Sorry I seem to be in sensible mode today so no bike reveal. Did borrow an R125 though and having a bit of fun in the sun though.
wtf … where did you learn that ! No need for wheels to turn …if you dont believe me put a multimeter on it and see ?
Start bike allow to idle for a short period 2 mins . short burst 10 secs or so at 3k then allow to idle for 5 mins and another short burst at 3k and idle again .This should be fine every 4-5 days if not a bit longer ( depending on whats using when off .)
If you can turn lights off
Fecking hell the wheel generated dynamo went out in the 80s and that was on pushbikes !
TimR how long should I run it for, I often leave it for 3 or 4 days depending on the shifts I’m working but any longer and I used a trickle charger but that stopped working.
See edit …
Thanks Tim, lights will be off, got old school light switch lol.
I’d still like to borrow the optimal from Wise for when I’m away for a few days
i’ve learned that from someone much more qualified than yourself. thank you very much.
easy to settle - what specific bike are we talking about…?
Honda Vfr800 fi 2001
http://www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php/topic/35062-replace-stator-and-flywheel-how-to-with-pics/ - from this it seems the alternator is located on the main crank with the flywheel - therefore it’d work with the bike stationary… Couldn’t find a exploded diagram in the short search time.
for it only to charge if the wheels were turning then either:
1) it would need to be located on the output shaft…
2) some sort of charging cut-off would need to be wired in, to stop charging if speed was zero…not sure why anyone would do this though.
put a voltmeter on the battery while it’s running. rev it a little until it starts reading about 14v. that’s when it’ll be charging the battery, not just running the bike.
I predict your ears will be bleeding before you hit the right amount of revs and you’ll end up taking it for a 15 min spin anyways.
or just put it on a solar panel or optimate to trickle charge
Most carbed bikes very slowly drain or have no net effect on the battery charge while idling, and only start charging at higher revs - generally the charging circuit puts out ~11V at idle and rises to 14.5V (the normal charging voltage for a 12V battery) at normal speed; the voltage will increase with the speed of the crank (and hence alternator) until the regulator caps it. From this, I suspect, comes the notion that you need to ride the bike for it to charge, and hence that it might be down to the wheels turning. Most amateur/forum bike mechanic advice is based on a mixture of superstition, hearsay and inference rather than any understanding of the systems.
Most fuel injected bikes (like that VFR) always put out exactly the charging voltage because their delicate little computers can’t hack the voltage fluctuating. Those will normally charge as much (or more) at idle than they will smashing it up a motorway or whatever.
Thanks guys, but Wise is going to lend me the optimate tomorrow so I won’t need to worry about it
Ok sadly my mec eng qualification and city and guilds in veh mec and electronics are low in the skillsset
I sat there for aaaaages wondering what the hell a ‘mechanical english’ qualification was… it’s been a long day lol!
We were also taught in HGV btech that you could stick a multimeter on the battery to check for charging, you can even do it on a suzuki gs650gl (which is still cluttering up the front garden and still only running on 2 cylinders). Wouldn’t fancy trying to do that going down the road at 30mph.
Just to add, turning the engine over for a few mins wouldn’t hurt to lubricate parts and keep jets clean - also to make sure nothing’s crawled into the air box and died. If you start smelling toasted squirrel, check the zaust first before removing faring. (We didn’t learn that in college tho)
Pps, if the bike is off the road for less than 6 weeks, I’d be mildly worried if any of the above was remotely relevant.
Thanks Tim and Mole, I didn’t want to keep running it and annoying the neighbours if I didn’t have to so I’ll do it occasionally to let the fluids move
Thanks Tim and Mole, I didn't want to keep running it and annoying the neighbours if I didn't have to so I'll do it occasionally to let the fluids move ChrisB
wise has the optimate in his rucksack rolled up in the nurses uniform should Chris need attention
Now I’m getting all excited