Got an annoying little problem with my zzr1100. Started to have trouble firing up in the mornings. Starter motor didn't seem to spin it over as fast as it should. Checked the voltage and got 12.6 v in the battery. Whipped the starter motor out, stripped and cleaned it. Seemed a bit better but still not quite right. Thought i'd change the plugs whilst i'm in there, just to rule them out. Eventually got it fired up, checked the running voltage across the terminals and only got 13.5v at 4000rpm. It should be about 14.6v to 14.7v at that rpm according to the book. So got hold of another alternator, fitted and tested that, and got exactly the same reading of 13.5v at 4000rpm. Checked the regulator and rectifier as per Kawasaki workshop manuals and all seems in order. Am i missing something? Riding with the headlight on all the time is slowly killing my battery over the months, as i am having to top up the charge each week.
could be your battery mate, how long have you had the battery? and if its ever been run totally flat its probably FUBAR. 13.5 is enough to charge your battery, its not gonna be great 13.2 is the lowest your battery will charge at
Brand spanking new. Fitted it on saturday. Bought the Exide upgrade for my bike because its got the higher cranking capacity. Throws the engine over lovely at the moment, the other battery was only 10 months old, wasn't knackered, but would only turn engine over quick enough if it had just come off a trickle charge. After about 2 weeks it would start to struggle, turning the engine slower than was needed for clean starting, causing the engine to backfire during the cranking process.
check the terminals on your starter motor and relay, could be a bit loose, drawing extra amps, worth checking your earth lead too
Yeah done that too, spent most of the day sunday on it, changed the plugs, leads, cleaned the coil terminals, battery terminal fittings, starter solenoid, earth points; The plan is...................get this damn Katana on the road, if i ever get it finished, god knows when with all the other people breaking theirs, then have the entire loom out the zed and replace all the connections with new ones. Re-solder any joints that i come across as well. Then new heat shrink tubing and loom tape. Not a difficult job, just time consuming. Can easily lay it out on the bench and i've got all the connections i'll ever need. Quite easy to replace the pins in the multiplugs. And can replace or insert more multiplugs if i think it would make things easier in the future.
sometimes they are a right pain to take out the old multipin connectors, we have dentist tools at work that do that job, but sometimes you get a real stubborn one!
Never had one yet thats beaten me! I've got a set of Draper expert fine needle screwdriver type/torx/phillips thingys that get into all the right places. Found it absolutely ideal for fetching pins out. Better than those little spectacle screwdrivers you can buy
