when idling) or you can check the system current while the bike idles and at other rpms to identify whether electrons are going into or out of the battery.
Well. Something is definitely wrong. I think the Li-ion battery is fried, it’s losing charge immediately after unplugged from the charger. It powers the bike enough to try to start it, but then falls off to under 10V. The gel battery doesn’t even get there, it’s losing charge apparently immediately when I press the starter.
There’s no leakage, as far as I can measure. About the grounds, I still don’t know. But it seems like that could be the issue. I don’t know if I can do that whole measuring on my own though. Maybe I need a mechanic to pick up my bike and pay for that. I just don’t have the equipment or space to take my bike apart, check the spark plugs or anything. Do you maybe have a good tutorial for dummies like me on how to check the grounds?
Easy check is disconnect negative from battery, set the DVM to continuity (the beepy mode), check that the DVM works first (make a beep), then test the connection between batt negative, and:
That’s the critical stuff.
Thank you. I needed that explanation.
Glad to help, try to keep us posted whether you succeed or encounter difficulties.
Thank you my friend! This is what I needed. An explanation that’s really in-depth and good to understand. I’ll try that tomorrow