Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Got home tonight after riding from work. Turned the bike off to open the garage. Which I don't normally do. Get back on the bike and turn the key. She lights up for a split second, not even enough time to finish the self diagnostic and then everything dies. no electricals of any kind. Can't recall whether or not I hit the ignition at the same. Possible I suppose. Checked the fuses and they all look fine. Battery terminals look fine. Never had an electrical problem before. What's my list of things to start testing? And who seen my multimeter last???

battery first up...it is possible for it to shit itself and not even light up after a ride..

lifeofcrimeguy wrote:Got home tonight after riding from work. Turned the bike off to open the garage. Which I don't normally do. Get back on the bike and turn the key. She lights up for a split second, not even enough time to finish the self diagnostic and then everything dies. no electricals of any kind. Can't recall whether or not I hit the ignition at the same. Possible I suppose. Checked the fuses and they all look fine. Battery terminals look fine. Never had an electrical problem before. What's my list of things to start testing? And who seen my multimeter last???

I am with the Hoffmeister on this one...battery
coz my 12R did exactly the same thing you describe Christmas eve

I third the battery, the one in my 9 did this and screwed me on a garage forecourt immediately after fueling for a ride on a beautiful day. Would jump start but as soon as the jump battery was removed it would drop cylinders and slowly die.

Yep, sounds like a cell has droppeed out of the battery. It happened last year to me on a ride with the Rex. Stopped to get fuel, turned the bike back on and nothing....nada......zip!! Pulled a battery out of my mate's blade, hooked it up, light show started as it should. Diagnosis...dead battery.

Good luck, but if the battery is OK, check the relays next!

If only you had a battery charger...

red_dave wrote:If only you had a battery charger...

hahaha.....coming from someone who sells them

First things first, check the fuses. I had a similar problem and it turned out a fuse had crapped out. I checked the fuse, it wasn't blown, i put it back, nothing. i swap it for another, it works. I put it back, dead. Unfortunately i thought of this AFTER having stripped half the plastics off my bike in order to chase down a non existent connection problem.

Easiest cheapest and fastest thing to check before going down the avenue of battery, ignitioin, etc.

OK. So I tested the battery a couple of nights ago. 12.8v. but still nothing turning on. Then I blew my tester up so only just got a new one . Tested it again today. 12.7v. And lo and behold she lights up! And kicks over first go. Ran her for about 5 min. And then try her again and she kicks over first go again. Re-tested the battery and now she is 13.2v. Will let her sit for 30 and then check the voltage again, and starting again. I'd like to think not a loose wire cos I didn't move her around any in between the other night and now. I will sub out all the fuses as you suggest Mike. I don't have a spare 20A though, fine to use a 10A for the headlights and hope she doesnt blow? But even if it was the headlight fuse, that shouldn't effect the rest of the bike should it? Still thinking a dropped cell is most likely?

Sounds like you have corroded battery terminals. It is very common for the connection between the battery posts and the cables to get a light film of corrosion that will give you the exact symptoms you describe. Remove the battery cables from the battery and clean the battery terminals and the cable connectors with a wire brush then reconnect them and see if the problem re-occurs. Cheers!

Not sure if its the same issue or not but Mel had some probs with her 7, this is from facebook by one of her friends and has seemed to fix the problem... Hope This Helps??? And sorry for the copy from your wall Mel but it may or may not be helpful

"Just read u had a hard time with the 7 and a doddgy start solenoid on the weekend, sorry to hear that.

Dont know if ive told you before but i am an auto electrician by trade.

Ive had alot of experience with this kind of problem with kwakas.... The solenoid is also an ignition relay and is a very crappy design and made cheaply. They use the same type on 6's , 7's and 9's of that period so ive seen alot of them fail.

However the solenoid its self is not always the cause of the problem, the main problem is usually the wiring plug ( red plug ) that is connected to the solenoid.

Did the solenoid melt/burn where the red plug is connected to it ?

The wiring terminals that are inside that red plug are shit house ! they corrode very badly and get loose which means they dont connect to the pins on the solenoid properly ..
This bad connection gets very hot and normally melts the solenoid and the red plug.

If it did melt at the red plug then i cant stress how important it is that you not only fit a new solenoid but you also change the crimp terminals inside the red plug , Its a very quick and easy job.

I have lost count of the number of times i have seen people simply change the solenoid and then it melts again because they didnt fix the plug connections."

Ok, been dicking around a little bit. The voltage of the battery itself is within limitis. 12.7v. The current leakage is within limits <1mA. The voltage whilst running however, should be 14.2-15.2v at 5000 rpm according to mister Haines manual. It's sitting at 14.05-14.8, Which I'm told may mean the alternator needs testing. ( ). This drops down to about 12v from memory if I stick the high beems and fan on. Not sure if that means anything. Everything appears hunky dory with her atm... I will have a look at all the suggestions hopefully today or tomorrow night. What I need is a great big ass fan so I can let her idle for ages and see if the problem comes back. Not sure I'll be riding to the town hall meeting come Sunday.

If the alternator is charging over 14v it's probably ok. The voltage output depends on how much load you have on the output, (lights, injectors, etc.). As it is starting now and you say you loaded the battery and it stayed above 12v it still sounds like a corroded connection or a bad relay, intermittent open fuse etc. etc. keep your voltmeter with you and you can test the battery voltage if it happens again and perhaps locate the problem. Most 12v batteries will show 12v when they are not loaded. A good battery will stay above 12v when it is loaded. When you first load the battery, (by turning on the lights) the voltage will start to drop down to a point ABOVE 12v and once the surface charge is gone will start to increase. Example; your initial reading is 12.6 volts unloaded, you turn on the lights and the voltage drops over a period of 3 to 5 minutes to 12.1 volts and then starts to increase to a point, maybe 12.2 or 12.3 v. If it ever gets down to a point below 12v, and keeps dropping the battery is intercoursed up. (within a resonable period of time, of course if you leave the battery loaded for 10 or thirty minutes it might start to discharge and show less than 12v). Not bad for a one fingered typest? JB is the drink of the Gods.

oldman wrote:If the alternator is charging over 14v it's probably ok. The voltage output depends on how much load you have on the output, (lights, injectors, etc.). As it is starting now and you say you loaded the battery and it stayed above 12v it still sounds like a corroded connection or a bad relay, intermittent open fuse etc. etc. keep your voltmeter with you and you can test the battery voltage if it happens again and perhaps locate the problem. Most 12v batteries will show 12v when they are not loaded. A good battery will stay above 12v when it is loaded. When you first load the battery, (by turning on the lights) the voltage will start to drop down to a point ABOVE 12v and once the surface charge is gone will start to increase. Example; your initial reading is 12.6 volts unloaded, you turn on the lights and the voltage drops over a period of 3 to 5 minutes to 12.1 volts and then starts to increase to a point, maybe 12.2 or 12.3 v. If it ever gets down to a point below 12v, and keeps dropping the battery is intercoursed up. (within a resonable period of time, of course if you leave the battery loaded for 10 or thirty minutes it might start to discharge and show less than 12v). Not bad for a one fingered typest? JB is the drink of the Gods.

Now this is the shit they should be putting in the Manuals. Cheers mate. Have one for me. Local mech said pull the ignition assembly and check the contacts there. So I guess that's something I'll get to next weekend.