Burned out in the North Cascades

[BigD_83]

The brother is in town, and we are doing our first bike trip together, ever. We started with a lazy morning in Vancouver, and finally got out act together and on the road around noon.

It was a rather unremarkable trip for the first 6 hours, and some really nice riding on WA-20 (Cascades Highway). Then it went sideways. I stopped to change gloves somewhere around 30 miles east of Concrete. Gregg noticed some steam coming from a clear hose under the bike...

Oh no! I figured the battery had been overcharging. Sure enough, we had to bump start it. And again, and again, and many more times as the battery got worse. We finally made it back to Canada, 4 hours after the first death, and are now in the parking lot of a somewhat local to my house mall (in Langley), with my wonderful girlfriend on her way with booster cables, a spare battery, and some distilled water. The battery is dry.

Now she does not like driving at night, nor in unfamiliar locations...this could get interesting.

[Dogma]

Long past time to clean all the power and ground connections in the charging system. Clean the fuse block too. The corrosion prevents the regulator from correctly determining the battery's charge state.

[steve murdoch]

Had basically the same thing happen once but it was the smell of the battery cooking rather than the steam that gave it away.
.....and now for the rest of the story....

[earlfor]

Sounds like the quickest and surest path to frying a R/R and stator also. I would not be surprised if they are both toast now too.

[Gorminrider]

Man, I bet you feel lucky at least for making it "close-enough to home".
Those cheapo digital voltmeters are the way to go I think,more and more. They give a constant indication of what's happening...if there's a change, I fuss.

...I had that happen right at the Custom booth, but on a Yamaha 650. No start,no water in battery. Had to push it into Canada. Got home though and no harm was done to that charging system. The threat of being STUCK NOWHERE is such a drag that I'm considering swallowing my pride and joining the BCAA...

[azr]

Never a dull moment BigD. What was your brother riding??

[dorkburger]

I've found that even though my cycles charging system and wiring seem to be ok, I occasionally ( once a season, and just a top off) have to add water to the battery. Last year, with the bike hot from sitting in traffic, I stalled, and it wouldnt start. I push started it, and made the remaining 100 miles home. After the trip I found the battery low.

[BigD_83]

We did manage to get home in one piece, both the bikes and us. Jessica is really rather a darling and was pretty good about it, despite us keeping her up until 01h20 last night. I suppose I owe her a night out for her rescue efforts.

The spare (old one from the 650) battery had been sitting on the bench for a long time, and was dry when we got our hands on it, but after adding water and jumping it, the 550 was running. The water started running out the breather immediately, so yes, something is definitely up.

I gave it the once-over when I picked the bike up in July. The stator quick tests and charging looked good. Perhaps at the higher end of the scale, but nothing that immediately jumped out at me. There was one thing that made me buy a new Polaris R/R...the R/R in the 550 right now might not be on the "known good" list (EDIT SH 236-12, 8 wire). Unfortunately, I was not able to pick up and get the new regulator installed before leaving, and I mistakenly left it behind.

Oh well, as noted, we did manage to limp it home in very light traffic after being rescued by my girlfriend.

Getting at it today. If necessary, I"ll start a technical thread. Hopefully we can pick up the trip tomorrow, and get in at least two days of riding before my brother heads home.

[BigD_83]

Never a dull moment BigD. What was your brother riding??

Hey Rob,

Gregg was on the new to me 550ESD. First time he's ever ridden an inline four (or any four-cylinder moto) so it was fun to compare some of his older rides (CX650E, NS400R) to it. He remarked on the crisp and responsive nature of the engine, but missed the grunty/torquy nature of the CX.

[BigD_83]

Had basically the same thing happen once but it was the smell of the battery cooking rather than the steam that gave it away.
.....and now for the rest of the story....

What does that smell like, to you? It almost smelled like roast beef, but I might have just farted at the same time, and had a BOB's Hawaiian ham and pineapple hamburger for lunch about 1.5h before

Sounds like the quickest and surest path to frying a R/R and stator also. I would not be surprised if they are both toast now too.

Could be, but I hope not...heading out soon after refreshing myself on the stator tests.

[azr]

glad you guys didn't have to get a truck or trailer. Flowers are much cheaper. Hopefully it can be a quick fix and get some more ridding.

[BigD_83]

glad you guys didn't have to get a truck or trailer. Flowers are much cheaper. Hopefully it can be a quick fix and get some more ridding.

She got a new toaster (see the ironic humour there?)

A truck would have been the least desirable of the options. Another was turning around to grab the new SH775 and trying to install it in beside a motel room.

It is installed now, holding nice and steady at 14.36V, and we are planning on leaving mid-morning, heading to Powell River and then across to Vancouver Island before turning south towards Victoria for a brief visit on Friday.

Gregg was pretty worked by our 300 +/- mile day yesterday, so I'm trying to keep the riding short and the sightseeing more of the feature. Hopefully we'll be able to get some photos along the way.

[azr]

Take your rain gear.... glad things are up and running again.