cold battery

[Sava66]

Bob, nothing electrical works. I feel like maybe I'm missing something but the battery seems connected correctly. I rode it 20 miles at least today before this. It was running better than it ever has. So frustrating.

[Bob_Roller]

About the only thing that could possibly cause this, is the ignition switch .

If the kill switch was the problem the headlight will still work .

I don't know how well versed you are with using a multimeter .

If you have one and know how to use it, check the unused electrical connector under the fuel tank in the area around the relays, it may still have a blue cover on it .

It has a red wire, it is direct to the battery, see if you have 12 volts there .

You can check for 12 volts at the ignition switch the red wire there is direct from the battery also .

[Barry]

I'm a bit late into this so I might be going over old ground.

The original 5184 Varta battery size was  186mm x 81mm x 171mm and it's a fairly tight fit so that is pretty much the maximum size you can accommodate.

As far as starting is concerned the criteria for comparing batteries is not really the amp hour rating as when it comes to starting it's the CCA or Cold Cranking Amps that dictates the batteries performance. CCA is a function of plate surface area so if we are talking a normal wet cell then a physically smaller battery will inevitably have a lower CCA.  AGM batteries generally have a higher CCA than wet cells for any given size and capacity.  

[Sava66]

Barry, the battery does fit but with that big gas tank the previous owner put on its a very tight fit.i had it all bungeed into place and I was so proud of myself and then I turned the key and it was dead.

Bob, what about the comment on the diode switch? I just want to make sure you read about me connecting the battery with reverse polarity. I know how to use a multimeter. My bike doesn't have any covers which makes it kind of hard to understand reference points. What it needs is to completely rewired. The whole electric system is old and unreliable.

[Sava66]

Above my battery there is a lead with a narrow wire that looks like a battery lead (circular) but I don't know where it came from or what it's supposed to do. I read in the Haynes manual that maybe it at one time connected the tail light.
So I turn on the ignition and touch the red probe to the hot wire, where would I put the black probe?

[Luca]

Chapter 1

First things first.  Do as the wise man Monte (who's admittedly been in your shoes) says:

Have a beer, then disconnect the batt's neg cable, remove the front cover and check for a scorched spot on the diode board.

If you find a burned looking spot and smell that sad, burned electronics smell, well... eBay is your friend.

I might add that Rick Jones at motoelekt.com also stocks diode boards and is a pleasure to deal with.

There is no main fuse on the airhead's electrical system.  If I sound like a parrot on Monte's shoulder, it's for good reason.  As he said, you probably zapped the diode board when you juiced the system with reversed polarity.  It's an easy check and nothing will work if it is fried.  Just make sure to disconnect the negative lead on the battery before you remove that front cover.  If the diode board is still good, you could wreck it by shorting it out.

Though the airhead electrical system has it's flaws (no charging with a burnt-out gen light, crappy bosch stock coil, no good charging until midrange rpm, troublesome--for some people--ceramic strip fuses), it is pretty simple and straightforward, like the rest of your bike.  No need to rewire the thing unless it's been hacked apart or burned up by the battery mishap.


Chapter 2

The stock ignition system should be able to start your bike at 40F.  If you have hard starting issues, there are a few things to address.  1) The battery must be in good condition 2) the enrichener "jets" in the corner of the carb bowls need to be clear, as do the holes in the enrichener discs.  3) the plugs should be correct, gapped correctly, and not fouled or worn out.  4) the plug wires should be good.  If in doubt, or if they are original, they should be replaced.  5) the coil should be good.  The stock grey-colored bosch coil is notorious for cracking.  It can still work once cracked, but poorly.  6) the valves should be checked/adjusted and the carburetors tuned.

Starting fluid is ok to use, but think of it as a band-aid... don't use it on a broken bone.  The reason it is popular with (big) diesels is that they don't all have glow plugs or manifold heaters.  They just crank em until they start.  Starting fluid is actually worse for a diesel than a gasoline engine.  Diesels have no throttle (only an accelerator) and rely on the injectors for "ignition" timing.  Putting starting fluid in a diesel puts it at great risk of detonation, as the combustion chamber develops enough heat through compression to ignite fuel in the cylinder, whereas a gasoline engine needs a spark to ignite the (starting)fuel/air mixture.

[georgesgiralt]

Hello !
I'm afraid this could be bad.
The electronic regulator could have fried as the ignition ICU and maybe the tachometer which is electronic too. The clock and the flashing light control device can have fried too if you've used the flashing lights with the battery polarity reversed.
You can check for proper operation of the ICU by removing a plug cap, installing a known good plug into it, grounded properly on the barrel and see if you've sparks when turning the engine over with the starter or kick starter.
Testing the tacho on the bike is easy if the engine starts.... Dito for the voltage regulator. Look at the red light if it goes out and measure at the same time the battery voltage. If it goes way above 13 ~ 14 V (it can go up to 20 !) the regulator is fried.

I do not have the schematics for these devices, so I can't tell if they have bad polarity protection. So you've to test each one of this devices.
I do hope I'm wrong here.

[Sava66]

thanks guys, i can't thank you enough for the advice. i think i have enough to get me started but any other commens are of course welcome. i just found out a minute ago a guy in my class feels pretty comfortable around motorcycle electrical systems. i'm looking in the haynes manual and it says that the diode board is mounted on the timing chain cover. that's what we mean by "front cover"? when i turned it on with the battery in reverse polarity, i did not hear anything pop or burn, just nothing happened.  i will try to check each of the items above individually. Everything happens for a reason. I think the reason here is that I got really lazy about doing anything with this bike for awhile besides changing the oil.  my philosophy was "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". but now it's broke, and considering there really aren't a lot of bike repair shops around here, i have no choice. if the diode board is zapped, it should be visibly charred, i guess which should make for a quick diagnosis.  

[Barry]

Here's a link to a nice simple description for testing the diode board.

http://www.frankhams.freeserve.co.uk/testing_the_diode_board.htm

[montmil]

The diode board, Ignition Trigger Unit (ITU) aka: bean can and the alternator live under that large aluminum cover on the front of the engine. Easy off-easy on with just two Allen screws.

BTW, there's a pdf version of the R65 owners manual in the FAQs section. perfect for your '82 model. Check it out as it's muy helpful.

Oh, I found my photo of what can happen when the R65 battery is cross-connected. Dosen't take a rocket scientist to tell I did something vewy wong.  

[Sava66]

This is how the story ended: I got it picked up by Nathan from boxer works in watkinsville ga. It turns out that extra lead in the photo I posted needed to be attached too. Nothing electrical was damaged. Maybe I never attached it backwards! Anyway, he set up a mount off of the back of the engine, where the battery is supposed to fit, and installed the big batter I bought from staab. He also fixed the oil leak (hopefully) and cleaned up the connections to the starter. I rode it home 100 miles to augusta last night in 50 degree cold. My whole body was shivering. It was night time and painful and scary. But, the bike made it back, and seems to start much easier now. When the guy I bought it from chopped it up, he cut lots of corners and nothing is really mounted right, but I was already in for $500 and I didn't have the money to really do anything else. Thanks again for all your help. Mounting that bracket was just beyond my abilities.

[suecanada]

I am so happy all is well...this made for some good reading as it brought forth some very good replies from some very knowledgeable gurus in our forum. I hope I learned something! I am sorry though for your troubles as I know from experience how these breakdowns and mistakes can cause so much stress.

But we gotta look on the brightside as I've been saying to myself lately as our sewer pipes remain blocked for one week now...at least I'm not in a Turkish prison!!

[montmil]

...at least I'm not in a Turkish prison!!

Just smells like one, eh? Not that I might know.

[Barry]

I visited Turkey for the first time recently and admit to being a little apprehensive as the "Turkish prison" image courtesy of the film Midnight Express is still persuasive.

I'm happy to report that It's a wonderful country with very friendly and hospitable people. There are huge numbers of 125cc motorcycles and scooters some transporting the whole family 3rd world style and most without helmets.

Turkish drains are however infamous. They easily get blocked being significantly smaller in diameter than the ones we are used to. The reason they are smaller is traditionally they don't use paper and instead... well I won't elaborate so soon after breakfast.

On a more pleasant note here's a picture of some Turkish school children we met on the famous Lycian Way long distance footpath. They were charmingly innocent as they practiced their school room English on us.

[Sava66]

Turkey is the best! Very nice people and beautiful country.

On a separate note, today I am happy to report (though my freezing hands would beg to differ) that the Staab battery got my bike fired up in in 32 degree weather.  I am going to change the subject of this topic to "cold hands". does anyone have a solution to cold hands? Either really warm non-heated gloves, or not super expensive heated gloves? obviously i need some mobility as well.