NT died this morning. No electricla power. I assume ground. But anything else ?

[ett]

My NT died this morning.
Did my usual routine of disconnect from Battery Tender, strap lunch cooler to passenger seat, load other belongings into left saddlebag, roll NT out of garage into driveway, and place on side stand.
BUT when I turned on the ignition. All gauges and lights started to go through their proper startup routine; for one second; then lost all electrical power.

I took about 1 or 2 minutes to briefly troubleshoot. Battery seems perfectly fine. (At least according to Battery Tender). But no electrical power when turning on the ignition.
But needed to get to work. So decided to take Griso to work.

Yesterday riding home from work; I ran over what looked like a knot of wood that just fell off a truck loaded with firewood.
I assume the issue with the NT is most likely a loose ground caused by running over that knot of wood.

If it's not simply a loose ground.
Is there anything unique to the NT I should look for when troubleshooting the NT tonight or tomorrow ?

Thanks;

--ET

 

[Dee G]

How many volts is the battery showing?
Have you checked the main fuses?

For whatever reason, the fuse that goes from battery positive to voltage regulator on our V7C up and blew the other day, in the middle of a post maintenance ride. BT sells a little plug that has a voltage readout on it. Very handy thing. Not sure what caused it, the battery had been on a shelf for the better part of a year on and off the BT while I got the parts and time to fix the bike.

When Pete got the bike back home, the battery was showing over 16 volts. Well, that explains the fuse. But why that high a voltage? Replaced the fuse, bike fired up fine. Voltage appears to be back to normal on the bike. He took it on a 40 mile run yesterday with no problems.

Still haven't figured out what caused it.

 

[DirtFlier]

If it truly has 16 volts it has been overcharged by the Reg/Rec.

 

[seagrass]

I am wondering whether the kill switch might be the cause of this problem as it cuts power to a lot of systems. I have not looked at the electrical diagram, just a thought while reading this topic.

Seagrass

 

[Phil Tarman]

"Kill switch?" Not too long after I got my first Concours, I had ridden to Nebraska and was between Bridgeport and Sidney, about 140 miles from home and stopped on the side of the road to adjust my Vista Cruise throttle lock. After I finished doing that, the bike wouldn't start or even turn over. After about 20 minutes of "trouble-shooting," I started trying to call a friend who had a motorcycle trailer to see if he would come pick me up. He said he would but asked me to check a couple of things before he drove that far. The 3rd or 4th thing he suggested for me to check was the kill switch.

You guessed it -- I had bumped it while I was adjusting the VistaCruise. Talk about feeling dumb!

 

[ett]

OP Here,

FOUND IT !

The cause was almost exactly what I assumed.
But instead of a loose ground connection; the positive terminal had become loose.

Perhaps if I wasn't running late for work, and the traffic portion of the morning news had not reported a major crash on the interstate.
Then I might have taken longer than 1 or 2 minutes this morning and done some actually troubleshooting this morning.
Like remove the seat and actually LOOK at things.

--ET

 

[its just rain]

Glad you found the problem. A similar thing happened to me about 100 miles from home. I suspected the side stand switch so kept putting it up and down until it finally started. Had it replaced the next day.

 

[Dee G]

If it truly has 16 volts it has been overcharged by the Reg/Rec.

Yup. That's why it blew the fuse to the VR. Keeping an eye on it for now, and the battery seems to be behaving and is at a normal voltage. It was just a weird thing to have happen.

 

[DirtFlier]

[...Also spray some WD-40 on the kill switch and work it back and forth...]

It's much better and safer to use electrical contact cleaner. All the switch gear is well sealed from water so the WD (water displacing) component of WD-40 is not necessary. It's usually a tiny bit of crud in there that needs removal. Too often, WD-40 seems to be the cure for anything mechanical + pimples, gout, and ED and just trails duct tape in popularity.

 

[RedLdr1]

Too often, WD-40 seems to be the cure for anything mechanical + pimples, gout, and ED and just trails duct tape in popularity.

Very true...:smile: But, I only carry one small spray can of lube / cleaner / water displacement "stuff" in my on board tool kit. And that is WD-40 since it will do just about anything. I often wonder how much of the other lube / cleaner / water displacement "stuff" stacked in my garage I really need....:rolleyes1:

 

[bicyclist]

I don't use WD-40 on contacts because after it "dries", the residue attracts dirt, which is exactly what you don't want in contacts. Instead, I use...contact cleaner! If I had nothing else available, I'd use WD-40 and then wash it out with contact cleaner when I got home.

 

[EX Winger]

Go to LOCKSMITH AND GET TJE LUBTICANT THEY RECOMEND! IKE tri-flow, ALSO USE IT ALL AROUND YOUR SICE STAND SWITCH AND CLUTCH SAFETY SWITCH AS WELL AS THE NUETRAL SAFETY SWITCH!!

eLDON

 

[OvO]

Hm. My understanding of the chemistry says that it's not possible for a lead/acid cell to produce 2.6V, no matter how hard you charge it. Over charging it will just boil off the electrolyte. I'm not an expert, though, so I could be wrong. Theoretically.