Red Light on

[Explorer]

My 1150 has taken to showing the red light which (I think) indicates that the battery is not charging.

It does this at the beginning of trips and it normally clears after a while - particularly if I 'blip' the throttle (up or down). This seems to 'shock' it into working. As do bumps in the road.

Once it has kicked in it seems to stay working. And there is no difficulty with lights, or with starting the bike after a few weeks in the garage.

Should I worry, or just live with it? Is it a sign that the generator (or whatever it is) is about to fail?

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Stewart H]

Is your alternator belt loose?

Stewart

 

[*DAVE*]

The two Blue wires that join together and then onto the Alternator are the culprits
you should find one of them has a poor connection into the Alternator
The wire frays a little on one of them creating the problem you have described.
Just re-crimp the wires together and connect back onto the Alternator
The above sorted mine a few years ago

 

[Explorer]

Brilliant, thanks for these suggestions.

Er, where is the Alternator? Sorry to be such a twat.

 

[*DAVE*]

Here you are Twat

 

[Explorer]

The Real Answer

Actually it seems none of the above.

When I lifted the tank to fit some engine bars, there was a very thin blue wire on the wiring loom that had been chafed by the tank. I guess this was occasionally coming into contact with the tank and therefore shorting out. 'Blipping' the throttle may have caused some movement that created a gap between wire and fuel tank.

Anyway, I have covered it in electricians tape and the problem has gone away.

 

[elevensies]

electricians tape and or gaffa tape is your friend

 

[*DAVE*]

Glad to hear you sorted it Alastair
I know what a pain in the arse
this type of electrical problem can be to fix.

 

[Explorer]

Thanks Dave.

Pure luck! No engineering genius me. But it does give others somewhere else to check if they get this fault.

 

[dancata]

electricians tape and or gaffa tape is your friend

I find that soldering wires together and heat shrink tubing is more neat