We limit access by GUESTS to protect our members from spam, hacks and trolls. Please register to gain access to all our resources.
Posted by greenbarn
- April 17, 2019, 21:35:12 PMWould 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.
Posted by moto
- April 15, 2019, 23:58:18 PMYeah, new battery installed and ready to roll! More voltage = more power!
Posted by Pilgrim
- April 15, 2019, 07:51:48 AMThe reliability of these Drifters is amazing, ride 50k miles...new battery and plugs, ride 50k more.
Posted by moto
- April 15, 2019, 01:52:43 AMI 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.
Posted by greenbarn
- April 12, 2019, 21:32:01 PMQuote from: drifter-paul on April 12, 2019, 02:49:11 AMHope 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.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.
Posted by greenbarn
- April 12, 2019, 21:26:40 PMQuote from: Old Drifter on April 08, 2019, 09:08:57 AMI 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.
Posted by Troll
- April 12, 2019, 14:01:13 PMDoesn'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.
Posted by Pilgrim
- April 12, 2019, 11:43:54 AMQuote from: Troll on April 08, 2019, 14:45:21 PM80K miles is a lot of sparks Troll...guess you just wore em out. Bet it runs good with those new ones.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...
Posted by Old Drifter
- April 12, 2019, 08:50:52 AMGlad to hear that you got it! Now go for a nice long ride. 
Posted by drifter-paul
- April 12, 2019, 02:49:11 AMStarting 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.
Posted by Troll
- April 08, 2019, 14:45:21 PMI 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...
Posted by Bucko
- April 08, 2019, 13:02:01 PMA 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.
Posted by Old Drifter
- April 08, 2019, 10:42:26 AMQuote from: mittico68 on April 08, 2019, 09:34:36 AMThanks Marco, I seem to remember that. I still have the 25w bulbs in though.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.
Posted by mittico68
- April 08, 2019, 09:34:36 AMQuote from: Old Drifter on April 08, 2019, 09:08:57 AMI 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.
Posted by Old Drifter
- April 08, 2019, 09:08:57 AMQuote from: greenbarn on April 06, 2019, 10:23:03 AMI was going to switch out the standard 25w spotlight bulbs to 50w and didn't for this reason. I'm now considering LED bulbs.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.