Bike Quit!

[ginger]

So I'm ridding for about an hour today and notice my tach is bouncing up and down once in a while, after a half hour or so my bike just quits while I'm driving down the road, it actually ran out of gas, the fuel light did not go off, anyway I got some fuel and it would not turnover so i jumped it and started driving, blinkers were very lazy, stopped blinking, got almost home and hit the blinker and it quit again, I jumped it it ran well but suddenly would quit, jump it and it started back up drove the last 1/2 mile hit the blinker and it just shut off, I still have the oil leak on the right side of the crank, right were the Alt is, any ideas?

[Winterhawk]

My tach needle also bounces. Actually both tachs that I had on it the tach bounces more than not. Any ideas?

Could your fuse holder be bad?

[bikerphil]

Dirty/corroded/melted alternator connections behind the fuse panel and/or at the voltage regulator.

[BA80]

Dirty/corroded/melted alternator connections behind the fuse panel and/or at the voltage regulator.

+1. The tach runs off of pulses from the alternator, if it's not working your not charging.

[IanDMacDonald]

Very first thing I would suggest: Check voltage at the battery while running. Increase idle, voltage should increase. If not, unscrew the mount holding the plate that holds the fuse block. Pull the connector coming off the stator with three white wires. With an ohm meter, measure resistance from the white wire to the case of the stator. Should see OL. Measure from each white wire. Also make sure you see.4 ohms in-between each white wire, and 3.5 ohms in-between the brown and green wire of your field coil connector coming off the stator housing. Then, follow the manual in testing the R/R.

[ginger]

Bike Quit

Is there any thoughts about the Alt. coil having to much oil splashed around it by my leaking crank, the blinker thing is still throwing me for a loop?

[GLoweVA]

Is there any thoughts about the Alt. coil having to much oil splashed around it by my leaking crank, the blinker thing is still throwing me for a loop?

If your alternator is not working, then the battery is the only thing supplying the engine electronics, so when you hit the blinker, it's a huge drain on the battery and voltage drops and the bike shuts off.

As old as these bikes are, the alternator may not be immune to grounding out due to oil in there. like others said, check the output of the alternator first and see if it's putting out voltage, if so, then your problem may be a bad connection somewhere else.
Sounds like either way, you may have to end up pulling that alternator out and replacing that seal.

[ginger]

Bike quit

I'm figuring on doing the seal asap, just looking of an idea on how to protect the ALT wiring from all the heat, it does run right along the exhaust for a little while?

[IanDMacDonald]

Umm, it shouldn't. It should run along the bottom of the engine, held-on via the hooks bolted-in at three different spots.

[BA80]

That wiring has been running where it is for 30+ years. It ain't the heat.

If it was working before I would guess that removing and replacing the field coil repeatedly probably has something to do with it's failure.

I would check for broken or pinched wires first.

[Radioguylogs]

Is there any thoughts about the Alt. coil having to much oil splashed around it by my leaking crank, the blinker thing is still throwing me for a loop?

For the record:

Oil is non-conductive- unless it has some large amount of metal particles in it.

Older can-style Ignition Coils were oil-filled, as are some motors.

Oil would not cause this problem.

[natemoen]

For the record:

Oil is non-conductive- unless it has some large amount of metal particles in it.

Older can-style Ignition Coils were oil-filled, as are some motors.

Oil would not cause this problem.

Pure water is also not conductive. It is the impurities in the water that are conductive. Same with the oil, and oil has more impurities in it than water by far.

[ginger]

Bike Quit

So i pulled it apart and checked all the wires, they all look good, not a mark on em, i did notice that the winding on the field coil was a little loose as far as spinning about 1/16 inch back and forth around the steel center, is this a problem, I guess ill start looking under the fuse pnl next
Also looking for a trick to get the flywheel off, the last two times i removed it I could pop it off with a claw hammer( gently but firmly), can budge it this time?

[BA80]

Pure water is also not conductive. It is the impurities in the water that are conductive. Same with the oil, and oil has more impurities in it than water by far.

In 40 years of auto repair I have never had oil conduct electricity and cause a short. Oil is actually a pretty good insulator.

[BA80]

So i pulled it apart and checked all the wires, they all look good, not a mark on em, i did notice that the winding on the field coil was a little loose as far as spinning about 1/16 inch back and forth around the steel center, is this a problem, I guess ill start looking under the fuse pnl next
Also looking for a trick to get the flywheel off, the last two times i removed it I could pop it off with a claw hammer( gently but firmly), can budge it this time?

There is a plug behind the fuse panel with 3 large white wires and a smaller yellow wire. That is the one you need to check as well as the plug to the regulator.

The actual puller for the alternator rotor is just a large bolt. I don't recall the size but someone here does I'm sure.