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I've come across something and have no idea what might be causing it- I installed a battery tender/coax connection the other night. After putting everything back together, I noticed a high-pitched ringing when the bike warms up. It was only audible below ~20mph. When I got home from work last night, I lifted the tank and turned the bike on and the sound was gone. Whenever I put a piece back on (seat, bolt, fairing piece etc.) I'd turn the bike on to see if I could reproduce it, and it seemed to be gone. The engine was warm from the ride home, so I assumed it was fixed. I pulled the bike out this morning to warm it up while getting my gear on. She started up and there was no noise. After the engine warmed up, though, it came back. It's not as loud this time, but it's definitely still there. If I hit the kill switch, it goes away instantly. If I just turn off the key, the pitch decreases as the sound tapers off. I'm assuming it's something electrical. Outside of the noise, the bike runs fine. The only other things I did were pump some air into the tires, remove the USB connector (it had died) and reset the clock after hooking the battery back up. I'm thinking I'll remove the tender/coax connection this weekend and see if that does anything. Thoughts? Bike's a '09 FZ6.
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Feb 23, 2012 16:39
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Pope Mobile posted:I've come across something and have no idea what might be causing it- I'm guessing fuel pump?
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Feb 23, 2012 17:26
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It is similair to the ringing the bike makes when I turn the key, the tach lights up and the needle moves across the range.
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Feb 23, 2012 17:50
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Does it persist if you open the gas cap?
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Feb 23, 2012 17:51
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I'll check on the ride home, but I think so. I've fueled up once since it started.
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Feb 23, 2012 18:15
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Could try use a length of garden hose or tubing to try isolate where the sound is coming from. One end to your ear, move the other end between different components..
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Feb 23, 2012 18:39
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I know how this goes. Does this involve your wife at all? Is this causing relationship problems? Please let us know so we can make pithy human-interest commentary and engage in brotherly banter while attempting to diagnose your problem based on the sound.
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Feb 23, 2012 20:20
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Re: Lower back pain after riding a while, I'm 6 feet tall. Here is the riding position on my 2012 Night Rod Special,  Versus the same on a 2011 NRS:  So, this years model has the ergonomics improved about 5000% over last years, but I essentially don't put much weight on my feet because of the forward controls. It's all on my rear end. The seat is comfortable as hell, but my back just gets tired after a few hours. I guess I will make a conscious effort not to slouch on longer rides. I can also tuck forward, but I feel like a squid doing it at less than 70mph.
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Feb 24, 2012 02:54
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Stand up straight, back rigid and legs straight, like a soldier at attention. Then lean forward at your hips without bending your back one iota, and tell me how far you can lean forward before you feel your hamstrings pulling. Rotate that mental image and compare to the amount of range of motion required to sit in your normal riding position without strain. I know I would be a wreck with that kind of riding position. My hamstrings would pull on my hips and that would put all kinds of nasty strain on my lower back.
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Feb 24, 2012 03:32
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When you pack the bike try to put something on the passenger seat that will provide some lower back support.
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Feb 24, 2012 03:33
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Got home and listened to the bike to try and pinpoint the noise. I can't hear anything from above or below. Engine noise drowns out the ringing. I put my ear against the tank and could hear it much clearer. Something to do with the fuel system?
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Feb 24, 2012 04:03
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Anyone ride to work and have to wear a suit? You just wear it under your jacket, or have a preferred way of stowing it so it doesn't get wrinkled?
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Feb 24, 2012 07:41
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Is there a go-to site to figure out fitment of parts for older bikes? I'm asking because the tail of my 89 GSXR was pretty trashed by the PO and I'd like to replace it with something different while still having a passenger seat. Most of the sites I've come across seem to be all about chopping it down to a single and if I can just swap another bike's tail without having to resort to custom work I'd be happy. Also, I'm in Hawaii, so there's not a lot of option to go to a shop and dry-fit stuff till I find something that works.
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Feb 24, 2012 08:55
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Have you tried bikebandit?
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Feb 24, 2012 09:14
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Nothing in aftermarket and OEM is all out of production.  Some of the stuff on streetfighter.com is nice but last time I ordered from them it took almost two months because they are just a reseller for a firm in Germany.
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Feb 24, 2012 20:53
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Pompous Rhombus posted:Anyone ride to work and have to wear a suit? You just wear it under your jacket, or have a preferred way of stowing it so it doesn't get wrinkled? Do you wear the same suit jacket and/or pants every day? Can you just leave them there during the work week and wear cycle gear to transit? The bicycle guys recommend something like this and just taking in fresh clothes in via car on Mondays.
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Feb 24, 2012 23:40
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Geirskogul posted:My three helmets (GMAX GM68S, Zox Genessis, and Vemar Jiano EVO TC) all have meshes (metal or plastic) underneath all the vents to prevent that from happening. My Arai has a charcoal filter, apparently. So any air which is rammed in through that vent will be cleeean!
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Feb 25, 2012 00:37
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Am I crazy? Didn't there used to be a newbies' thread for beginning riders? I am a mega newb. I have so many newb concerns! I live in the midwest so I got a pretty great deal on a great starter bike (suzuki gz250) near the tail end of the season last year after taking the MSF course twice (the qualitative leap in skill and muscle memory and confidence the second time around was just amazing!) and getting my license but I've never ridden on the street and have yet to take my bike out for a maiden voyage. It's getting warmer here finally. And of course the battery's died. How often should you start your bike to prevent this if you have to keep it garaged in the winters? I feel pretty negligent. Is it just time for a new battery or...uh...how do you jump a motorcycle? Can you just take the battery out and bring it to a shop? My boyfriend's already clued me in to the concept of a trickle-charger so I'm on that as soon as my bike is startable again. This feels like such an embarrassing question, which is why I'm curious about if there ever was a newbie thread for beginning riders, especially those of us who've gone through life devoid of mechanical knowledge (or mechanic dads). P.S. I just got into the forums last year when I was just beginning to realize my motorcycle fantasies and haven't really been around cycle asylum since it got cold n snowy. I missed you guys 
cluck1000 fucked around with this message at 01:02 on Feb 25, 2012 |
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Feb 25, 2012 00:51
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You can't charge the battery by starting the bike unless you go for an extended ride. The stator isn't going to magically out-perform a standalone charger. So yeah, you need to put the battery on a trickle charger when the bike is in storage, either in the bike or off the bike. At this point you need to charge it off the bike, or attempt to bump-start. Just as a matter of best-practice, I wouldn't recommend trying to charge a battery from flat off the stator. So just pull it, charge it, and off you go. Also, since you killed the battery that took a good chunk off its life. May start looking for a new one if this one isn't too fresh to begin with.
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Feb 25, 2012 01:04
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cluck1000 posted:Am I crazy? Didn't there used to be a newbies' thread for beginning riders? I am a mega newb. I have so many newb concerns! When the bike isn't being ridden for a while (a couple months for winter, for example), you should keep the battery on a trickle charger. Alternatively, I guess you could start it up and run it for a few minutes every week or two, but let someone else confirm that. You can jump the bike with a car, but don't start the car. It'll provide enough power not running, and may damage the bike if it is.
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Feb 25, 2012 01:07
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Should be ale to charge off a tender overnight and have ok juice if its not completely toast. When you store it for the winter just take the battery out of the bike and bring it inside.
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Feb 25, 2012 01:10
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orthod0ks posted:When the bike isn't being ridden for a while (a couple months for winter, for example), you should keep the battery on a trickle charger. Alternatively, I guess you could start it up and run it for a few minutes every week or two, but let someone else confirm that. I wouldn't start up and run the bike "for a few minutes." Yes, it may charge the battery, but if you're doing a mid-winter startup you really need to let it fully warm up to temp, and run it around if possible, to get all of the water boiled out of the oil, and evaporated from the exhaust and light assemblies. Starting it up for just a few minutes gets the bike just warm enough to cause a lot of condensation everywhere, and you'll eventually end up with mayo-y oil. CombatMedic posted:Or am I missing something? Nope. Queen_Combat fucked around with this message at 02:12 on Feb 25, 2012 |
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Feb 25, 2012 01:35
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Why would I pay $700+ for a motorcycle GPS, versus $150 for a car GPS? I would guess that the motorcycle GPS's are waterproof, but for that much money I'll just stick it in my pocket if it starts to rain. Or am I missing something?
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Feb 25, 2012 02:08
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The former tend to be designed around both weather-resistance and ease of use with fat gloved hands, but if you don't care about either of those, then the latter are definitely your best bet.
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Feb 25, 2012 02:12
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Motorcycle GPS is specifically designed to be used with gloves. Meaning pressure-based touch screens.
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Feb 25, 2012 05:00
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Maybe I'm craaazy, but messing with your GPS while driving a car is bad enough. I'll pull over and take a glove off if I need to change my destination on a motorcycle.
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Feb 25, 2012 07:13
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CombatMedic posted:Maybe I'm craaazy, but messing with your GPS while driving a car is bad enough. I'll pull over and take a glove off if I need to change my destination on a motorcycle. Well, a motorcycle gps has things like a rubber "page" button to flip between the GPS pages. So you can set it to flip between the map and the speedo/odo screen. It's super easy, I pull over and look for roads and while riding I can flip between my map and my stats/speedo easily.
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Feb 25, 2012 07:20
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Alright, where does everyone find the cheap crashed bikes? I'm caving. Need a bike now.
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Feb 25, 2012 08:10
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BlackMK4 posted:Alright, where does everyone find the cheap crashed bikes? I'm caving. Need a bike now. Craigslist.
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Feb 25, 2012 08:49
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CombatMedic posted:Maybe I'm craaazy, but messing with your GPS while driving a car is bad enough. I'll pull over and take a glove off if I need to change my destination on a motorcycle. I've used a cheap car GPS without problems. If it begins to rain I stow it, although it has seen some slight drizzle without problems. It's also possible, although slightly clumsy, to operate it with gloves but it's pretty distracting. That's why I don't like touch screens in cars either. Once you've learned where the controls are, you can adjust the aircon without looking at it, it's been like that for decades. But with a touchscreen you have to look at it, otherwise you don't know what your fingers are doing.
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Feb 25, 2012 09:13
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cluck1000 posted:Am I crazy? Didn't there used to be a newbies' thread for beginning riders? I am a mega newb. I have so many newb concerns! A forum user named Mootmoot runs that thread now. Don't ever look at it. cluck1000 posted:It's getting warmer here finally. And of course the battery's died. How often should you start your bike to prevent this if you have to keep it garaged in the winters? The correct way to store your battery in the winter is at room temperature. Trickle-charging is optional but a pretty good idea. Starting your bike and running it for a few minutes at low RPMs will only further drain your battery and it's a pretty bad idea on a cold engine. You'll not charge your battery at all at low RPMs only drain it, and generally you shouldn't start a cold engine without actually riding it. cluck1000 posted:I feel pretty negligent. Is it just time for a new battery or...uh...how do you jump a motorcycle? It probably is time for a new battery. Try some starter cables from a car though. Also try to push start it. Mount the bike and push it with the clutch engaged in second gear. When you're at reasonable speed release the clutch and give full throttle. cluck1000 posted:Can you just take the battery out and bring it to a shop? Better yet. Just take it out and bring it inside next winter. cluck1000 posted:My boyfriend's already clued me in to the concept of a trickle-charger so I'm on that as soon as my bike is startable again. My girlfriend trickle-charge me all the time.
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Feb 25, 2012 09:42
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You could also get one of these. We use them all the time on various cars we pick up for my brothers mechanic business that dont start. We've also used them on the dirt bikes we have a few times when the battery was making GBS threads itself but the stores were closed over the weekend/holidays.
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Feb 25, 2012 09:55
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Sir Cornelius posted:
I loved the rest of your post, but feel that I should point out that this is probably only true on some bikes, and hopefully not so much in the modern era, unless I'm missing something. Using a portable ammeter to show charge/discharge, I know my Enfield discharged at idle until I switched the brake light to LED. My friend's '78 Honda Hawk charges fully at idle, as well as a BMW (R1200GS) I played around with awhile back. Even an old Kawi dirtbike I have charges at idle, though just barely with the headlight on, I'll admit. Another friend says his panhead Harley discharges at idle, though. While charging will certainly be slower than at full RPM, I'm certain that if my Enfield can, with a 75W alternator and only 700RPMs, charge at idle, the fair majority of modern bikes can as well. Though, since my experience is limited to maybe 20 bikes total, I can very well be proved wrong. Is this really an issue on bikes? Everyone says so, but my experience shows it to be more of a myth based on "old fact." As I said, my Enfield did discharge at idle, but that is with the smallest alternator, and a (quite literally, no exaggeration) 60-year-old engine design. Removing 15W of taillight changed it, though. Is everyone running three 50W bulbs or something? I totally agree with you that just starting it and running it for a few minutes in winter is a bad idea, though, as my post two posts above yours states. Queen_Combat fucked around with this message at 10:05 on Feb 25, 2012 |
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Feb 25, 2012 10:02
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Nearly every modern supersport only supplies charging voltage at at least 4k or so. The larger displacement, lower reving bikes tend to be able to charge at idle, as do dirtbikes that generally have to make enough power to start with a kick on a low battery. But starting the bike over and over without letting it run enough to make up that loss will drain the battery even if it can charge at idle.
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Feb 25, 2012 10:10
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Z3n posted:
I agree with you on that, when it comes to using the starter. One electric start requires a bit of charging back up to replace what was used. I had no clue "most supersport" bikes were so lovely in that manner, though. What kind of discharge rates are we talking about? What are the "typical" volt readings at idle, or has anybody thrown an actual ammeter on the battery post to see the C/DC amperage? If a CB400 and a CB250 (budget parallel twins, nothing more) from the '70's and 80's, that vary in revs from 800 to 12k, can charge at idle, what the gently caress is the problem with these bikes? From what I can see from my electrical experience, there's absolutely no reason for, besides cheapness and lazyness in regulator/rectifier design. I can see how a lovely reg/rec and wiring design could lead to it, but that's a pretty sad excuse if true. Queen_Combat fucked around with this message at 10:23 on Feb 25, 2012 |
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Feb 25, 2012 10:19
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I've got 2 SVs in the garage, and one older GSXR 600, I'll slap a battery in each one and take some readings some time soon. I'm going off the service manual specs which usually spec charging voltage at 4-5k. But even so I can't imagine that they make enough power in the few minutes most people run them to charge back from the loss of the energy needed to start the bike.
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Feb 25, 2012 10:39
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Geirskogul posted:From what I can see from my electrical experience, there's absolutely no reason for, besides cheapness and lazyness in regulator/rectifier design. I can see how a lovely reg/rec and wiring design could lead to it, but that's a pretty sad excuse if true. These are good reasons, not bad, and have motivated many a good invention. If a bike with a big rev band were to charge at idle it would have to discard a lot more surplus power at cruise revs as heat. So either a more bulky, more advanced, hotter running R/R or a more complex generator installation. Old, small bore twins might charge at idle even though the generated charge is small - because their power load at idle is tiny. Lights (if on) and spark. A modern supersport has more light, more spark, a computer figuring out when to spark and squirt, fuel pump, injectors, LED instruments and all kinds of sensors. edit: I'll say this for poor design. Since losing battery voltage is such a common problem on bikes, the IT-department of a bike should not be adversely affected by being disconnected from power for a while. And the opportunity to charge the bike either by accessing/removing the battery or having dedicated charging points should be catered for in design. Ola fucked around with this message at 10:46 on Feb 25, 2012 |
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Feb 25, 2012 10:43
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Z3n posted:But even so I can't imagine that they make enough power in the few minutes most people run them to charge back from the loss of the energy needed to start the bike. That's really the point. Even if your bike charge from 500 RPH, it'll have to idle for a ridiculous long time (on a frozen engine) to keep your (frozen) battery in shape during the winter. At least we can all agree that idling your bike a few minutes a couple of times a week during winter storage isn't the correct way to maintain either bike or battery.
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Feb 25, 2012 10:47
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Whoa whoa, not trying to start a fight or anything. Just honest questions. And, Ola, you said in words what I was thinking about regulator design. Either you have a (slightly) more advanced multi-stage regulator that kicks in at different revs to provide power, or you have a cheap one that either charges at idle and discards excess power as heat at high revs, or doesn't charge at idle but is efficient at revs. I just thought that the first of the three options, like in most cars, is what there would be in motorcycles (complicated, but highly variable r/r) nowadays, like what I saw in the R1200GS I played around with.Z3n posted:I've got 2 SVs in the garage, and one older GSXR 600, I'll slap a battery in each one and take some readings some time soon. I'm going off the service manual specs which usually spec charging voltage at 4-5k. I agree. I think I inadvertently shifted the discussion. We all know that running it for a few minutes, charging at idle or not, will not charge the battery sufficiently to compensate for sitting for a month in the cold + starter usage (if used). I was just thinking that we had moved away from "OMG bikes don't charge at idle don't U kno that LOL?" stage (maybe not?). Though it would be interesting to see what the voltmeters say on your SVs and GSXR at idle (or, better yet, ammeter, if you have one equipped/handy, but that's being optimistic due to work involved). I just thought it funny that I can regularly get 1-2 amps of charging on a drained battery, at idle, on a bike that, well (to show its design age) still has an ammeter, and is itself completely incapable of monitoring RPM to suit. Maybe that's my homemade ammeter at play (stock one fried due to my own error after a complete rewiring job gone awry, whoops).
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Feb 25, 2012 10:52
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I'd be pretty interested to see how that voltage test turns out. I'm going to be riding to work even though it's only 10 minutes, can't keep away. I've always looked at my bikes as needing a little help to keep charged. If the bikes are at home, they are charging. Hell the Husky is on a tender as it's warming up, which is the only way the lights don't flicker at idle.
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Feb 25, 2012 10:56
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