Bugger to start

greenbarn · April 17, 2019, 21:35:12 PM

Would be nice to put a 24F on the luggage rack and run cables to it, LOL, plenty of capacity.... Too bad they use such small batteries and have such a small charging system.

moto · April 15, 2019, 23:58:18 PM

Yeah, new battery installed and ready to roll! More voltage = more power!

Pilgrim · April 15, 2019, 07:51:48 AM

The reliability of these Drifters is amazing, ride 50k miles...new battery and plugs, ride 50k more.

moto · April 15, 2019, 01:52:43 AM

I have same problem my own drifter.
Battery is about 10 years old 18Ah battery. It's starting my startermotor but nothing else.
Today I buy a new battery and spark plugs.

greenbarn · April 12, 2019, 21:32:01 PM

Quote from: drifter-paul on April 12, 2019, 02:49:11 AM
Starting Update.

Getting cheesed off, so kept cranking it.
Puff of smoke off the positive battery post (had seat off, checking if the leads were tight). Melted top of positive post ! Bolt hot ! Had a lecky mate come around. Took the battery out and the underside of the plate ( that screws to the post) on the positive lead was really grungy - filed damaged post flat and both plates and reassembled.

Fired right up as soon as I touched the starter button, like flipping a light switch.

Lessons learnt: 1 - only hit starter for 2 to 3 seconds, let wires cool for 20 seconds, then hit again
2 - check underside of lead plates when fitting new battery, I don't know how they could get so grungy but they did.

Hope that takes care of your problem.... bad connections can give you the same result as a low battery. Just replaced a starter in a F150 this week, from the battery cable being bad -- poor connection -> high draw -> high heat -> starter that smells like skunk ass.

greenbarn · April 12, 2019, 21:26:40 PM

Quote from: Old Drifter on April 08, 2019, 09:08:57 AM
I was going to switch out the standard 25w spotlight bulbs to 50w and didn't for this reason. I'm now considering LED bulbs.

I tried LED bulbs, but the ones I found did not stand up to the vibration and did not last long. Less than a season.

I switched back to 25W halogens.

Troll · April 12, 2019, 14:01:13 PM

Doesn't seem to run any differently. Doesn't seem to start any better either. Right up to the no start the other day, it always started instantly and ran just fine. I was going to put new plugs in last year, but inspection showed they were well within specs...I have new ones now, so another 50,000 miles without having to worry about them.

Pilgrim · April 12, 2019, 11:43:54 AM

Quote from: Troll on April 08, 2019, 14:45:21 PM
I hadn't really given any thought to your problem, as I don't have any way to experience the symptoms....but perhaps I just have. Today, for the second time since I own my Drifter, it refused to start. The first time was in 2010..right after I got it...and now, this morning. Both times, I replaced the spark plugs and it started instantly. The plugs I replaced today had about 80,000 miles on them. The gap was still within specs, and they were clean...but they just wouldn't fire. Just a thought...

80K miles is a lot of sparks Troll...guess you just wore em out. Bet it runs good with those new ones.

Old Drifter · April 12, 2019, 08:50:52 AM

Glad to hear that you got it! Now go for a nice long ride.

drifter-paul · April 12, 2019, 02:49:11 AM

Starting Update.

Getting cheesed off, so kept cranking it.
Puff of smoke off the positive battery post (had seat off, checking if the leads were tight). Melted top of positive post ! Bolt hot ! Had a lecky mate come around. Took the battery out and the underside of the plate ( that screws to the post) on the positive lead was really grungy - filed damaged post flat and both plates and reassembled.

Fired right up as soon as I touched the starter button, like flipping a light switch.

Lessons learnt: 1 - only hit starter for 2 to 3 seconds, let wires cool for 20 seconds, then hit again
2 - check underside of lead plates when fitting new battery, I don't know how they could get so grungy but they did.

Troll · April 08, 2019, 14:45:21 PM

I hadn't really given any thought to your problem, as I don't have any way to experience the symptoms....but perhaps I just have. Today, for the second time since I own my Drifter, it refused to start. The first time was in 2010..right after I got it...and now, this morning. Both times, I replaced the spark plugs and it started instantly. The plugs I replaced today had about 80,000 miles on them. The gap was still within specs, and they were clean...but they just wouldn't fire. Just a thought...

Bucko · April 08, 2019, 13:02:01 PM

A long time ago, I did some very unscientific testing with 25W, 35W and 50W bulbs. I couldn't tell the difference between any of them in terms of brightness so stuck with the 25W bulbs.

Old Drifter · April 08, 2019, 10:42:26 AM

Quote from: mittico68 on April 08, 2019, 09:34:36 AM
Me too, but as far as I remember, some time ago Ratman (R.I.P.) posted that his attempt to use LEDs was a failure, due to their lower brightness than standard bulb lights.

Thanks Marco, I seem to remember that. I still have the 25w bulbs in though.

mittico68 · April 08, 2019, 09:34:36 AM

Quote from: Old Drifter on April 08, 2019, 09:08:57 AM
I was going to switch out the standard 25w spotlight bulbs to 50w and didn't for this reason. I'm now considering LED bulbs.

Me too, but as far as I remember, some time ago Ratman (R.I.P.) posted that his attempt to use LEDs was a failure, due to their lower brightness than standard bulb lights.

Old Drifter · April 08, 2019, 09:08:57 AM

Quote from: greenbarn on April 06, 2019, 10:23:03 AM

The Drifters do not have a real large charging capacity. Do you do have any extra accessories? or larger wattage lights? - you could easily exceed the capacity of the charging system -- I switched to slightly higher wattage spotlights on my light bar once, and ran the battery down- while riding on a long ride-- and it would not start at a gas station.

I was going to switch out the standard 25w spotlight bulbs to 50w and didn't for this reason. I'm now considering LED bulbs.

Bucko · April 08, 2019, 02:47:10 AM

Thanks GB.

Trall · April 07, 2019, 20:33:09 PM

Quote from: greenbarn on April 07, 2019, 09:52:27 AM
I looked and don't immediately see them still on Ebay, but they might still be there somewhere. You can see it mounted on the top of the triple tree, to the right of the center nut. I wanted something 1) unobtrusive and 2) easy to read going down the road at a glance. This one does not give you a digital read out of the volts (e.g. 14.0 V), but has red and green LED lights that light up across the face. I know which light is "normal" so it's easy to monitor. There are a TON of gauges to pic from on Ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2057872.m570.l1313.TR6.TRC2.A0.H0.Xmotorcycle+volt+meter.TRS1&_nkw=motorcycle+volt+meter&_sacat=0

Good to know. Great tip

greenbarn · April 07, 2019, 18:02:32 PM

Here's my volt meter in use. The higher the voltage the more green lights . At road speed, I get 3 green lights, which is 14 V. So I can keep an eye on the system.

greenbarn · April 07, 2019, 09:52:27 AM

I looked and don't immediately see them still on Ebay, but they might still be there somewhere. You can see it mounted on the top of the triple tree, to the right of the center nut. I wanted something 1) unobtrusive and 2) easy to read going down the road at a glance. This one does not give you a digital read out of the volts (e.g. 14.0 V), but has red and green LED lights that light up across the face. I know which light is "normal" so it's easy to monitor. There are a TON of gauges to pic from on Ebay:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2057872.m570.l1313.TR6.TRC2.A0.H0.Xmotorcycle+volt+meter.TRS1&_nkw=motorcycle+volt+meter&_sacat=0

Bucko · April 06, 2019, 12:19:49 PM

Quote from: greenbarn on April 06, 2019, 10:23:03 AM

I suggest (for everyone) to install a small volt meter so you can monitor the charging / battery condition whilst riding-- might keep you out of a jam. I have one on both Drifters.

GB: can you post a pix of what you've done or a link if you've already posted it?

greenbarn · April 06, 2019, 10:23:03 AM

Hard to tell with no more information than we have, but sounds like maybe it's not charging. You say, if you trickle charge it, then it will start? If you do not, then it "chugs away but will not fire". ?? The 1500 fuel injection system is very sensitive to a low battery. They can turn over what SEEMS to be plenty fast enough that you would think they SHOULD start... but will not. If you think it's cranking slower than normal, it probably is a low battery voltage, and the fuel injection isn't getting enough voltage to work properly.

You need to do some testing to see exactly what it is or isn't doing. The battery voltage should always be around 12.6V for a charged battery. This is with the bike not running. So after trickle charging - you need 12.6 or close to it -- or else you have a bad battery (I don't care if it's "new", there are bad new batteries sometimes). Once it's running - your charging system hast to be somewhere ABOVE 12.6 V. Around 14.5 is considered "normal", but could be somewhat less. Check this with no extra "accessories" running -- such as driving lights, GPS, heated seats, any extra lights, etc.

The Drifters do not have a real large charging capacity. Do you do have any extra accessories? or larger wattage lights? - you could easily exceed the capacity of the charging system -- I switched to slightly higher wattage spotlights on my light bar once, and ran the battery down- while riding on a long ride-- and it would not start at a gas station.

I suggest (for everyone) to install a small volt meter so you can monitor the charging / battery condition whilst riding-- might keep you out of a jam. I have one on both Drifters.

drifter-paul · April 04, 2019, 03:26:37 AM

My starter motor went out, at 167,000 and took the battery with it. Replaced both and trickle charged the new battery and took it for a 150K run (have a Vstr5om 650 which is much less effort for an aging bloke) so I no longer ride her daily. When I try to start , she chugs away but does'nt fire. New plugs, a little choke and I'm lucky if she starts/ dry plugs , sit , (maybe) trickle charge and away she goes.

Pain in the ass. What am I missing ? New leads ? Faulty alternator ? Anyone else had this ?
Thanks