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Not enough voltage???

6K views 61 replies 8 participants last post by  loneWolf 
#1 ·
Looking for a little help, ok here’s the deal. Recently purchased a motorcycle that was sitting for years. And it don’t seem to spark on all cylinders like it should, unless I have jumper cables hooked to it from a running car.... battery is fine! Tried 3 battery’s two was new..... I can start the bike by jumping it off a vehicle. And I’m able to remove the jumper cables after it starts and it will still run. However I’ve not let it run for more than a minute.... next thing I noticed is someone has put a voltage meter on the bike and it always stays one mark below the green light unless jumper cables are hooked to it..... if the green light on the meter lights up green I get perfect spark! But however if not only front cylinder gets spark... I’ve also noticed when I hit the brake handle with ignition turned over the voltage meter practically drops to nothing! Now if I have jumper cables on like I mentioned the light on the voltage meter is green until I hit the brake handle then it drops a mark below green and won’t start.... sorry for all the confusion needed to pick at someone’s brain other mine... what could the problem be? P.s. the old owner said he was driving it down the road one day and it just started to cut out. Pulled it home and that’s where it sat for years
 
#2 ·
Sounds like stator or the regulator/rectifier is iffy. I would guess the R/R based on symptoms

If you have a multimeter its easy to check the stator output. Should see ac volts at each of the three yellow wires heading to the R/R, test with the R/R disconnected!
 
#3 ·
With the jumper cables disconnected and the bike running, use a multimeter to check the voltage across the battery terminals at idle. Then rev it up to 3000 RPM. You should get around 12V at idle, and over 14V at 3000 RPM. If not, you definitely have charging system problems. A car battery also has around 12V with the engine off, but a car has a much stronger charging system than any motorcycle. So it is likely the cars charging system that is making the difference.

BTW, it has long been said that it is not a good idea not to use a running car to jumpstart a motorcycle. I never though much about it, but I don't see why not. The cars charging system put's out the same voltage as the bikes, it is just capable of a lot more amperage. And the motorcycle will only draw the amps it needs.
 
#4 ·
I’ve never worked on a motorcycle but have worked on atvs for years. Surely a stator wouldn’t cause this problem? But on the side note the old owner did say he replaced that. And I’d imagine he did since he has cylicone ran around the case... it just appears to me that say if all the lights on the bike was off. I’d bet money it would fire right up. And on another note sometimes using jumper cables won’t always get that green light to fire the bike up. Sometimes I have to let it sit what seems like forever... I’ve also noticed someone’s tampered with some wiring. Don’t look like anything serious. I’ve never had to deal with a failing r/r so you think this will be the problem for sure?
 
#6 ·
I would replace the R/R with an aftermarket.
 
#7 · (Edited)
Ok so I used my voltage meter at 20k ohm setting and tested the wires on stator. Each one shows 001..... upon inspection I noticed the stator plug was cut and wired direct to the wireing harness..... so I got curious and pulled the side cover of motor....( just the part to where you can see the stator) and I had found that someone made a plate and put in to hold the stator? Some homemade job for sure.... so I’m ASSUMING they cut the plug off the stator because it wouldn’t fit through the hole on the side cover where the black rubber piece normally sits to seal the oil in... so I guess what I need to know now is- is the stator good at 001 ohms? I would expect it to be around 003-004.... but once again I know nothing about a motorcycle 🙂. And pics will be added, I sure could use as much help as possible and really appreciate everyone that has gave advice I really do. Thank you all. Ps. I added photos of the voltage thing I ramble on so much about, needing to be green to get it to start up. When on orange/yellow it won’t fire good enough to start. To make it green I gotta slap on some jumper cables. When bike runs it goes from green to the mark below it just kinda jumps around.... would the metal plate the guy added be creating this whole problem?
 

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#8 ·
The looks like a version of the "Tuxedo Mod", named after the member of this forum that came up with it. It enables the stator to be replaced without pulling the engine.

Stator windings are a couple feet of wire wrapped around an iron core so 1 ohm is good. Check no shorts to groubd. I still say you have a R/R problem and maybe a battery issue.

These bikes will not start if the battery voltage is low, even if it cranks the ignition module needs 11 plus volts to fire correctly.

Check the dates on the "new" batteries as they can sit on the shelf for a good proportion of their life. If they drop below 9 volts EVER then they are trashed. They may still show charged but will rapidly discharge under load. Make sure the battery is an Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) type, they work better and need no maintenance.

You should see 14.5 to 15v charging at RPM's.
 
#9 ·
The mod is very interesting, nice job to the person who came up with it! And how do I check for shorts? And also the battery is for sure good I even swapped some out of my quads still get same problem. As soon as I turn the ignition switch over my little voltage light won’t go to green.... yesterday I had hooked my voltage meter to the battery it showed somewhere over 13.20. Unless I hit the brake handle then it went down a lot. But anyways with the bike running the voltage was jumping around, even at 3k rpms I believe the highest my meter showed was 13.40-13.50 somewhere in that range. I’m overly excited to get this bike running so I can drive it around my little town. I’m not 100% on how the r/r works but I’d say that’s the problem would it not let my little voltage light turn green when I turn the ignition switch to the on position? I just figured the stator and regulator would only affect the bike while it was running
 
#11 ·
I had posted a picture of a voltage meter someone connected on the bike. If you see the picture where the light is not green. Front cylinder will fire. If it’s green both cylinders will produce great spark. The problem I have is- no matter what battery I toss into it, the meter will not light up green in order to fire unless I hook jumper cables to it 😐.
 
#14 ·
the amount of current a test light needs is negligable... when it comes to current draw of the bike (not including starting current).. starter alone probably draws over 150 amps. you can have a connection good enough for 1 amp (which is still way more than a test light needs) but no way it can handle starting current draw

when you connect to the frame, you bypass one of the ground wires (frame to battery)
 
#16 ·
I don’t know if the R/R would cause that. Not let the bike have enough amps or whatever. I guess I’ll order one today and find out when it comes in. I just hate thinking it will turn into a moneypit and I won’t be able to figure the problem out
 
#17 · (Edited)
First picture is just the battery without ignition switch on, second picture is with the key on, 3rd picture is with the key on a brake handle pulled in. 4th is what the voltage meter on my bike looks like when ignition is on and the brake lever pulled in as well. P.s 10.79v at starter when cranking. 11.50 at battery while cranking
 

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#18 · (Edited)
The R/R, Regulator/Rectifier, regulates charging voltage and converts AC volts to DC volts. Would be best to test the stator and R/R before buying any parts.

Edit:
I'm starting to wonder if the Junction Box is the culprit.

Did you say it did the same thing with two other batteries? (not sure if it's this thread)

Could remove the fuses for the lights and fan, then see how it behaves.
 
#19 · (Edited)
Here’s an update. May solve my problem may not. The voltage meter was hooked up behind the headlight and I will post pics of the voltage I’m getting out of the other meter.


EDIT- that voltage drops dramatically when I press the hand brake
 

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#20 ·
Yes same thing with other batteries, only way to get the full voltage to start is to jump it with a vehicle. That’s what has me so confused and let’s say I do jump it off a car if I hit the hand break I loose the voltage needed to start it. Just can’t seem to find the reason why I’m not getting enough voltage..... and when my key is over the blinker lights will light up and the light inside the speedometer case lights up.. I guess that’s normal? And I tried pulling the brake light fuse and the headlights fuse. Seemed to make no difference
 
#21 ·
You've got a head-scratcher for sure.

I think it's really strange that when you hook up an external battery, everything is "fine". The bike should run for a long while off of a fully charged battery even with the entire charging system removed, so I would suspect that at least part of your problem is at your battery terminals. Have you cleaned the leads thoroughly?

Can you remove the leads from the installed battery and clamp those in the jumper cable alligators to see if everything is green with just an external battery?
 
#22 · (Edited)
Sadly the leads are new. I did find something a bit interesting just now. Maybe it’s just me but I found this diagram for a R/R online I’m ASSUMING they are all the same. It didint say it was for a Vulcan but anyways. The very bottom right says it’s for a hot wire? Well after checking all my wires running to my R/R it appears the middle one/brown wire is the only one that’s hot when the ignition is turned over.... could the old owner possibly got it backwards? Or is it suppose to be this way. I will post a couple pics. If someone would check there bike and let me know I would greatly appreciate it


Update- just noticed my wires are dirty and you can’t tell the colors so- 3 top ones are yellow. At the bottom starting from the left I have a black/yellow wire, brown wire, white wire
 

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#23 ·
To answer that question about the external battery the answer will be no. I can use one of my smaller battery’s from a smaller atv and even with jumper cables it won’t turn green. I have to use one of my bigger battery’s. Ones for motorcycles plus jumper cables to make it turn green. On another note, once I do get it started I can remove jumper cables it will run/idle fine. However the green light will fluctuate back and forth. Even running it don’t stay green 100% of the time.
 
#24 ·
The pins on your diagram do match the Vn750. The brown wire in the middle (M) should be voltage into the rectifier when the ignition is on. The white on the bottom right (B) should be attached to the positive battery terminal via the junction box via the main fuse, and should have voltage all the time. Bascially, it has battery-level voltage when the bike is off, and charging voltage from the R/R when the engine is running.

Your problems do match symptoms of a loose wire somewhere, and zero voltage on the white is just one more piece of evidence in that column.

The junction box was mentioned as a potential place for brownout issues. There are some relays in there that should be bypassed or temporarily disconnected if possible. Fan relay, headlight relay, and starter relay.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I’m not seeing all the fuses just these,



Edit- here is the starter relay, Looks new as well. Besides the old owner has literally cut the plugs off everything.... so I should go around unplugging all this stuff to see if the green light will come on?

Edit (again) sorry I was busy while reading that and it went completely over my head, I don’t think the headlight even comes on. Not 100% sure but don’t think it does. Fan- hooked directly to a Togo switch already. Is there any other way of getting around all this? Maybe adding a wire with fuseable link to positive side of battery straight to the white wire on voltage meter? Or would this cause more problems
 

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#26 · (Edited)
Fan relay, headlight relay, and starter relay are all inside the junction box. Yes, there's the usual starter relay under the right side cover, but there's also a solid state relay in the JB.

Need to check with almost all fuses removed, fan, headlight, etc. Or, just remove them all, check, then put the main fuse in first, check, then the ignition fuse, check, etc.

If it turns out the solid state relay for the start circuit inside the JB is the problem, the Two-Wire Mod can bypass that. This second start relay isn't needed anyway.

Edit: What is that in the third pic below? Doesn't look like a starter solenoid, and it's been spliced in with butt connectors.
 
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