Strange Occurrence

[greggh]

I had something wierd happen yesterday.
98 Stnd with 73 k for miles.
I have owned her for the last five years and have never replaced the  battery.
Yesterday while getting on the highway I noticed my tach went dead, Blown Fuse?
So I proceded to chase down and overtake some crotch rockets with a Buddy and his Wing, then I noticed I was unable to get over 110 mph?
NO concerns because I had a strong 40 mph head wind.
Uppon getting to the garage I notcied she was not sounding right in regards to engine noise, however she was still running and Idled ok.
I shut it down and then tried to start it again and the starter draged like the battery had no juice.
Checked all the fuses and all connections and everything was just fine.
Put her on the battery tender over night and she fired right up this morning and the tach was even working.
Seems lke I got an unexpected length of life out of my battery of five years.
Time to purchase a new battery? 
Any thoughts and or suggestions?
TIA GreggH

[Madmike]

check the voltage with a multimeter... maybe your alternator is not putting out

[Gryphon Rider]

Alternator rotor.

[greggh]

I do not have any volt meters and the Battery being 5 years old I am willing to get a new battery and call it at that.  Until some other symptoms occur.

[Gryphon Rider]

Your symptoms are that of an alternator failure, and the most common way an alternator fails on Valkyries is one of the wires in the windings of the rotor breaks.  Putting a charge on your battery allowed your battery to start the bike.  That means your battery is good enough to NOT be the cause of your symptoms.  While it might be a good idea to replace a five-year-old battery just because it's old, your problem will not be solved.  When an alternator fails, your ignition will run from battery power for a while until it is discharged.  The first thing the rider notices is the tachometer stops working.  Shortly thereafter the ignition becomes inconsistent.  Eventually the bike stalls and will not turn over with the starter.  Letting the battery recover for a little while might restore enough juice to get the bike running again, but you won't get far.  Before you buy a battery, why not spend $5 or $10 and get a cheap multimeter so you can confirm that your battery voltage doesn't increase when you rev the engine.  This will confirm that it is a charging problem, not a battery problem.

[Disco]

I'm with Gryphon Rider.   

Your battery might be going bad, but I suspect the alternator as the cause.  Symptoms sound familiar.

[YoungPUP]

2-5 bucks for a cheapie multimeter at the good old harbor freight.  Hate to see ya waste a good battery on a crapped out alternator.

[Chiefy]

Your symptoms are that of an alternator failure, and the most common way an alternator fails on Valkyries is one of the wires in the windings of the rotor breaks.  Putting a charge on your battery allowed your battery to start the bike.  That means your battery is good enough to NOT be the cause of your symptoms.  While it might be a good idea to replace a five-year-old battery just because it's old, your problem will not be solved.  When an alternator fails, your ignition will run from battery power for a while until it is discharged.  The first thing the rider notices is the tachometer stops working.  Shortly thereafter the ignition becomes inconsistent.  Eventually the bike stalls and will not turn over with the starter.  Letting the battery recover for a little while might restore enough juice to get the bike running again, but you won't get far.  Before you buy a battery, why not spend $5 or $10 and get a cheap multimeter so you can confirm that your battery voltage doesn't increase when you rev the engine.  This will confirm that it is a charging problem, not a battery problem.

This is consistant with my experience on too many used cars.

Take your battery out and go to Batteries plus.  They'll test it for you.  Some auto parts stores will also.  Even if you want to replace it anyway, it should help you pinpoint the problem.

[Chrisj CMA]

I had something wierd happen yesterday.
98 Stnd with 73 k for miles.
I have owned her for the last five years and have never replaced the  battery.
Yesterday while getting on the highway I noticed my tach went dead, Blown Fuse?
So I proceded to chase down and overtake some crotch rockets with a Buddy and his Wing, then I noticed I was unable to get over 110 mph?
NO concerns because I had a strong 40 mph head wind.
Uppon getting to the garage I notcied she was not sounding right in regards to engine noise, however she was still running and Idled ok.
I shut it down and then tried to start it again and the starter draged like the battery had no juice.
Checked all the fuses and all connections and everything was just fine.
Put her on the battery tender over night and she fired right up this morning and the tach was even working.
Seems lke I got an unexpected length of life out of my battery of five years.
Time to purchase a new battery? 
Any thoughts and or suggestions?
TIA GreggH

Some will disagree with me, but extended use with a weak battery is hard on our little alternators.  Sounds like the 55A fusable link may have blown.  Check it to be sure its under the right side cover.....

[greggh]

I am going to have the alternator check at a friends garage and make the detirmination from the stay tuned.
I did think it to be strange that the tach wnet dead on me and there were no blown fuses anywhere!
Will get the alternator checked out.
Thanks a bunch guys.
Greggh

[da prez]

   Start with basics before indepth testing. Clean all terminals and connections to include the grounds. They are often overlooked as a cause. Dirty connections make for high resistance. You might have lost an alternator, but to replace it without checking all possibilities could lead to another failure. Check the symptoms and the causes as well .
                                                                         da prez

[Ricky-D]

YoungPup has it right!

Go spend a few bucks for a cheapie volt/ohm meter.

How can you form an opinion on electrical issues without one?

***

[art]

My alternator went out at 80000 mi. Be sure to check it out

[greggh]

The plan is to take the advise that has been given.
Will know more later this week or weekend.
Thank for everyones advise.

Greggh

[Hoser]

My alternator went out at 80000 mi. Be sure to check it out

Ihave 94k on my original, but I carry a spare in my saddle bag when I ride long.  Hoser

[greggh]

If rebuilding the alternator is needed what parts am I looking to replace?
Greggh

[sheets]

Did you confirm the "fusible link" is still intact? I experienced the same loss of power / dead battery symptoms one time on my 1200 GW. Was the fuse as mentioned above. Replaced and all was good in the 'hood. 

[Hoser]

If rebuilding the alternator is needed what parts am I looking to replace?
Greggh

Most fair sized cities have an auto electric shop or two that can rebuild our alternator, it is in actuality an automobile alternator. It also is available on line, I got my spare here:
http://myplace.frontier.com/~hemi-roid/
hoser

[greggh]

My alternator went out at 80000 mi. Be sure to check it out

Ihave 94k on my original, but I carry a spare in my saddle bag when I ride long.  Hoser

Where is this fusable link at?

[greggh]

Did you confirm the "fusible link" is still intact? I experienced the same loss of power / dead battery symptoms one time on my 1200 GW. Was the fuse as mentioned above. Replaced and all was good in the 'hood. 

Where is this fusable link at?

[Chrisj CMA]

the fusable link is where I said....behind the right side cover in a rectangular box that says "fuse" on it....oh, and if its blown there should be a spare tucked in the side of the lid, but still go out and get a new one!

[sheets]

Open the little black box that has the word "fuse - fusible" embossed on the cover.
The fusible link is a very thin strip of metal... that will disintegrate in the center... leaving a disconnect. 

The green connection is the one that needs to be inspected and cleaned periodically.

[greggh]

Yepper, checked that fuse also.
All fuses check out ok.  Will have the alternator tested here later this week.
THanks
Greggh

[greggh]

If rebuilding the alternator is needed what parts am I looking to replace?
Greggh

Most fair sized cities have an auto electric shop or two that can rebuild our alternator, it is in actuality an automobile alternator. It also is available on line, I got my spare here:
http://myplace.frontier.com/~hemi-roid/
hoser

Hey Hoser, how current are those prices?  They seem really resonable!

[Ricky-D]

You can test the alternator yourself while it's on the bike with a simple volt meter.

Measure across the posts on the battery.

If the reading does not rise with the rpms you know it is not working.

How high the reading goes with the rpms is a measure of how good the alternator is working.

The manual says with the high beam on the reading should be about 15-1/2 volts (@ 5k rpms), more than that is not good, less means the same.

***

[Hoser]

If rebuilding the alternator is needed what parts am I looking to replace?
Greggh

Most fair sized cities have an auto electric shop or two that can rebuild our alternator, it is in actuality an automobile alternator. It also is available on line, I got my spare here:
http://myplace.frontier.com/~hemi-roid/

Hey Hoser, how current are those prices?  They seem really resonable!

Bought it about 6 months ago.  Hoser

[greggh]

Well the test results are in and the Alternator is the problem.
I have the website that Hoser had posted and will most lilkey be getting a rebuild from there.
Thanks to everyone for their imput and their support.

Greggh

[Ricky-D]

Here is the site for M.A.R.S.  Motorcycle Alternator Repair Service

http://mysite.verizon.net/resp3jbj/

I think this guy is well respected by the Valkyrie forum and is also a supporter of the forum.

He repaired my alternator and was very easy to communicate with. I am a very satisfied customer.

***