Gibby, before buying anything put a volt meter on your battery and check the voltage with the bike running. A good battery will measure from 12.4 to 12.65 after sitting overnight without a load on (engine not running). With the engine running the volts should go up as high as 14.2 at about 4k rpms. If it measures below 13 you may have a poor ground or a charging problem as you were diagnosed.
On Aug 10, 2012, at 4:51 PM, Gibs wrote: > So after about 100 miles under my belt now I'm loving it more and more. I > took my bike in to a shop as soon as I was road ready (meaning I got my gear > and it all registered, insured etc) and spent $200 for an oil change (they > had to retap the plug apparently it was stripped and plumbers tape was used > to stop leaking or something which added $65ish to the original $100 it was > supposed to be) and all the cables lubed up (with graphite?), plus new hypoid > gear oil to change the shaft oil, which I did my self :). I guess it costs to > be a noob :-/ but still loving it nonetheless. I also found out it doesn't > charge (stupid mistake on my end not checking for that when I first bought > it), so either I gotta replace the rectifier, stator, or both (any help > finding reasonable pricing for that would be awesome BTW!). Rode on the > highway a little bit to get a feel for it and it's not as scary as I thought > it would be, but still a little nerve racking and a little noisy after taking > off the windshield... Plus I've already had my fair share of ass-hole car > drivers riding on my ass on regular roads, so not looking forward to the > highway drivers doing that lol. Filled her up with my first real tank of > double dose seafoam treated gas so hopeful that will help clear up her idle a > little bit as well. I also just bought a new Shinko 712 rear tire for about > $65 with shipping off bikebandit, which should be getting mounted monday for > about $60. Should I expect riding to feel noticeably different with a new > tire? > So far I've spent about $1525 on her physically (not including title, > registration, and insurance costs), not that I mind really as I look at this > as a learning experience for future bikes. Also not to mention the new > rectifier and/or stator which estimated ~$300 for new rectifier and rebuilt > stator... I hooked it up to a battery charger over night and found the > displays for the gear and fuel showed a little better with more juice so > maybe I do just need to clean the contacts... Over the winter I plan on > taking her apart, cleaning and shining her up a little, replacing some minor > cosmetic stuff like the tape mounted rear turn signals lol, and doing what > needs to be done, if anything, to the thinner parts of the exhaust (even > possibly replacing it with a MAC 4-1, if you guys know anything about those > plz tell me about it!). Figured I'ld give my newbie point of view so far, as > this is literally my first bike and riding experience ever :). If you guys > have any advice please let me know it would be greatly appreciated! > -thanks again for all previous and future help > Gibby > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msg/nighthawk_lovers/-/25z36TzdLP4J. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en.
