big red not charging. wtf.

[conig]

Ok so I finally got my big red out and for a ride this weekend. After about 1hour of riding and having to restart the beast every time it stopped. The beast doesn't want to idle with the idle screw almost all the way in.

After about the fith stop and restart the battery was dead. And doesn't seem to be charging but just running of the battery's power. when I repainted my frame I painted the RECTIFIER(spelling?) could this be part of the problem? There may be alittle paint on the ground that attaches by the air box, I will clean this off again.

Thanks and any and all help is appreciated.

[MTS]

i think your just haveing a grounding problem if it worked befor...scrape the paint off where the grond on the air box is and you should be good..or elses the charging circut off the stator is toast

[conig]

thanks man, any hints for testing out the cfharging circuit?

[ATCnut]

Easy way to test the charging circuit is to disconnect the battery, start the trike with the kicker or pull starter (which ever you have) and then try the lights. If the lights work without the battery, then the charging circuit is making juice.

[kdagenais]

Easy way to test the charging circuit is to disconnect the battery, start the trike with the kicker or pull starter (which ever you have) and then try the lights. If the lights work without the battery, then the charging circuit is making juice.

I do not recommend this method of testing because this will overload the stator and possibly fry it. The easiest way to test a charging system is with a volt meter. Take a reading across the battery terminals (+ & -) when not running (should be around 11.5 volts) and then take one when the bike is running. When the bike is running it should run above the 13.00 volt range depending on the RPM's. As you increase the RPM's it should increase in voltage.

[ATCnut]

Running the lights without the battery connected will not "overload the stator and possibly fry it" The charging system is designed to run the lights AND charge the battery at the same time. If you remove the battery you are reducing the load on the stator. This will not result in a overload.

[conig]

I don't think its a charging problem. I checked the battery with a volt meter and it showed 13volts. whihc should be plenty to get the trike to fire.

the starter seleniod is just clicking and occasionally will go to turn the starter....I have not been able to find a replacement online, anyone have some ideas? Also when I was doing my test drive the trike would not idle when I came to a stop, and my dad said he thought he heard a noise as if the started was still engaged when it died. Could the starter have been sticking? or is it supposed to be to charge the battery?

I ,as always ,was unable to get the thing to fire off the kick starter.


So is a starter needed or a seloniod? can anyone identify this problem?

[kdagenais]

So was the bike running when you gopt the 13volt reading?
Also does the kick start work properly? What I mean soes it not grab enough to turn the engine over sometimes.

[conig]

I got the 13 volts not running this seems common my jet ski's do this often with my volt meter, I cannot get it to start and I can't get the started to turn over. with a 50amp quick start running from my charger it should be sufficient to get the starter to turn.

the kick starter has only worked once, and my dads 220 pounds. I have never in my life gotten this thing to fire on kick start and my dad owned it since new. I'm only a year older then this trike. the kick starter grabs and turns the engine. just not enough. My dad feels if the starter is sticking this could be part of the problem, but I removed the starter cover and could not see it sticking.

im baffled here. I also can't find a new starter selonoid or relay, could I use one from a car? just something I find at auto zone?

[conig]

anyone have any ideas? I am going to north carolina tommorrow evening and would love to ride while my girl friend is at the mall. any and all help is appreciated.

[kdagenais]

Well one problem for the kickstarter is the infamous one way clutch behind the centrifical (Spelling) clutch. This is common and if you search for 250SX starter problems you will find a diagram & further details on what you need to replace to fix the kick starter problem.
Now as far as the electric start is concerned it sounds like you have bad connections, bad solenoid, or bad starter. I would first start with checking voltage on the wires of teh solenoid.
First check the wire that feeds the stasrter when the button is pressed. If you voltage going to the starter it is the starter that is bad. If you do not have voltage on the starter feed wire then check the little wire on the solenoid to see if you have voltage coming to it when you hit the button. If you have voltage coming to it when you hi the button and nothing goes out to the starter feed wire the solenoid is bad.

Since you probably have a bad one way clutch pull off your stater cover to check and see if the reduction gears are broke. If they are not broke I would be surprised if your one clutch is indeed bad. Take a look at these few things and let us know what you find.

[conig]

the relay clicks so when I come back intown I will need to try some things.

the gears in the clutch actually are no broken. I guess I lucked out here as I read the posts about this problem. I removed the gears that connect between the starter and the clutch and now I can kick start it first try everytime. The trike still doesn't want to idle but I beleive that to be a fueling issue. I get some black smoke, I just replaced the spark plug but maybe it fouled up again. I couldn;t check it as I am storing this trike at a firends empty house that is moving and didn't have the correct size socket.

I get some good black smoke when I rev it, I beleive my reving issue was again unrelated and do to the petcock was messed up.