[lambrettaStarr]

Here's the scenario: Out riding, bike is fine for a 3 hour ride. Come home, park the bike. 5 minutes later go out to bike to start it again and it's completely dead, no tach movement, nothing. Pull the battery out and put it on a tender and it gives an error - and won't charge. Thinking the battery is dead, I take a spare battery and put it in. Immediately the juice goes through the bike, and the tach moves, etc. I turn it off to bolt up the battery holder. The harness outlined in the photo below starts getting hot as well as the rectifier. I haven't even turned the bike over, and the key is in the off position and it's getting hot. I don't think this is normal. Any suggestions? Is the R/R bad - assuming it is - why is it getting hot even with the key in the "off" position?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[muzzmann]

Here's the scenario: Out riding, bike is fine for a 3 hour ride. Come home, park the bike. 5 minutes later go out to bike to start it again and it's completely dead, no tach movement, nothing. Pull the battery out and put it on a tender and it gives an error - and won't charge. Thinking the battery is dead, I take a spare battery and put it in. Immediately the juice goes through the bike, and the tach moves, etc. I turn it off to bolt up the battery holder. The harness outlined in the photo below starts getting hot as well as the rectifier. I haven't even turned the bike over, and the key is in the off position and it's getting hot. I don't think this is normal. Any suggestions? Is the R/R bad - assuming it is - why is it getting hot even with the key in the "off" position?

Thanks in advance for the help!

If the harness is getting hot with the key off you need to disconnect the battery asap ! Sounds like a dead short and if so you could end up with a fire \ melted harness ....unless you are lucky enuf to have a dead battery .....

After disconecting the battery ...unplug the RR and then (if it were me) open up the part of the harness that was getting hot.....to be sure that insulation is not burned off a wire(s).

Most likely what happened is the dead short is within the RR and the melted wire (if there is one ) would be the hot wire to\from the RR.

Also check and double check all of your grounds ....particularly at the battery and the engine. The stock connectors at the battery need to be checked closely to see they are not damaged or corroded. At the engine the ground often gets oxidized \ corroded ...clean it up and tighten it down.

Meanwhile go out and get yourself a mosfet RR from Jack at Roadster Cycle ..... here's a thread I ran on this last year ...

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/77-sport-classic/116537-mosfet-install-step-step.html

These are just some pointers as without having it in front of me its tough to diagnose but sorting out electrical problems usually comes down to 4 things, faulty components, bad connections, dead shorts, and the root of all evil ..grounds ! (grounds should always be checked even when a faulty device is discovered).

Having said all of this if you are'nt sure what you are doing it might be a good idea to run the bike into the dealer .....play it safe .....all this stuff is really expensive !

Muzz

 

[lambrettaStarr]

If the harness is getting hot with the key off you need to disconnect the battery asap ! Sounds like a dead short and if so you could end up with a fire \ melted harness ....unless you are lucky enuf to have a dead battery .....

After disconecting the battery ...unplug the RR and then (if it were me) open up the part of the harness that was getting hot.....to be sure that insulation is not burned off a wire(s).

Most likely what happened is the dead short is within the RR and the melted wire (if there is one ) would be the hot wire to\from the RR.

Also check and double check all of your grounds ....particularly at the battery and the engine. The stock connectors at the battery need to be checked closely to see they are not damaged or corroded. At the engine the ground often gets oxidized \ corroded ...clean it up and tighten it down.

Meanwhile go out and get yourself a mosfet RR from Jack at Roadster Cycle ..... here's a thread I ran on this last year ...

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/77-sport-classic/116537-mosfet-install-step-step.html

These are just some pointers as without having it in front of me its tough to diagnose but sorting out electrical problems usually comes down to 4 things, faulty components, bad connections, dead shorts, and the root of all evil ..grounds ! (grounds should always be checked even when a faulty device is discovered).

Having said all of this if you are'nt sure what you are doing it might be a good idea to run the bike into the dealer .....play it safe .....all this stuff is really expensive !

Muzz

Thanks so much for the help - I think you've helped me narrow it down to the RR. I unplugged the harness that contains the two positive leads from the battery to the RR and it immediately cooled down. I checked the power coming off the two red leads from the battery in the tip of the harness connector and both were giving off 12+volts to the ends. Plug it back in and it immediately gets hot again - and the wires going to the stator get hot too.

I'll replace the RR and see if that solves the issue.

Thanks again!!