Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech '03 America electrical confusion

This is a cross post from TR, so I apologize if others have seen it.

I've been having battery issues with my '03 America for some time, and just wrote it off as a dying battery. I recently purchased a new one, charged it, and went for a spin. After coming home, I put it on a battery tender and was surprised to see it was less than 80% charged (not sure how much less, as that is the tender benchmark).

Today I put it on a multimeter: 12.5 when off. 11.9 while keyed. 11.5 starting. 13.8 at idle. 12.4 when revved. Those numbers seemed odd, so I kept it running and took it off the battery to check the leads. As soon as it was disconnected, it died. Isn't it supposed to run without a battery?

I removed the fuse box, and all fuses seemed intact except one, which looks like it has a heated grip picture next to it. I don't have heated grips, so that shouldn't be it.

I don't know much about bikes or electricity. Does anyone have a suggestion? I drove it for about 25 miles yesterday, but I guess it was just running on the battery.

Any help, tips, or suggestions is greatly appreciated.

UPDATE: I have also checked the Regulator/Rectifier connector and it looks to be in good shape.

this is what I followed and it is better than ever

http://www.triumphrat.net/modifications-...e-solution.html

the red wire goes directly to the positive battery terminal

and my pic to go with it

First off, never disconnect the battery from the charging system when the vehicle is running. It will create other problems. The voltage will spike and could fry your coils, electrics, and regulator diodes without a battery reference. If you were getting 13.8 volts when idling the bike was charging. If it went lower when reving up, you probably had a bad connection at the regulator connector, fuse box or any of the other high current connections. Test the battery now with the meter and see if you still get 13.8 idling, if not, you have a blown fuse, regulator/rectifier, alternator or bad connection. Sorry I can't help any more than that right now.

When checking fuses, don't rely on visual, test the fuses with an ohmeter or test light.

To comment about disconnecting a battery, a friend of mine was at his cottage and didn't have a battery for his boat (16 foot runabout). He used the battery out of his truck to start the boat then took it out of the boat with the engine running. Ran it for 20 minutes before it quit. When I checked it out, had to replace the tach, ignition coils, power tilt solenoid, regulator, low oil indicator and all light bulbs in the dash. Don't disconnect it!

Yeah, I realized that after the fact. I think tracking down a loss is going to be out of my league. If it was replacing something, I could handle that. I'm not much good with a multimeter, though.

Electrical problems you say... hmmm, sometimes they can be hard to diagnose. However, you should be able to get to the bottom of it with a little tenacity, patience and beer (scotch, wine, or any other spirit will do). And even though you say you are not well versed with a multi-meter there is still hope... they are not too difficult to demystify.

Okay... with your demonstrated will to get to the bottom of this, might I suggest you read this thread of mine from recent times when my own '03 had charging problems. But first... first MAKE SURE that new battery of yours is FULLY charged before you proceed. You see, an undercharged new battery may not ever fully charge unless it starts life out completely topped up.

Back to that thread o' mine... it is chocked full of insight and suggestions from many here who know a thing or two. I personally learned a bunch on the topic of charging systems and although I too am a novice at this kind of thing, I managed to unearth the problem under the guidance of many here. During the whole process I also managed to improve on the charging system making it better than it was from the factory.

The voltage readings you provided are curious. If under higher RPMs the voltage actually DROPS, in raises eyebrows. It could be the regulator/rectifier, or even poor connections somewhere. Often one of the bad connections is the ground wire attached to the frame. So... start with battery connections and go from there. Follow the leads from the battery terminals and look for corrosion along the way.

The first thing I would do is charge the battery again to a good and healthy FULL charge. Then run a couple of voltage tests to see what you get. Good luck and let us know how you make out!!

What a great thread. Thanks for the link. I think I need to pick up a manual. Some of the terms and parts mentioned in that thread were over my head. I need to familiarize myself before I can continue testing, unless I get a dumbed down list of instructions.

Update: I tested the R/R and had these results:

Using Diode Test Mode (as suggested in the linked thread):

Red Test Lead on Black/White pin:

1. 560
2. 575
3. 571

Black Test Lead on Black/Red pin:

1. 592
2. 606
3. 610

Then I tested the stator. All three connections were at about 30 when idle (choked) and between 60 and 70 with rpm added (no tach).

I charged the battery and tested at the terminals again. Once the bike was warmed up, I was getting about 13.4 at idle and 13.1 with rpm. I tested it again later (cold bike) and the numbers reversed.

No, only the new positive wire. That red/black to red wire come from the rectifier before the clip directly to the battery positive terminal.

So, for clarification, i just clip the B/R wire on the R/R side of the connector. Then extend it with a #10 straight to the positive battery terminal?

Mod done. It's still not great, but it's better. The light actually brightens when I give it rpm now, instead of dimming.

I'll see how it goes from here.

What voltage do you have now at the battery idling and reved up. If the light gets brighter, things are better.

Idling I'm getting about 13.3 revved about 13.9

the stock wiring is too small a gauge and runs all the way up the frame to the front of the bike before it returns to the battery for a charge, it loses some power and can actually overheat the wiring causing it to fail or underperform at a minimum

Bad connection for sure. +1 on what Roadworthy said.