Can battery affect engine performance

[disenfranchised]

The battery on my Hyo 250 died last friday...
Seemed a bit odd, as it hadn't missed a beat until then...was running fine Thursday night, and then friday morning, no power at all...almost like the lights had been left on (they hadn't...bit hard without a key in the ignition)

Anyway, I've had the battery swapped by the shop. I would have just done it myself, but with teh sudden failure I wasn't sure if it could be something else, so I got them to give it a quick check too.

No problems..just a bad battery, and no surprises there as they said battery failure is fairly common.

But with the new battery, the engine seems to have come to life...it seems to have more response down low in the rev range..and I might be imagining it, but it sounds nicer too.

So could the bad battery have been affecting the engine....misfiring spark plugs etc???

[Paul in NZ]

Yes..............................

[JimO]

it will be one of those new " high preformance" batterys:niceone:

[riffer]

Hmmm.

Hyosungs haven't been very long on the market.

I wonder if they've copied the Honda Regulator/Rectifier setup?

Keep an eye on this next one mate - if the battery dies again I'd be looking to see if its charging all right.

Then again, you could have just got a funny battery.

[Dino]

Yes - I have had it before with a bad battery affecting the running.

A bit strange that the battery is only 2 years old??

[Steam]

So could the bad battery have been affecting the engine....misfiring spark plugs etc???
Yep...

Some bikes generate electricity, then feed it into the battery, then everything runs off the battery, the sparkplugs and lights and everything.

But other bikes generate electricity, and that directly runs everything, you don't even need a battery.

[pete376403]

There is still some way of storing the juice, even momentarily (usually a capacitor)
Race engines are often fitted with a magneto to provide the ignition as the spark actually gets stronger as the revs rise.

[FJRider]

The battery on my Hyo 250 died last friday...

So could the bad battery have been affecting the engine....misfiring spark plugs etc???

Nothing man made lasts forever. Most battery manufacturers have guaranteed their product UP TO 12 months. After that is a lottery to how long they will last. Warning signs are when power drops off when the lights go on. You dont save money buying a cheap battery because you replace them TWICE AS OFTEN. Keep an eye on their fluid levels

[disenfranchised]

Nothing man made lasts forever. Most battery manufacturers have guaranteed their product UP TO 12 months. After that is a lottery to how long they will last. Warning signs are when power drops off when the lights go on. You dont save money buying a cheap battery because you replace them TWICE AS OFTEN. Keep an eye on their fluid levels

Hmmm, I still went with th echeap battery this time...just don't have much spare cash...and if I get another 18 months it's not too bad.
Doesn't sound like you lose money either..cause the quality battery was twice as expensive.

Fluid levels?....like you do with old crapped out car batteries...pouring boiled (and cooled) water in?
Never did that with my bike...it's a bit of a pain to get to..there's some electronic gizmo on top..the CDI maybe??

[Ixion]

There is still some way of storing the juice, even momentarily (usually a capacitor)
Race engines are often fitted with a magneto to provide the ignition as the spark actually gets stronger as the revs rise.

There's a gazillion BSA Bantams and Villers whatnots that say you're wrong !

[Spuds1234]

I had my battery go dead during the first 600km's of a 2500km trip.

I definatly noticed a difference in power when I got the battery charged again and again and again (yea thats right my stator coil melted).

The bike was more responsive, felt like it had way more grunt and didnt seem to be struggling at all.

[Grub]

It's also possible that the shop did the famous "... brown wire mod ..."

There's a thread somewhere here with "Hyosung flat spot" in it. Do a search because there you will find all about how unclipping the {brown?} wire from the CDI livens the bikes up something wonderful. Wannabiker has done it ... it works. Your shop may have done it for you too.

Of course it may be just the battery as everyone else is saying ... :)

[pete376403]

There's a gazillion BSA Bantams and Villers whatnots that say you're wrong !

Err, you can't really use "BSA Bantam" and "race engine" in the same sentence.
I never owned a Bantam, but I did have a few speedway bikes, JAPs and Jawas, and they did use magnetos, either BTH or PAL. THe PAL mags were let down by the crappy quality of the points and condensers, but once replaced with Bosch points (Chrysler Valiant part) and McCullough chainsaw condensers they chewed out a very fat spark. THe mags were reliably igniting very rich mixtures of slow burning methanol at 14:1 compression or better.

Also check out the ignition systems on Top Fuel dragster engines - twin magnetos putting about 40amps into each plug (the plugs are history after a run). There's no battery coil system that could do the job

[Ixion]

Not disputing the magneto bit. I likes magnetos I does. Had more than a few magneto ignition bikes, still have one. Disputing the



There is still some way of storing the juice, even momentarily (usually a capacitor)

bit.

Bantams had nothing. Magneto for spark, and a charging coil directly connected to the light bulbs .

[xwhatsit]

I swear my bike began to start a little easier when I fitted a big capacitor instead of a (slightly shit) battery. But the ignition system was poked to begin with, needed all the help it could get. Don't think it'd make a difference now.

Of course, no use if you have the `feature' of only an electric start.

[disenfranchised]

It's also possible that the shop did the famous "... brown wire mod ..."

There's a thread somewhere here with "Hyosung flat spot" in it. Do a search because there you will find all about how unclipping the {brown?} wire from the CDI livens the bikes up something wonderful. Wannabiker has done it ... it works. Your shop may have done it for you too.

Of course it may be just the battery as everyone else is saying ... :)

Nah...been there and done that already..ages ago

BTW...why is it called a stator in a bike, and an alternetor in a car?

[YellowDog]

Looks like you now have a 'Hybrid' Petrol/Battery powered bike!

It probably just seems faster after struggling with no battery power tp support the electrics.

May be worth checking the alternator function is working at the right rate before your wiring gets fried. If the headlamp dims when you switch off, this is a sign of disparity.

Good luck.

[T.W.R]

Err, you can't really use "BSA Bantam" and "race engine" in the same sentence.


Errr? yes you can ;)

http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36597&d=1152324551

that bike in the picture would run close to 100mph

Could supply three A4 pages of material from the BSA factory on specifics on how to hotrod the engines for racing :bleh:.

With Batteries, even using the wrong battery other than that specified for the bike will affect performance

[davereid]

BTW...why is it called a stator in a bike, and an alternetor in a car?

Not a lot of difference.

Both your bike and your car using a spinning magnetic field to create the juice.

The magnets are arranged so that as they spin, the magnetic field "cuts" the wires of the stator, producing electricity.

The real difference is on most bikes, they use "real" magnets. In a car alternator, they use electromagnets.

So on your bike, as you go faster, you create more electricity - even if you don't need it. Generally on your bike, a "shunt regulator" is used to stop things going way overvoltage. All it does is burn up a bit of the juice, turning it to heat to keep voltage down.

Simple circuit, and cheap. OK for bikes as they don't need much juice.

In a car, they turn the alternators electromagnets off, so the alternator produces only the required amount of juice. No excess heat, easy control etc.

[Ixion]

Nah...been there and done that already..ages ago

BTW...why is it called a stator in a bike, and an alternetor in a car?

Strictly, an alternator consists of a staor (non rotating bit) and a rotor (rotating bit - duh).

In a car the stator and rotor are assembled into a case , and the whole thing is removeable as a unit - called an alternator

On a bike the stator is usually bolted to the engine casings, and the rotor keyed to the end of the crankshaft - or as a flywheel (usually , lots of exceptions). So more common to refer to them separately.