Flat battery- indicator/tacho problems

[Daza]

Was about to make a trip to Taupo this arvo, get on bike to start `er up and turn key to on and no Neutral light, headlight is dead too. I kickstart bike, it started fine without choke, and neutal light came on. But as i was warming it up, slightly reving it the tacho meter hardly moved at all, when i give it more gas to 4,000 (where i normally warm it up) its reving way too loud for what it usually does and if i gave it more gas revs finally did jump up to 5-6k or whatever blipping throttle gave for a moment.

Indicator lights work but seem to instead of flashing as normal, more like its shorting out but they stay on. The indicator dash display doesn't blink at all just stays on, and will turn off when i turn indicator light off.

I rode down to the petrol station and filled up, im sure i reset the odemeter to zero, on way home which is a 1min up the road, it says i've done 12ks already (er..perhaps i didnt reset it properly, im sure i did). Bike runs fine.

Does power/electric problems affect rev meter and odermeter readings too?

I took the seat off to check wiring, it looks all normal no loose wires to my (very much untrained) eye. As from what i can see same at behind tacho dash. I've never had any electrical probs to date with. Bike is stored undercover btw.

Could it be the battery needs replacing? i can kickstart it fine. If battery is flat for whatever reason, would this cause my indicators behave as they do? or should they function normally once the bike is running?

Any idea on how much it costs to get a new battery? I'm not sure how old mine is.

Thanks to anyone who can offer me some advice or have had this same problem,

Cheers

Daz

[breakaway]

Yes, a flat battery will cause your indicators to stay on. A guy I know with a RG150 had the same problem. They worked properly when he revved the tits off it (I presume this is because more electricity is being produced and therefore allowing bits to get enough power to work properly).

[davereid]

Yes, a nuked battery can cause all the problems you have described. (I assume the speedo must be electronic ?)

If the battery is stuffed you should replace it before using the bike. As your alternator has no field windings, it will still make power OK, but all your electrics are being stressed.

[Daza]

Will a flat batt play havoc on the Odmeter and rev meter too? I'm not very knowledgeable about these things as you can guess, but these problems are lessons in themshelves.

I'm gonna take it for a 40min ride and see if i can re-charge the battery that way. It is possible i wonder?? if i took the ignition key out but it was still on the On position for three days with the neutral light still on, would that drain a battery after 3 days? I usually ride with my headlights on, but im sure they would of been spotted left on when parked up.

So if recharging battery doesn't change anything, might have to try getting a new battery and go from there. I hoping it isn't something else.

[arj127]

with the neutral light on for three days, the battery will definately be drained. There only small batteries and don't carry many amp hours.
Buy yourself a new one and have some piece of mind that you've at least got a new battery. There not expensive.

[Daza]

Yeah i think a new battery is on the cards.
I took it for 50k ride, and little difference, didnt seem to recharge at all. The indicator light on the dash does now blink but not in its normal way, this is when the revs are low ie. idle. When i rev the bike the light stays on.

When i turn off engine after said ride, no neutral light display, nothing. I would of thought a 50k ride would of at least partly recharged battery since it isn't very big.

Also the Rev meter (when riding at 50-60kph) when braking would go to zero each time i touched the brakes lol

Can you get motorbike batteries at normal battery places as you do for cages? or do i have to order one through a bike shop? Will they be ready to go or need charging?

Hopefully this will fix the problems.

[Mike748]

You should be able to get a battery from Repco charged and ready to go for $60-$70, measure your battery up or take it in with you. Don't forget to note which side your terminals are on and if you have enough cable to re route them to get them to reach.
A cheap 12v voltmeter is real handy for finding electrical faults.
Batteries can also just "drop a cell" without warning giving you enough power for dash lights but not to engage the starter or run the electrics properly.