Hot Starting

[LenB]

We're going through an unseasonal heat wave up here and the old 11 starts great cold but re-starting during short trips seems to be dicey. Hasn't died yet but this thing is a pig to push-start. I seem to remember some discussions about how a stock charging system can have trouble maintaining a fresh AGM battery, especially on short trips. If that's the case I can run some cords off the battery to my maintainer and plug it in when parked at home. So when a 15 minute ride for milk takes an hour, do you think SWMBO would buy the excuse that I had to make sure the battery was properly charged? Also never opened up the 45 year starter yet - heavy draw when hot? Maybe worth a look?

[cajun31]

As the late Brant (Motoman) would say you are losing smoke somewhere. Have you checked the voltage of the battery after it has sat a while? May be the battery is just severely undercharged. Short trips for milk, etc... doesn't do too much for the battery. You have to ride at a sustained distance over 3000 rpm to get the 14 plus volts needed to charge the battery. If you have a voltmeter you might want to check the voltage going to the battery at those rpms. You might want to go through all your connections to make sure you don't have any oxidation / corrosion building up. Something Motoman would always suggest as a first response to a situation like this.

[Schming]

Along with the good advice from cajun31, think about replacing your 45 year old Regulator/Rectifier with a Geezer R/R from Oregon Motorcycle Parts, best aftermarket plug & play bolt on right up there with stainless braided brake lines.

[LAB3]

Before you go spending money good after bad follow the previous advice of going over your connections and measuring your stator output! Charging system problems aren't rocket science.

[DiverRay]

30 minutes for a milk run seems reasonable to me. That will give the battery time to re-charge between the heavy draw of the starter. My "normal" ride is 12.5 miles each way to my part time job. The bike has no problems with the charging, but have gone over the connections and it is running Gezzers R/R.

[Larrym]

Also never opened up the 45 year starter yet - heavy draw when hot? Maybe worth a look?

No Need to actually remove the cover and/or remove the starter. (＾-＾)

Lookey here-

(Read the video description fOaR details...)

I used an "Inductive DC Ammeter" I have owned fOaR years+years. Just slip it over the starter wire cable. (☉_☉)

NLA from where's I originally bought it but go HERE and you'll find wut I'd replace it wit' iffin I dropped it or stepped on it or something else all clumsy like...(_Oo)

https://www.autotoolworld.com/S-G-To...CPf8QstGytsFfU


Looks like THIS-



Also can be used to measure show how LITTLE charging is done while idleing wit' the headlight on...actually DIS charging IRL. (O_O)

GOTS to get the rpms up and KEEP'em there fOaR a while to keep the battery happy. (^_^)

Tell wife this comes from an XS-owner with 3 (three) Degrees and who wurkyed fOaR IBM. (⇀‸↼‶)⊃━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

[jetmechmarty]

When you check connections, start with the one that connects the stator to the bike’s wire harness. It may have even turned brown from the heat. On mine, I replaced that connector and several inches of wire on each side of it due to corrosion.

[LenB]

Tell wife this comes from an XS-owner with 3 (three) Degrees and who wurkyed fOaR IBM. (⇀‸↼‶)⊃━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ

Sounds like what I get when my ride is too long - the 3rd degree!