Weird occurrance on my FZ6...

[Grahamm]

I park my FZ6-SA '06 in the shed at the back of my house. To get to it, I ride down an alleyway, then wheel the bike backwards into the shed.

Last Sunday I noticed that, when I'd done this, the rear light (LEDs) was out and the ABS warning light was on. When I tried the front and rear brake levers the brake light came on dimly, then, after a few applications, faded out.

As it was late at night, I left it, then, then next day, came back to look at it, but when I switched the ignition on the rear light worked fine and so did the brake light. I checked all the conections and they seemed fine, so put it down to "just one of those things".

Today I went out again and the rear light was fine until I returned and wheeled it back into the shed and the same thing happened again with the rear light dimming and going out and the ABS warning light on.

As soon as I switched off and back on, everything was back to normal.

So has anyone heard of anything like this happening before and got any ideas of how to fix it?

[Grahamm]

A follow up to this.

This evening, when I pulled up at home, I left the engine running for a moment and checked the rear light and brake light which were working fine.

I then used the kill-switch to stop the engine (as I always do as it stop the alarm from starting to arm) then opened up the door to my shed and unloaded the top box etc which takes a couple of minutes.

When I came back, I checked the rear light again which seemed fine, then tried both the brake levers, again, these seemed fine, but then I suddenly noticed that the rear light was dim and the ABS warning light had come on again.

So I think there must be a fault in the electrics somewhere, but I don't know where.

I may try spraying a load of WD-40 onto the fuses etc tomorrow just to see if that has any effect.

[Fazafou]

Sounds like your battery may be losing power.

Flick the engine off and you're relying on the battery, which will begin dropping voltage straight away as its still powering lights etc.

As the voltage drops past a point it triggers the warning light etc.

Nothing to worry about if the bike starts ok, but I'd check the voltage in case you need a new battery - the approaching colder season is when these problems appear and the first sign of frost has forums full of 'why won't my bike start' questions

[Grahamm]

Sounds like your battery may be losing power.

This battery was new in January 2012  and when I'm not riding it I have it on an Optimate III and that's not given any warnings.

I did have to bump start it when I was on holiday at the start of the month, but I thought that was because I left it switched on with the headlamp on whilst I was getting off and locking it up etc.

A similar thing happened a few weeks ago when I was up in London, but that time I figured it was because I'd done a few start-stops-restart which it's never liked.

Both times I rode it for a while in low gear and with the revs up to recharge the battery and it seemed to be ok after.

Additionally, when the rear light had dimmed (it's an LED replacement), the (incandescent) headlight was still ok, I'd have thought that it would be the other way around.

[Fazafou]

So what's your voltage readings?

Claiming a battery is 'only' 2.5 years old doesn't mean it's not shot.

you obviously have something going on with your battery, charging system or a drain somewhere, so you need to check the voltages as in my first post.

Check before you start it and see if it's ok around 12v, with bike running (should be around 14v) and then turn bike off and see what battery voltage is and if the voltage drops quickly.

Try this also with the ignition on but engine off and see if it can't maintain a charge.

Could be something else, but this is such a basic check it should have been the first thing to try.

[Grahamm]

So what's your voltage readings?

I don't know, I haven't checked them yet.

Claiming a battery is 'only' 2.5 years old doesn't mean it's not shot.

I'm not "claming" that, I'm stating it as a fact. The previous battery (which was treated in the same way) lasted six years.

you obviously have something going on with your battery, charging system or a drain somewhere, so you need to check the voltages as in my first post.

Check before you start it and see if it's ok around 12v, with bike running (should be around 14v) and then turn bike off and see what battery voltage is and if the voltage drops quickly.

Try this also with the ignition on but engine off and see if it can't maintain a charge.

Ok, I'll do that when I can find the time.

Could be something else, but this is such a basic check it should have been the first thing to try.

I'm sure it is, if you're familiar with such problems and have experience dealing with them. I don't, hence why I posted on here.

Thanks for your help.

[yourebarred]

Stop using the kill switch. Bad for battery.
I have the same bike, the stator out is v weak on these bikes so running extras can quickly drain the battery too, although you're using the trickle.
Try the voltmeter and let us know the results.
My money is the battery's gone, they only last three years according to manufacturer, and kill switches deffo don't help.

[Grahamm]

Stop using the kill switch. Bad for battery.

The bike also has an alarm, if I switch off with the key the alarm starts arming and there's not enough time to get the bike into the shed and lock it etc before it auto-arms and starts going off!

Try the voltmeter and let us know the results.

I'll try to find time tomorrow, but it may not be until Sunday (or next week) as I'm rather busy right now.

[yourebarred]

The stator output on our bikes is pitiful. It covers enough to run the bike with no extras. I did the double headlight mod and even that is too much. It's possible the alarm might be having an effect. I had an Acumen for a while. Binned.
Do you need the alarm?

[Grahamm]

Ok, I've finally found time to do this, so here's the figures I got:

Fully charged on the Optimate III: 13.35v

When running (for about a minute): 14.06v

Engine off (kill-switch) but headlight on: 12.19v

Switched off by key, alarm in service mode: 12.8v

Switched on again, no headlight: 12.57v

Left on for 10 minutes, no headlight: 12.46v

NB these were done in the sequence listed above.

These seem to be ok, but if there's anything else I should look at, I'd welcome comments.

[Grahamm]

A follow-up to the above...

I've been doing a little experimentation as, on Friday, I went to Brighton and left the bike parked with the alarm on (as I always do), but when I came back about 6 hours later it was sluggish to turn over, however it did eventually start.

So when I got back I checked the voltage, then left it with the alarm on but not charging and got the following:

13.03 volts after returning from Brighton (at 20:00)

12.82 volts after being left overnight with alarm on but not on charge (Saturday 16:30)

12.80 volts still left with alarm on but not on charge (Monday 11:30)

At this point I tried starting it, but despite the comments from the posts above and what I've read in the Haynes manual (which says that, when fully charged, there should be 12.8v or more present) implying that this should be sufficient to start the engine, it was very sluggish to turn over and wouldn't fire.

At the same time I could see Er-1 on the LCD display (although this faded quickly when I was trying to crank it)

So now I've put it back on charge but it seems that something is definitely amiss. I'm getting a new rear tyre tomorrow and then taking a run up to Box Hill to check out the route for a Ride I'm leading on Sunday, after that I'll try it with the alarm deactivated (in service mode) to see if that makes a difference.

[yourebarred]

Looking at those figures, there's nothing out of the ordinary going on except you battery is losing charge. It's not quick enough to be a short, although personally I'd chop out the alarm and throw it far far away. Some battery manufacturers recommend not using the kill switch.
But look, it's easy and cheap to fix, £45-50.

[Fazafou]

The voltage figures only tell half the story. A dead battery can give 12v but has no amps which  is the important bit for turning the engine (think torque and horsepower difference).

The best check is to put the volt meter on and see how much the voltage drops as you're actually cranking the engine.

My bike currently will start no problem with only about 11.8v showing (I have a volt display fitted), and while cranking drops to about 10v.

If yours is plummeting and not coming back well, it shows the battery no longer has the amps to fire her up.

[Grahamm]

The voltage figures only tell half the story. A dead battery can give 12v but has no amps which  is the important bit for turning the engine (think torque and horsepower difference).

Ah, good point. I'd not thought of that.

The best check is to put the volt meter on and see how much the voltage drops as you're actually cranking the engine.

My bike currently will start no problem with only about 11.8v showing (I have a volt display fitted), and while cranking drops to about 10v.

If yours is plummeting and not coming back well, it shows the battery no longer has the amps to fire her up.

I gave that a try and it went from 12.79v down to 9.86v when I was cranking it, so it does look as if the battery is knackered

PS Personally I don't consider £45-50 "cheap", hence why I wanted to eliminate the other possibilities before forking out a big chunk of dosh and then possibly finding out that that wasn't the problem at all...

[Fazafou]

That drop is definitely borderline.

If it fired up fine I'd be slightly nervous about investing in a new battery just yet until checked for any other issues such as bad connections / rusty earthings etc.

If everything else looks ok though I'd go for a new battery, as the 'recommended' limit while cranking is 10v, so probably is the culprit.

Mine drops to 10v and loses power quick if I have side lights on etc while engine off, so I'll probably be doing the same sometime next year.

[Grahamm]

If it fired up fine I'd be slightly nervous about investing in a new battery just yet until checked for any other issues such as bad connections / rusty earthings etc.

As mentioned above, I've had a couple of incidents where I've had to bump start it which may have been symptomatic of the battery starting to die and it's never been great if I've started and stopped a few times in quick succession.

Are there any particular connections/ earth points I should check?

[ukdiceman]

Did you solve this problem?

[Grahamm]

Did you solve this problem?

I haven't actually checked recently, what I've been doing since I swapped the battery is stopping the bike by switching off the ignition, then doing and on-pause-off to put the alarm into Service Mode whilst I'm getting it back into the shed.

If I remember, next time I go out I may try switching it off the old way I used to do it and see if the fault still happens.

[Grahamm]

Ok, I tried the old way (stopping on the kill switch and leaving everything on whilst I wheeled the bike back into the shed) and it didn't have a problem, so it looks like it's sorted.

[yourebarred]

I wouldn't start using the kill switch now you have a new battery..

[Grahamm]

I'm pretty much into the habit of doing the ignition off-on-off to put the alarm into service mode whilst I'm putting it away now.

I just need to remember to put the steering lock on afterwards