Help, battery not charging while running also ignition problem.

Young-bike-nut

Young-bike-nut

Well-known member
My friend has a 1988 Honda Shadow vt1100 and the battery does not charge while running. Its a brand new battery. I said it was the stator because, dont quote me on this but isnt the stator like a mini altenator for a bike and its what charges the battery while running. Can anyone confirm this? Any other causes? Is the stator interal or can you get to it by removing a cover like the old yamaha's?

Also it has a ignition problem where when you turn the key to "OFF" the lights come on and it can start but when you turn it to "ON" it shuts the lights off and you cant start it.

Any ideas?

Thanks.
 
The stator is the stationary half of the alternator. You can remove the alternator cover to check it out, but an easier way to check would be to get a multimeter and probe at the battery while the bike is revving at around 2-3k rpm. If the voltage is below 13.5-14V then you know your charging system has failed and you can start debugging that.

The ignition may just be wired up backwards. If it's an old bike, there's a good chance that it has had it's wiring hardness messed with.

Check these out too so you have a better idea of what you're looking at:

http://www.ronayers.com/Fiche/TypeI...Model/VT1100C/GroupID/309202/Group/ALTERNATOR

http://www.ronayers.com/Fiche/TypeI...0C/GroupID/309215/Group/RIGHT_CRANKCASE_COVER
 
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Young-bike-nut said:
I said it was the stator because, dont quote me on this but isnt the stator like a mini altenator for a bike and its what charges the battery while running. Can anyone confirm this?
Click to expand...

Stator is a part of an alternator.

Alternator generates current by exposing wires to a fluctuating magnetic field. The two main components are a rotor that spins, and a stator that stays immobile.

The current that comes out of an alternator is AC (alternating current). Bike's electrical system uses DC (direct current). The AC is converted to DC via rectifier and voltage regulator. If the battery isn't charging, it can be any of these components.
 
Ok so I hooked it up to a multi meter and it is throughing no voltage at 2-3000 rpm. So does that mean the alternator is toast. How hard is it to get to the alternator?

Also I figured out the ignition problem. Just owners error.
 
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That probably means you're doing it wrong. Unless your battery is completely dead there should be some potential difference across the terminals. Was your DMM on the DC voltage setting? Probes in the right sockets?
 
Ok, hooked it to the fresh charged battery while running and it is loosing voltage the longer it runs. Tried letting it run and unhooking the terminal to see if it ran off of the alternator. It died as soon as I unhooked it. I believe the alternator is pooched. He asked if I could fix it and I said it a pretty big job. So he's taking it to a dealer. Also, none of us had a manual to try to take it apart.
 
At the beginning of the season my bike had this happen. Its a 94 and it turned out to be a sparkplug problem. Test your sparkplugs and see if it makes a difference replacing them.
 
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