Bike dies

[phillipyvonne0612]

I have a 1991 katana 600 and the battery will not stay charged and if I disconnet the positive cable on the battery while the bike is running. Need help to figure out what is going on.

[Slofuze]

How old is the battery?

[Patch's]

"and if I disconnet the positive cable on the battery while the bike is running."
Hi Phil.... can you finish that thought.
Do you have a multimeter if so what is the bike charging - measuring across the 2 battery terminals?
Have you checked the fluid level, use only distilled water.
They usually quit around 4-5 years after installed.

[phillipyvonne0612]

Sorry about that the bike shuts off when I disconnect the positive cable. The battery is brand new I thought that was the problem but it continues to drain thet battery . I do not have a multimeter.

[steves]

Could be a bad generator/rectifier. On the kat they are built into one unit on the bike.

[Patch's]

You will need a multimeter to find which unit is defective! Likely it's what Steves said.
Unless you hooked some type of electrical major mod to it like a "flux capacitor"

[steves]

If the battery is new, then I would suspect the generator.

A bad generator will kill the battery as well, so don't wait to long to diagnose!

[phillipyvonne0612]

Thanks guys I will look into buying the generator asap

[clark827]

You will need a multimeter to find which unit is defective! Likely it's what Steves said.
Unless you hooked some type of electrical major mod to it like a "flux capacitor"

that would be too cool... but would you want to show up at some random point in time going 88mph on a motorcycle? It always seemed like he crashed afterwards (until he started flying).

[Patch's]

Had a thought today and sorry I forgot to mention this but you can check the connection that is just before your charging unit they often heat and can melt or just be corroded if that looks OK then......

[Kreylyn]

Um... pretty sure disconnecting a good battery will kill the bike as well.

That isn't a test of anything wrong per say. Most bikes now days require a battery to run.

Krey

[kevin2502000]

Um... pretty sure disconnecting a good battery will kill the bike as well.

That isn't a test of anything wrong per say. Most bikes now days require a battery to run.

Krey

I was thinking the same thing but not sure enough to mention it. The difference between an altenator and a generator, altenator can be it's own electrical source when it's running. The generator has to work by recharging the battery, the battery is part of the circuit. So if you unhook a cable, you kill the circuit. Doesn't work like the car altenator test.

[Patch's]

Regardless the system should be checked with a meter! The battery cable on or off, if it is a new battery (and we can assume why) it is running the bike till the voltage drops too low - then you still suspect the charging system to be at fault somewhere in the loop.
Problem is common on many forums folks want to troubleshoot problems but can't or wont invest in the tools required, none the less you want to lend a long distant helping hand skipping over what U know to be procedure and end up getting spanked by a purple hippopotamus with a worrisome hip motion just teasing

[Danskat]

I thought that he said it would eventually die because the bike is running on the battery alone if he left it connected? Then if he disconnected after starting the bike, it would die instantly. If that's the case, then yes, there is a problem somewhere in the charging system I think (either corrosion, melted wire, etc) but if it runs fine w the battery connected, then perhaps Krey is on the button (which would probably be the safer bet :-p). In anycase, it's new info to me about a bike not running w out the bat. I'll have to test it when/if i ever get one running again D-:<

[Kreylyn]

I just check/tested on a pre 600.

The bike will run if over 1800 rpms with NOT being connected to the battery.

If I let it idle down to normal idle... the lights started flashing/pulsing about 3-4 times and then the bike dies.

So... If you keep the rpms over 2k then you should be able to run the bike with disconnecting the battery. Much under that, you should expect the bike to stop.

Krey