weird electrical problem

[Anonymous]

i left my battery to charge over night on the trickle charger and accidently left the battery also hooked up to the bike. now all that works on the bike is the nuetral light. nothing else electrical works, the fuses are all fine.

[Anonymous]

comon guys seriously, grudges aside i know someone knows something that could help me

[Anonymous]

The batery probably didn't take a charge.

I think you can charge the batery on the bike just fine. It helps to take it out though so you can see if any of the cells are low. Im sure you know to fill them with distilled water. A 1 amp charge over nite should be plenty for a good battery.

[focus frenzy]

was the ignition switch also left on?
was the engine kill switch accedentaly switched to kill?
with the ignition switch off, the bikes electrical system is isolated from the battery, so charging the battery with it still installed on the bike wont do any harm.

what is the voltage level of the battery with the ignition off and on ?
what was the rate of charge of the charger?
have you checked the electrolite level in the battery?

[Billy Ricks]

Sounds like a shorted battery. Was this the same battery you used to remove the stator cover with jumper cables? I had a battery short out once and it burned out just about every bulb that was on at the time as well as the tach. The reason the neutral light still works is because the signal wire is actually a ground wire.

[Anonymous]

When my battery cable broke each gear indicator bulb burnt out as I shifted. I didn't make it down to neutral before the ignitor died so that and the 1st gear light lived. That was it though...everthing else electronic was dead.

So, the question is, did you check the bulbs? Other than that, maybe you missed a wire while connecting everything together.

I have a word of advice as well. You have tried to improvise quite a bit while working on your bike. If you had two of them and one was working I would be all for it. That's how drag bikes get made...people just trying things out to see if they work. In your case you are preventing yourself from riding. Anyway, if you are like me and don't have any family with bikes to ask questions you ought to buy a manual and follow it.

Cheers, Steve

[Anonymous]

i have a *@%^$*@%^$*@%^$*@%^$ty manual, yes the ignition was definitley off, the kill switch was definitley on kill(when i charged).and oh yea for some reason the gas gauge says completely full even though it is not connected. its a 1 amp trickle charger, the voltage in the battery is 12.8 volt alone and 12.7 while the bike is on. so what did i kill? except for the bulbs?

[Anonymous]

anyone? please help

[Anonymous]

How many amps is the battery putting out on its own? It's very likely you could have a dead cell or two....

Was the battery weak before you put it on the charger (did it require jumps or push-starts after only sitting a day or so?).

You can test the output by loading the battery(hooking it up to something with a solid draw, like a fan motor) and using a cheap amp meter. Some of the better meters have resistors inside them to simulate a load. Don't measure the battery without a load, as it will return false readings....

I hope you get it sorted out.

[Anonymous]

can someone tell me what im lookin at replacing here?

[Anonymous]

so its just the battery? if i hook up another one the important things will work? can i hook up a car battery?

[Billy Ricks]

You never said if the battery you charged was the same battery you used to remove the stator cover. I wouldn't use a car battery. It's going to be way more amps than the electrical system can cope with. You're going to need to replace the bulbs that burned out and if the tach fried it's a goner. I'll go back and try to find info I've posted several times on how to test the R/R and stator. I'll post it when I find it.

[Billy Ricks]

Here is how the Suzuki service manual says to check your ignitor unit. You should have two plugs that attach to the unit. Remove the one towards the rear of the bike. Pull spark plugs one and two and lay them on the head so the threads are grounded. Pin 1 on that portion of the ignitor is the outer right one, pin 2 is the inner right one, pin 3 is the outer left one, and pin 4 is the inner left one. Then with the multi tester set at X1ohm place the negative probe on pin 1 and the positive probe on pin 2. The transistor in the ignitor unit is good if at the moment you touch the second pin you see plug 1 fire. Then check spark plug number 2 by touching the negative probe on pin 3 and the positive probe on pin 4 of the ignitor unit. Plug number 2 should fire at the instant you touch pin 4. You do of course need to have the ignition switch on.

Here is the method Suzuki recommends for testing the stator and the R/R. Your readings may be slightly different depending on your model, but should be close.

The testing procedure for my 700 involves disconnecting the three stator wires and running the bike at 5,000 rpm. You then place the probe of a multi-tester in each of the three wires. + probe in one terminal and - probe in another. Keep the + probe on the same wire and check the other two with the - probe. Then move the + probe to the next wire and check the other two with the - probe. Again + on the remaining wire. Check each of the wires against each other two this way. I'm not sure what voltage you should look for on an 1100, my 700 calls for 80 volts AC. You should get consistent readings on each attempt.

You can do a continuity check using the same procedure. With the motor off check each wire against the other two. You should get a tone if the stator is okay as far as shorts or breaks.

You can check you regulator/rectifier by following the Suzuki procedure below.

With the r/r removed from the bike, fins pointing up and terminals facing you, the terminals from left to right will be A, B, C, D, and E.
Negative probe on A and positive on B you should get 6-7.5 ohms.
Negative probe on A and positive on C you should get 6-7.5 ohms.
Negative probe on A and positive on D you should get 6-7.5 ohms.
Negative probe on A and positive on E you should get 50-70 ohms.

Then switch the negative probe to terminal B and place the positive probe on A, C, then D, you should get no reading. Positive on E should read 6-7.5 ohms.

Switch negative probe to C and positive to A, B, then D, you should get no reading. Positive on E should read 6-7.5 ohms.

Switch negative probe to D and positive to A, B, then C, you should get no reading. Positive on E should read 6-7.5 ohms.

Switch negative probe to E, positive to A, B, C, and D should give no reading.

Hope you can follow what I am outlining here.

[focus frenzy]

OK next step:
with the voltmeter ground lead conected to the battery ground, take the positive lead of the meter and check for 12+ volts at both sides of the 15amp main fuse,if thats good you then will turn on the ignition switch and check for 12+ volts at both sides of the other fuses.

if you get 12+ volts at all points, the headlight tail light and brake lights ect should work.

also with the voltmeter conected to the battery, turn on the ignition and push the starter button and see what the voltage reading is.

the only thing on the bike that had power going to it with the kill switch and ignition switch turned off would be the regulator rectifier, if it had failed it would have cooked the stator and most likely drained the battery, but you got a good rating on the battery so that is unlikly.

stay calm, we will get you through this problem.

[Anonymous]

Interesting problem. I wouldn't have thought that 1 amp at charging voltage (less than 14 volts?) could cause any significant problem by itself. The battery has far more capacity than 1 amp, and should be capable of causing any damage by itself, without the charger onboard? But, why only the neutral light operating? A clue (as Billy Ricks points out)?