That Old Chestnut

[Bixxer Bob]

Never one to shy away from reviving a discussion,  I read this in Oct 10 Bike mag, page 154.  They're actually talking about an Aprillia Tuono but the principle's the same:

"Good ones have.... A Good Battery.  The starter should spin the motor easily, with no solenoid clicks or nasty noises.  Weak batteries overload the alternator, causing older block connectors to overheat, the stator to fail and the sprag clutch to wear through and not engage properly.  It's a £400 fix.  The dash should show charging 13v to 14.5v".

Soooo,  it's not just Tigers and Blackbirds that burn their connectors.... :roll:

[Nick Calne]

Saw that too and thought just the same.  How come some bikes do this and some don't?

[NKL]

My Yamaha XTZ750 melted the block connector between gen and rec and burnt out the reg/rec and the wires coming out of the genny, my theory is a poor conection in the plug creates a chain reaction that eventually blows everything, my 2006 model tiger has lots of electrical grease in the plug connectors, I'm hoping that will protect it from failure.

[2004Tiger]

... my 2006 model tiger has lots of electrical grease in the plug connectors, I'm hoping that will protect it from failure.

A good precaution, but don't minimize the main point of the article:

"Good ones have.... A Good Battery."

Keep your battery strong. I plug in the trickle charger during summer when the bike is idle for more than a few days, and of course all winter long. Also, test your battery. If it cannot keep near to 13 volts for 24 hours after your charger is removed, it is weak.

[oxnsox]

Not sure how a weak battery overloads the alternator.......
If your battery is that duff then I doubt it'll start the bike.

[2004Tiger]

Not sure how a weak battery overloads the alternator.......
If your battery is that duff then I doubt it'll start the bike.

A weak battery, which never comes up to a full charge, causes the alternator to constantly supply a charging current in addition to the current used by ignition and accessories.

[oxnsox]

Understand that... But alternator has a set output (on the Girly) so it's pumping the power either into the system (including the battery) or to lossy heat.
In short it doesn't know whether you have a good battery there or not, it just keeps pumping out the power.

And the result is pretty much the same if you have a smarter regulator or control the fields to adjust the alt. output.  The alternator will always put out either max or something less, depending upon how it's controlled and how hot it is.

[NKL]

And there was nothing wrong with the battery on my XTZ

[NKL]

And there was nothing wrong with the battery on my XTZ

[Colonel Nikolai]

That APRILIA TUONO is pretty sweet though.

[Bixxer Bob]

Trans-form-ers...... robots in disguise....... :lol:

I agree though, and it's full fat, not a watered-down version of it's sports bike brother.

[Nick Calne]

If it wasn't for Triumph, then I think Aprilia's would be the bike for me.

Not sure about the brown frame colour though.