Voltage Read out

richard-7 · Apr 20, 2020

If you go to the voltage screen on the clocks, is your voltage reading higher, lower or the same from idle to revving up. ?

we have a bike that reads lower when revving which is really strange. At idle it’s charging and revving it is not charging. Funny thing reading the manual its says to put a voltage meter across the battery after its running. which would be tough with the tank off. Im thinking a few procedures were missed in that manual.

trevorpacker · Apr 20, 2020

Mine reads 12.3V at idle, 14.2V revving, you can measure battery voltage at battery tender connection.

TonyA · Apr 20, 2020

Yes should be higher when revving and that sounds about right to me Trevor . Richard I have heard the clocks display could be wrong on some bikes , bad connections etc. Also the Batterery Tender pig tail may be a good way to go. Also you could use the pick up at the optimate charging plug in the upper shock for now or go right to the fuse box. ..

MAK · Apr 20, 2020

TonyA said:
Yes should be higher when revving and that sounds about right to me Trevor . Richard I have heard the clocks display could be wrong on some bikes , bad connections etc. Also the Batterery Tender pig tail may be a good way to go. Also you could use the pick up at the optimate charging plug in the upper shock for now or go right to the fuse box. ..

My experience with this problem on trucks had the alternator breaking down.
Battery voltage at low revs. then gets less as you rev it up.

Canyon Motorcycles · Apr 20, 2020

Just been through figuring out the charging system on my Naked, it came with a LIth Ion battery and I could only get 12.6 volts max charge to it. [note the instruments read .2V less than my Fluke at the terminals]
in my expirience they cause more problems unless you fit a Lith ion compatible regulator.

Alternator voltage was 60 v AC across all alt outputs. I thought it was low as most bikes are about 80.

But I switched out various batterys and ended up with a genuine Yuasa YTX9 BS prepped correctly and fitted one of these kits.

https://www.canyonmotorcycles.com/p...20aa-custom-harness-kit-for-all-triumph-twins

Had to make a custom harness up but now I have a steady 14.1 V at idle and 14.3V [at clocks reading .2V low] at all engine speeds on my first test ride yesterday! So far so good!

richard-7 · Apr 20, 2020

Canyon Motorcycles said:
Just been through figuring out the charging system on my Naked, it came with a LIth Ion battery and I could only get 12.6 volts max charge to it. [note the instruments read .2V less than my Fluke at the terminals]
in my expirience they cause more problems unless you fit a Lith ion compatible regulator.

Alternator voltage was 60 v AC across all alt outputs. I thought it was low as most bikes are about 80.

But I switched out various batterys and ended up with a genuine Yuasa YTX9 BS prepped correctly and fitted one of these kits.

https://www.canyonmotorcycles.com/p...20aa-custom-harness-kit-for-all-triumph-twins

Had to make a custom harness up but now I have a steady 14.1 V at idle and 14.3V [at clocks reading .2V low] at all engine speeds on my first test ride yesterday! So far so good!

Thank you.
I did hear you cannot run lithium batteries with out changing regulator on a 961 too.

Canyon Motorcycles · Apr 20, 2020

You cant beat a genuine Yuasa Battery if its prepped properly, If you have fluctuating voltage to the battery and its dropping check the alt output accross all 3 curcuits. as long as all 3 readings are the same 60-80 V AC chances are its good, Regulators go all the time on Triumphs and the upgraded kit we sell is the ticket to a good steady charging system. Hope ya fix it!

Stephen_Spencer · Apr 21, 2020

Mmmmm! Wish I understood this. Electrics really are a mystery to me!

Bike hooked up to a tender.
- Tender reads 12.6V (with ignition off)
- Turn ignition on (lights off) - instrument matches tender and shows 12.6V
- Hit starter, fails to start. As it’s cranking instrument reads incrementally lower voltage and then the word LOW shows briefly. Repeat 3 times. No start.
- Forth attempt, engine starts, instrument shows voltage building over a few seconds to read 14.4V.
- Rev engine, instrument shows voltage drop from 14.4V to 14.2v, each time the bike is revved. It returns to 14.4v each time. Tender shows 14.4v when engine is idling.

Bike has not been ridden for over a month. Really not sure with the above scenario and a what has been said above, whether my battery is done. Also whether I have another problem as voltage is dropping as I rev.

Really appreciate further advice from the more electrically minded. Call me clueless but that lecky stuff can kill you!!

Al's#5 · Apr 21, 2020

Stephen_Spencer said:
Mmmmm! Wish I understood this. Electrics really are a mystery to me!

Bike hooked up to a tender.
- Tender reads 12.6V (with ignition off)
- Turn ignition on (lights off) - instrument matches tender and shows 12.6V
- Hit starter, fails to start. As it’s cranking instrument reads incrementally lower voltage and then the word LOW shows briefly. Repeat 3 times. No start.
- Forth attempt, engine starts, instrument shows voltage building over a few seconds to read 14.4V.
- Rev engine, instrument shows voltage drop from 14.4V to 14.2v, each time the bike is revved. It returns to 14.4v each time. Tender shows 14.4v when engine is idling.

Bike has not been ridden for over a month. Really not sure with the above scenario and a what has been said above, whether my battery is done. Also whether I have another problem as voltage is dropping as I rev.

Really appreciate further advice from the more electrically minded. Call me clueless but that lecky stuff can kill you!!

Personally I disconnect the tender before starting but the figs ring true with what I get with my 961. So far so good. Ref. Li ion batteries, one I have on another bike drops that low if left for some time that the charger thinks its a 6V at first but rights itself as the charge progresses. Electrickery .

Stephen_Spencer · Apr 22, 2020

trevorpacker said:
Mine reads 12.3V at idle, 14.2V revving, you can measure battery voltage at battery tender connection.

Still more questions than answers here methinks, especially with my limited electrickery knowledge.

- As a direct comparison, Trevors bike reads 12.3v at idle and 14.2 revving. Mine is 14.4v when idling and 14.2 when revving. Not just a significant difference at idle but one raises and one falls when revved; the opposite outcome! Why these differences on the same machine, charging system and (I guess) the same battery?

- I was going to purchase the Shorai recommended LFX19A4-BS12 Li iron battery however, now a little unsure whether I should also fit a Lith iron compatible regulator?

- What minimum voltage does the Norton Commando 961 require to start on a reliable basis, or are there to many variables (components, batteries etc) to put a figure on it?

Guess I'll continue on with a trial and error approach. Purchased the NOCO genius G3500 battery charger (en route). This was before I read about Shorai's own charger and its benefits. In hindsight, I would have bought the new Shorai Li iron battery and Shorai charger and started again. As it is I will try the G3500 in 'repair mode' with my original battery (have to admit I don't know what this is yet until I take the tank off) and see what occurs. If the original battery takes a fuller charge, sufficient to start the bike reliably I will wire in the G3500 charger lead to replace the original charging lead and keep it on charge/store with the new charger. Suck it and see I suppose.

Bernhard · Apr 22, 2020

Stephen_Spencer said:
Still more questions than answers here methinks, especially with my limited electrickery knowledge.

- As a direct comparison, Trevors bike reads 12.3v at idle and 14.2 revving. Mine is 14.4v when idling and 14.2 when revving. Not just a significant difference at idle but one raises and one falls when revved; the opposite outcome! Why these differences on the same machine, charging system and (I guess) the same battery?

- I was going to purchase the Shorai recommended LFX19A4-BS12 Li iron battery however, now a little unsure whether I should also fit a Lith iron compatible regulator?

- What minimum voltage does the Norton Commando 961 require to start on a reliable basis, or are there to many variables (components, batteries etc) to put a figure on it?

Guess I'll continue on with a trial and error approach. Purchased the NOCO genius G3500 battery charger (en route). This was before I read about Shorai's own charger and its benefits. In hindsight, I would have bought the new Shorai Li iron battery and Shorai charger and started again. As it is I will try the G3500 in 'repair mode' with my original battery (have to admit I don't know what this is yet until I take the tank off) and see what occurs. If the original battery takes a fuller charge, sufficient to start the bike reliably I will wire in the G3500 charger lead to replace the original charging lead and keep it on charge/store with the new charger. Suck it and see I suppose.

You might just have a dirty connection!

MxMartin · Apr 22, 2020

Stephen_Spencer said:
As a direct comparison, Trevors bike reads 12.3v at idle and 14.2 revving. Mine is 14.4v when idling and 14.2 when revving. Not just a significant difference at idle but one raises and one falls when revved; the opposite outcome! Why these differences on the same machine, charging system and (I guess) the same battery?

If I start my bike using my Lithium which has been on 'store' charge (60% capacity) then idle Volts is around the 12 - 13V but soon creeps up to 14+ after a ride. If the battery has been 'charged' then idle volts is in the high 13 and when running is in the low 14 range.

PS: My Lithium has been on the bike pretty much since new and is 2 years old now, no charging issues encountered. The issues that I originally had which caused me to change to Lithium was poor cranking caused by part discharged battery caused by high parasitic drain in my speedo, now that has been fixed my bike seems to have plenty of cranking power whether hot/cold or 'store'/'charged'

TonyA · Apr 22, 2020

My Shorai is 4 years old and still working good too . I did replace my rectifier/regulator last year , more as a test and precautionary measure . I did a voltage meaurement at the Tender charge lead with Fluke DVM to report here :

Key off = 13.25 VDC (bike was just on charger , charger now disconnected)
Key on lights on low beam = 12.7 VDC
Bike started and idling 1300 RPM = 13.6 VDC
Engine rev to steady 3000 RPM = 14.3 VDC

Stephen_Spencer · Apr 22, 2020

Thanks Tony,

Would be really useful if others could do the same. We may be able to draw some conclusions from this.

Interesting your bike starts with 12.7 volts where mine really struggles at that voltage. Your voltage increases on revving, mine decreases.

TonyA · Apr 22, 2020

Stephen_Spencer said:
Thanks Tony,

Would be really useful if others could do the same. We may be able to draw some conclusions from this.

Interesting your bike starts with 12.7 volts where mine really struggles at that voltage. Your voltage increases on revving, mine decreases.

The regulators are an easy swap , available on line and low cost. Don't forget the heat sink paste on the bottom before you bolt it on .. Have a look :