Bike trouble

[.]

On the way to Eureka Springs my alternator crapped out on me and I'm having no luck finding a truck. If I pull the headlight fuse does anybody have a guess how far I can run two up with a full charge. I'm about 160 miles from home and I have to get back today.

[Jess from VA]

Not sure of the answer to this,  but couldn't he secure a cheapo auto 12 volt battery in the trunk or saddlebag and use it for backup if the bike battery doesn't make it?  Need some heavy wire to hook it up.  Cheaper than a truck rental or flatbed tow.

[Hoser]

I think you can make 160 miles, no harm trying, it damn sure will get you closer.  Hoser   

[old2soon]

And + 1 on the backup battery. Wish I was closer to ya. Good luck.

[Dave Ritsema]

If you can get a full charge on your battery and stop by the local wal-mart and get a spare battery and have them throw it on the charger for an hour or so I would think that you should make it with the headlight fuse pulled.

[gregc]

  Got anybody to ride with you?  You could swap each others batteries every hour or so.

[.]

Well, I got my question answered, sort of. Approximately 100 miles on a full charge. I stopped by a bike shop in Eureka Springs this morning and picked up an extra battery, got the original charged up as well, and took off. I pulled the headlight fuse and rode like I normally do and made it 90 miles with two stops before the tach quit (which is apparently the last thing to go before the engine quits) so I ran another five miles and coasted into a gas station to top off the tank and swap batteries. Another 90 miles and I stopped at an Auto Zone to pick up a battery charger (and they charged up my battery for me as well so I knew it was 100 percent topped off and I was 10 miles from home) because the turn signal indicator was getting dim (I discovered earlier the turn signals quit just before the tach so I was using them to gauge how close to "empty" the battery was getting).

So, I'm home again safe and sound, and now am the proud owner of two batteries and a battery charger plus I got to stay overnight in Eureka Springs dancing the night away with my sweetie. Getting hammered and falling on my ass was just a bonus. A new alternator is on the way and hopefully that will cure my problem.

I did  notice, however, a metallic rattling sound coming from somewhere in the engine when I first take off (it actually sounds like screws rattling around in a can and then goes away around 1700 RPMs, and under a hard pull below 3K RPMs I hear a noise that sounds a lot like the pinging you get from the timing being off or bad fuel. Does that sound anything like a related problem or do I have a whole different problem to start worrying about? I don't know enough about the electrical system to take a guess but all these symptoms began at the same time. Any insight is appreciated.

[sandy]

The pinging could be low voltage to the coils which might give a weak spark. Wait till you get it fixed to worry about it.

[.]

The pinging could be low voltage to the coils which might give a weak spark. Wait till you get it fixed to worry about it.

Thanks. I was hoping it might be related.

[Pappy!]

Could also be a mechanical issue with the failed alternator...................hope that's what it is.

[old2soon]

Glad yer home safe and sound. Iffin ya can't dance the night away with yer sweetie and get hammered and fall on da keester-well hell-time to slam the lid!!  RIDE SAFE.

[Mr.BubblesVRCCDS0008]

I often thought about a lawn mower battery in a saddlebags as a back up plan. I lost an alt. about 230 miles from home and a u-haul truck and gas cost me close to 300 bucks. If I had been by myself I would have tried it with a spare battery and a pulled headlight fuse. I push started it several times that day trying to get the most of my bike battery but got in traffic and the fan started kicking on and I knew my time was short.

[R J]

Did you order a Valkyrie Alternator or the Gold Wing replacement which is mucho cheaper?

Keep this list handy, It could save ya a bundle in $$$$.

http://www.jkozloski.com/generic_parts.htm

[MacDragon]

Glad you made it home safe and sound.  Time to figure out the problem now.  Hope it's not too costly.

[musclehead]

glad you made it home

[.]

Thanks for the list RJ, I'll definitely keep a copy of that around. This is the part I ordered from eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/120822696945?item=120822696945&viewitem=&vxp=mtr
As I looked over the alternator it seems like a fairly easy install so I'm going to attempt it myself before resorting to a shop to save a few $$.

At the shop in Eureka Springs where I bought a new battery the mechanic told me of a time when his charging system failed 600 miles from home so he wired up two car batteries from his saddle bags and made it home. I wasn't quite to that point as I'd have to have left a lot of my clothes on the side of the road but it was good to find out just how far the bike will run on just the battery.

[old2soon]

On the takin out of the alt and the install of the new one. Battery disconnected for sure. There is one way out and one way in. You are in for an exciting time and a learning experience. Look in the tech section archives and a Honda manual for the Valkyrie is very helpful. If you have a lift get it up some so you DO NOT have to kneel/squat so much. Some folks here have had it come right out and go right back in. I wasn't one of those.  Good luck with it. When you get your new alt please let us know what make it is and WHERE it was manufactured. As always-T I A. RIDE SAFE.

[Jess Tolbirt]

was the noises you heard on a weak battery or a charged up one?

[John Schmidt]

ShadowD....welcome to the club of failed alternators. Had it happen many years ago on an old bike which didn't have the alternator of today's bikes. Murphy's Law was definitely being applied at the time; if anything bad will happen, it will do so at the most inopportune time. In my case it was 2:00am and cell phones were many years away....and about 300 miles from home. I pushed the bike to the top of a rise about 1/4 mile away and lo and behold, there was an all night gas station out in the middle of nowhere...about 3/4 mile away. I gave the old girl a good running start down the hill and hopped on. Must have been doing a good 40mph by the time I hit the bottom and was able to coast to within about 50 yds. of the station. Was that guy ever surprised to see me roll in but was very helpful. I spent the next couple hrs. with him playing Gin Rummy while my battery got charged and he gave me a second old battery which was also getting charged. Made it home on the second battery with no problem. Didn't have to pull any fuses, lights back then were controlled via a headlight switch, and good fortune....it was nearly a full moon. Kinda weird riding that way in the dead of night.

Glad you made it home in good shape. Just one question though.....how is getting hammered and falling on your butt considered a bonus? 

[MacDragon]

ShadowD....welcome to the club of failed alternators. Had it happen many years ago on an old bike which didn't have the alternator of today's bikes. Murphy's Law was definitely being applied at the time; if anything bad will happen, it will do so at the most inopportune time. In my case it was 2:00am and cell phones were many years away....and about 300 miles from home. I pushed the bike to the top of a rise about 1/4 mile away and lo and behold, there was an all night gas station out in the middle of nowhere...about 3/4 mile away. I gave the old girl a good running start down the hill and hopped on. Must have been doing a good 40mph by the time I hit the bottom and was able to coast to within about 50 yds. of the station. Was that guy ever surprised to see me roll in but was very helpful. I spent the next couple hrs. with him playing Gin Rummy while my battery got charged and he gave me a second old battery which was also getting charged. Made it home on the second battery with no problem. Didn't have to pull any fuses, lights back then were controlled via a headlight switch, and good fortune....it was nearly a full moon. Kinda weird riding that way in the dead of night.

Glad you made it home in good shape. Just one question though.....how is getting hammered and falling on your butt considered a bonus?  

Ha ha ha... John, I've known ShadowDragon for a few years on another site... I'll start an answer for him if I may be so bold, and he can correct me if I'm wrong. 

You see.  Getting hammered and falling on his arse while dancing WITH his girl was a bonus because... If he wouldn't have made it home in time to go to this little shin-dig WITH HER... she would have KNOCKED him on his arse, and then HAMMERED him.  It was the lesser of two evils and certainly a BONUS...

[.]

ShadowD....welcome to the club of failed alternators. Had it happen many years ago on an old bike which didn't have the alternator of today's bikes. Murphy's Law was definitely being applied at the time; if anything bad will happen, it will do so at the most inopportune time. In my case it was 2:00am and cell phones were many years away....and about 300 miles from home. I pushed the bike to the top of a rise about 1/4 mile away and lo and behold, there was an all night gas station out in the middle of nowhere...about 3/4 mile away. I gave the old girl a good running start down the hill and hopped on. Must have been doing a good 40mph by the time I hit the bottom and was able to coast to within about 50 yds. of the station. Was that guy ever surprised to see me roll in but was very helpful. I spent the next couple hrs. with him playing Gin Rummy while my battery got charged and he gave me a second old battery which was also getting charged. Made it home on the second battery with no problem. Didn't have to pull any fuses, lights back then were controlled via a headlight switch, and good fortune....it was nearly a full moon. Kinda weird riding that way in the dead of night.

Glad you made it home in good shape. Just one question though.....how is getting hammered and falling on your butt considered a bonus?  

Ha ha ha... John, I've known ShadowDragon for a few years on another site... I'll start an answer for him if I may be so bold, and he can correct me if I'm wrong.  

You see.  Getting hammered and falling on his arse while dancing WITH his girl was a bonus because... If he wouldn't have made it home in time to go to this little shin-dig WITH HER... she would have KNOCKED him on his arse, and then HAMMERED him.  It was the lesser of two evils and certainly a BONUS...

What Mac said.   To which I can only add-she was with me on the trip so if she had spent any time at all pushing us home-I'd have gotten knocked on my arse and hammered a second time but wouldn't have had nearly so much fun.  

Edit-I'll make a note of the alternator number when it comes in and try to get some pics and do a write up on my wrenching adventure. This is, of course, assuming that I get to the other end of this magical mystery tour and still own a functioning Valkyrie and not an 800 pound paperweight.

[John Schmidt]

Hey, I understand fully, just needed the full picture. 

[.]

Okay sports fans, here's about a half an update. Half because I decided to get started but it will still be a couple of days before the new alternator comes in. But, since there was nothing keeping me from pulling the old alternator out....

* First I pulled the battery out and put it on a charger
* Pulled the alternator cover and the left side chrome transmission cover and all of the alternator bolts
* I used a wide blade chisel to get in between the alternator and the housing and using gentle pressure I worked it out to where I could get my hands on it and then...
* I worked it back in to the housing so I could pull off...
* The bracket that holds the seat release mechanism where you put the key in to take the seat off and...
* The right side transmission cover because it would not allow the seat release bracket to pull far enough up to give me the clearance I needed to work the alternator out and then...
* I used the chisel again and worked the alternator back out and worked it around and cursed and worked it some more and cursed and worked it some more and I finally managed to make up enough nasty offensive words that I was able to work it out of the little hole that Honda made half as big as an alternator to cram a f#!king alternator into!!!!!

Once I worked it loose I undid one bolt and pulled one plug to disconnect the electrical connections and headed to the liquor store (the battery is still on the charger but I figured the occasion calls for me to get enough juice to light me up too). The new alternator should be in by Thursday and with any luck will be installed by that night. I'll update once it's back together.

The only real impediment I had to deal with beside the really tight clearances is my old age and infirmity that keeps my bones popping and joints aching when I try to do close quarter work low to the ground but this so far seems like a pretty straightforward task that requires more determination than real talent-which is good because I have plenty of one and none of the other.

Keep those good thoughts coming this way.  

[R J]

When ya get the new alternator, lay it in position, observe the room it needs to go through, look at all the things sticking out for you to catch on the frame and etc.      Once ya got it all lined up, lay the alt in the hole, nose down a little bit, and kind of roll it a little bit and it should fall right into place.

Well, that has worked for me several times............    I fought the s**t out of my 1st one I pulled, then I cussed worse than a drunken sailor on leave in Port, and can't find a lady for the evening. to put it back in, no, I don't have no firkin patience at times.      Like when I'd pull some one over and they would lie through their teeth to any & all questions ya ask.    Them thar ones were the ones who would get a citation and a small chance, make that a large chance of getting stuck in the pookie for the night.

I happened to read in this forum somewhere where someone did the little twist trick ands it fell rignt into place.

So Good Luck and happy motoring when job completed.

[Karen]

Has anyone here replaced the brushes on their alternator before it failed? A few years ago, a shop in New Hampshire told me my alternator (or was it my starter?) brushes were almost gone, and they replaced them for me. Both have worked fine since. (Sorry, senior moment struck, can't remember which it was now...)

[old2soon]

ShadowDragon-rekemember what I said???  The wire on the alt that points to the other side of the bike-put it on AFTER the alt is in place. TRUST me on this. Couple long 1/4 inch extensions and yer good to go. Some where on here Mark-T modified the frame for a much bigger alt-compufire I believe is what it's called. I know you are not installing a compufire but the write up he did is very interesting. Again-good luck and RIDE SAFE.

[Jess Tolbirt]

make sure the new alt itself is lined up with itself. some times you have to pull the bolts out of the alt and rotate it to line it up like it should be. b ut i believe that was when you install a gold wing alt.

[Patrick]

Everyone is entitled to let the Badger loose, get drunk and fall on their backside  every now again. Does a body good.
Having a few good curse words in the toolbox is mandatory. Just make sure to replace them as they are used.
It seems with the number of alternator failures [ actually not too many, but...] that the brushes and bearings probably should be changed at about 70K or so and the connection looked at [ I'd have to look at my notes to see what electrical connection it is that has failed a few times].

[Willow]

Has anyone here replaced the brushes on their alternator before it failed? A few years ago, a shop in New Hampshire told me my alternator (or was it my starter?) brushes were almost gone, and they replaced them for me. Both have worked fine since. (Sorry, senior moment struck, can't remember which it was now...)

For what its worth, Karen, my Standard is a little over 170K miles. I've done nothing, brushes or otherwise, to the alternator.  I have a replacement alternator waiting in the wings for the imminent failure.

P.S.  Incidentally, the air conditioning still works fine even at that mileage.    

[.]

I bought my Valk in March with 43,000 miles and the alternator failed right about the time it turned 50,000 miles last weekend. Of course, that could be 150,000 as I am the second owner (or hell, even 450,000 for that matter but the bike looks pretty darned well cared for regardless-but it was represented as actual miles and I can't find anything to dispute that).

Incidentally, the model number of the one I took off is LR140-718C and is made by Hitachi. The one I ordered from eBay is a model number LR140-718A or LR140-718B and I don't know the manufacturer as it has not come in yet. It may be here this afternoon but it will be raining like crazy so I won't get to pop it in until tomorrow.

I plan to have the old one rebuilt and to keep it as a spare.

[Willow]

I plan to have the old one rebuilt and to keep it as a spare.

Good plan.   

[hubcapsc]

pop it in

-Mike 

[.]

As promised, the alternator arrived yesterday evening, meaning I had the privilege of shaking, cursing, sweating, and swearing for a solid four hours of absolute frustration putting my by now dismantled Valkyrie back together.

Did I say earlier that I would just "pop it in" and go on my merry way?  

Nothing in that region of the bike just "pops in" anywhere unless perhaps the engine is removed and sitting on a stand and the rest of the motorcycle is sitting three blocks away. The tip I got to attach all the wires AFTER installation was dead on with the possible exception that once the alternator was finally squeezed into the space large enough for half an alternator I then had to squeeze my fingers into spaces about half the size of my fingers. But finally, after much trial and error, during which time I completely forgot about and neglected a perfectly good beer while scaring the crap out of any children and small animals in the vicinity, I buttoned it all up and went for a test ride.

I am happy to say that the alternator seems to work flawlessly and the metallic rattling that sounded like screws tumbling in a dryer whenever I took off is now gone. It's all smooth as silk.

Which obviously means I screwed something up really bad but I just don't know what yet.  

Thanks for all the help everyone. I think my problem is solved. I'm going to have the old alternator rebuilt so I'll have a spare (and by the way-the new alternator didn't have a manufacturer's tag and is apparently a rebuilt one itself-there was one difference in a connector that required I pull the connector from the old alternator in order to make it fit properly but that was a very minor issue) and I also have a perfectly good spare battery. Yay me!

Looks like it's time to take a ride.  

[R J]

Good on ya, now ya is a expert in installing alternators.     

[Hooter]

No wonder I didn't see any deer. You scared em all away. Glad you got it done.   

[.]

Just had the alternator checked. 14.4 volts output! 

[old2soon]

Yuppers-new and unexpected curse wurds are forever at yer fingertips or brain or where ever ya keeps em.  Glad you got er did.  RIDE SAFE.

[.]

Thanks everyone for your help and words of support. I'm happy to say I not only have my Phat Gurl back on the road but my 2001 Honda Shadow ACE just came out of the shop with a fresh carb rebuild and a Stage One rejet. Best I've ever had her run for me. Now please excuse me for just a little while. If you need me I can be found someone outside either riding or happydancing.