Help No power

[jasonisme1977]

1996 Kat 600 here

Drove my bike home from work on lunch, ate came back out, no power, no lights, no nothing. I jumped the bike with cables and it started right up. I let it run for 15 minutes where it was sitting, i jumped on and figured i could ride, it died as soon as i went to take off. Then no power again, no lights nothing. Would this be a battery? or do these things have a alternator ?

Also the bike was starting to turn off when ever i would slow down abruptly. I would have my clutch in and brake at the same time. The engine would just turn off, not spit and sputter like it was about to die, just completely dead, a real pain when crossing tracks, or taking a turn on the highway. Any ideas? maybe a lose wire some where or something?

[kevin2502000]

I would guess battery. You can try to charge the battery and if it takes a charge, start up the bike and rev it too about 5k and take a reading with a multimeter at the battery. It should be around 14v. Anything less than 13v and you have a bad altenator. You might get lucky with just a bad battery.

[jasonisme1977]

Just took the battery to get tested and it came out good, so i guess i will have to try and test the alternator, i will try what you suggested , ill have to see if have a amp reader

[waffenampt]

volt meter vdc

[wismo]

Had a similar problem I cleaned contacts on battery and cables even though they didnt look bad and for me problem solved..

[jasonisme1977]

Thanks, the battery looks new, i just bought the bike, but i will check the contacts and wires when i get home, and ill have to figure out what the heck the problem is. If i jump the bike and get it running then disconnect the battery wont that tell me if it is the alternator if it shuts off?

[kevin2502000]

No. The altenator is wired THROUGH the battery, has to be there to run. Check the volts with it running.

[Court93kat]

It sounds like the alternator is not putting out enough Voltage and it drains the battery while the bike is running. That would explain it dying out when the rpms go down to idle. It might still be putting out, just not enough to run everything and charge the battery back up as well.