Goodmorning, good afternoon, or good evening I'm a police officer in the virgin island and we are using 750 vulcans as our department bikes. The problem i'm having is that the battery is diying or is being run down. I think it's because there were some strobe installed on the bikes. What i wanted to know, can the alternator be supped up for more voltage out put.
Problems charging the battery on a 2002 Vulcan 750
1 - 3 of 3 Posts
STROBE/Battery
It is a matter Current that the strobe is using while on...The strobe should be running off of a Relay not directly through a switch. If this is truely hooked up properly then it is only a matter of increasing the battery size..Amp/Hour. I don't know if you are leaving the bike idleing or if ALL of the lights are on or not...The old trick for my bike was to take the hi/low switch off and file/grind the stop off of it so that I could actually turn the headlight OFF as well as my tail light and disable my front brake light switch...leaving only my rear brake for brake light...for lets just say avoiding officers of the peace. This allowed me to start the bike without the drain of current used for the lights on my bike while it was idleing...
It is a matter Current that the strobe is using while on...The strobe should be running off of a Relay not directly through a switch. If this is truely hooked up properly then it is only a matter of increasing the battery size..Amp/Hour. I don't know if you are leaving the bike idleing or if ALL of the lights are on or not...The old trick for my bike was to take the hi/low switch off and file/grind the stop off of it so that I could actually turn the headlight OFF as well as my tail light and disable my front brake light switch...leaving only my rear brake for brake light...for lets just say avoiding officers of the peace. This allowed me to start the bike without the drain of current used for the lights on my bike while it was idleing...
Is there not some kind of latching system and a relay on the headlights? I'm sure the Ninja 500 in the US is supposed to have some system where the lights are switched on by the starter switch?
Quoting Haynes
"US and Canada EX500S models use an additional relay in the system, called the reserve lighting device. On these models, the headlight doesn't come on when the ignition switch is first turned on but comes on when the starter button is pressed and stays on until the ignition is turned off. The light will go out whenever the starter is operated after the engine has stalled (this prevents excessive strain on the battery).
So I guess they did this for a while and then gave up?
In europe we got a switch OFF, Sidelights, Headlights... Well we did up to about 2003 when it was decided we too were not to have the choice.
Have seen some new bikes since (think it was a ZX6) that had a switch below the kill switch but could not work out what it was for, any idea?
Quoting Haynes
"US and Canada EX500S models use an additional relay in the system, called the reserve lighting device. On these models, the headlight doesn't come on when the ignition switch is first turned on but comes on when the starter button is pressed and stays on until the ignition is turned off. The light will go out whenever the starter is operated after the engine has stalled (this prevents excessive strain on the battery).
So I guess they did this for a while and then gave up?
In europe we got a switch OFF, Sidelights, Headlights... Well we did up to about 2003 when it was decided we too were not to have the choice.
Have seen some new bikes since (think it was a ZX6) that had a switch below the kill switch but could not work out what it was for, any idea?
1 - 3 of 3 Posts
Join the discussion
Kawasaki Motorcycle Forums
A forum community dedicated to Kawasaki Motorcycle owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, troubleshooting, maintenance, off-road, touring, street bikes, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Recommended Communities
Join now to ask and comment!