Life on a Honda 2008 CBF1000A purhcased on Facebook Marketplace. A Flog's Blog

[facthunter]

Workshop space is Limited for most repair places. I'd get Bikes coming in from makers who didn't have spares readily available.(Suzuki). The gov't made Laws to require them to have More. I wouldn't accept the Bike at one stage till the Needed Parts were assured to be available and you don't always know WHAT you will need till you have it apart.. eg what size O/S piston you will need.. You don't want stuff sitting around dismantled in your workshop.. It's in everybody's interests to have it out as quickly as Possible.  Nev

[Jerry_Atrick]

That's is good advice, but unf, they have a yard and they would just leave it outside until they could work on it. I have since lodged a claim in the county court (equivalent ish to the small claims tribunal) to recover 50% of the cost of that sojourn as they billed work which was clearly not done and they left the bike worse than when it went in. The claim was to be heard today and they literally settled on the steps of the local county court... It had to be ratified by the court as the action was lodged and the clerk, as he signed to doc mentioned something about them being a regular client of the court. They are obviously scoundrels because pre-hearing settling means they don't receive what is known as a county court judgement; if they get one of those and they need any form of credit to keep the business alive, then they would go broke as it is on their credit record and once on, they have to wait something like 5 years for it to come off. Normally, I would say I may see my money or I may not, but the clerk gave them 10 working days to pay, and if they don't, I am to report it to the court and they will enter a county court judgement of default.  So, I suspect it will come in Tuesday week. 

 

But, the bike is still not able to be ridden too far and I am not taking my son's 125cc to London because a) it would be painful; b) it has no luggage racks and carruing luggage + a heavy duty chain is not really viable; and c) it is a desirable model to those who enjoy appropriating others' bikes. 

 

I have checked the stator and it is fine. I have replaced the regulator and the DC coming out of that is fine - but it is not getting to the battery. I have checked the fuses; The only thing I haven't checked is the resistance from the battery cable to the regulator as I think about it. I am guessing the shop tugged a little hard on it or something. I will check it on the weekend.. if it is not the issue, I will have to wait until the 2nd August where I have the bike booked into the last mechanic I will have tried in this town. If that doesn't work, I will rent a trailer and tow it to my old mechanic in London. 

 

 

Edited August 5 by Jerry_Atrick

[facthunter]

Has the Battery gone completely flat recently and how old is the Battery?  Nev

[nomadpete]

With engine stopped, switches off:-

 

1.

Resistance check between Black wire coming out of charge controller & Batt neg terminal.

 

2. Resistance check between Red wire @ charge controller & Batt pos terminal.

 

Expect almost zero ohms. Any higher restance will limit charging.

 

With engine running at fast idle:-

 

Measure DC voltage between Red & Black wires @ charge controller. Expect about 12 volts before starting, then at least 13 volts rising to 14.4 volts as battery (hopefully) charges.

 

If this voltage is not the same as voltage measured @ Battery terminals, problem is poor continuity between charge controller & battery terminals.

If the voltage @ charge controller does not rise with engine running, check the AC voltage between each of the three stator wires coming into the charge controller - all should be equal.

 

Generic circuit - yours might have some difference but this gives you an idea of how it all hangs together.

[nomadpete]

Added thought-

 

If the charge controller does not have a Black wire, check continuity between the metal body of the charge controller and the chassis. It relies on mounting bolt/s to provide reference ground to the regulator. A bit of corrosion under there will cause your problem. Unbolt, clean metal to metal contact, and try again.

[Jerry_Atrick]

10 hours ago, facthunter said:

Has the Battery gone completely flat recently and how old is the Battery?  Nev

New battery that held almost all of the charge while I was in Aus. When I shut down the workl computer this eve, I will check how the charge is holding so far (after two weeks back). 

 

1 hour ago, nomadpete said:

.

Resistance check between Black wire coming out of charge controller & Batt neg terminal.

 

2. Resistance check between Red wire @ charge controller & Batt pos terminal.

 

Expect almost zero ohms. Any higher restance will limit charging.

 

That is my next check.. Sort of..There are two wires from the controller, but  they go to a make connector and meet two wires from the battery to go a female connector. So, I will check resistance across both sets of wires connected.. and if I get resistance, will check each set individually to find the recalcitrant cable. 

 

1 hour ago, nomadpete said:

Measure DC voltage between Red & Black wires @ charge controller. Expect about 12 volts before starting, then at least 13 volts rising to 14.4 volts as battery (hopefully) charges.

 

If this voltage is not the same as voltage measured @ Battery terminals, problem is poor continuity between charge controller & battery terminals.

If the voltage @ charge controller does not rise with engine running, check the AC voltage between each of the three stator wires coming into the charge controller - all should be equal.

 

This is the interesting bit. At the connector between the controller and battery cable, the voltage rises... I think it is a tad over 14.4v, but can't remember. However, at the battery terminal, the voltage drops from its 12.7v or thereabouts at a constant rate. 

 

Although, it is possible I blew the controller by crossing the cables when I took the reading, I guess. 

 

[nomadpete]

Double check the pins on the two wire plug @ the regulator. If you see 14v @ regulator, it looks like the stator and regulator are ok.

 

The Black wire (maybe green on yours) should read zero volts with respect to chassis when running. This confirms the negative path to the battery. 

[facthunter]

Fuses should Protect your circuitry normally IF they are appropriately Placed. DID those Heated BAR Grips overload anything? Have any relays/switches carked it? Nev

[Jerry_Atrick]

The bike went to its next mechanic yesterday. I spoke to the mechanic looking at it, and he was a little stumped. He thinks it may be the stator though as he has a hunch whatever is happening is happening with "random regularity" rather than just intermittently. 

 

Today he will be pulling out the stator and putting it through a "sniff test". Apparently, a single wind can be on its way out and cause all sorts of mayhem.

 

 

[pmccarthy]

I have a single wind on the way out too.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Just got a call from the shop. Apparently the connectors on the loom side of the regulator were knackered (though I thought I checked them... so when I pick up the bike I will see what I missed).. And also, the new regulator itself is a dud. So they are taking a video of it so I can use as evidence to get my £ back... The company that supplied me the regulator should be OK with it though, as the shop is replacing it with one from the same company I purchased from and they have good reputation.

 

Regulator won't arrive until tomorrow and I will not be able t collect until Thursday afternoon... So to London by train this time. 

 

 

Edited Tuesday at 11:22 AM by Jerry_Atrick

[Marty_d]

Hope that fixes it Jerry. What a pain.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Sadly,, not.. 

 

The tested it for about 10 minutes, and the new regulator burned out. This is consistent with what happened in my case.. I was getting positive charge, and then nothing.  One lives and learns, I guess. 

 

The shop put it back on their bench regulator, and it is no longer charging like it was... They are thinking one of tow things.. the stator is, once it warms up, over exerting itself or there is a short in the electrical system. 

 

We are on a bank (public service) holiday weekend, so no one will look at it until Tuesday. F! 

 

I am in three minds now...

1.  Sell it.. I will still get about £1200 for it, because apart from this issue, it is in bloody good condition and it is a superb riding bike. But, I would have to buy another... And yes, a BMW is not out of the equation...
2. Let the shop diagnose this issue. At the moment, their theory is the stator is surging.. they will inspect it on Tuesday anyway. But if that is not the issue, then there is a short somewhere, likely in the loom or some ancillary wiring - less likely.. 
3. Just get them to replace the loom and ancillary wiring. A new loom is is about £130.. Actually, at the same time, upgrade the stator, which is about £200. The issue on those CBFs is the flywheel behind the stator doesn't allow enough oil flow to cool it properly, but the fix for that, unles syou can find the right flywheel at a breaker (wrecker) is £500 for the part alone. 

I am thinking number 3.. But.. Number 1 may come into play - because the same shop have a tidy used NT1100.. but that would mean about £6K that could be better spent on finishing the main money pit (house).