Break Down | GTAMotorcycle.com

Break Down

ay33

ay33

Well-known member
My 2006 Suzuki GZ250 just broke down on me.

I was filling up, and when I went to start the bike there was no power.
I got a boost, which took a while, and when it was going it was chugging.
It quit shortly after down the road (stalled out) and no power to get it going again.
I'm assuming the battery is dead, however when I did get it going, wouldn't it keep running?
It's carbureted, and I thought it only needed the batter to start it and run the lights?

Does my bike need the battery to have a charge to keep running?

Thanks in advance.

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Your engine needs a functioning electrical system in order to operate the spark plugs.

You need to do a diagnostic of the charging system. A dead battery is frequently a symptom of an underlying problem (charging system not charging) as opposed to being the actual problem. Stalling while the engine is already running points the diagnosis towards the charging system rather than the battery.
 
It has a CDI (computer controlled spark) that requires power. Theoretically, the bike should generate enough power to keep the bike running and charge the battery, but combine power outputs that aren't great at best, charging systems that don't put out max output until revs climb quite high and a sick battery that is sucking back the juice and I could see a potential problem.

I have no idea about that bike, some bikes eat regulator/rectifiers and stators too. Test procedures can be found online.
 
I had this happen to me about a month ago. Was riding and unexpectedly lost power. I had replaced the battery about 2 weeks previous. Turned out to be a fried stator coil. How old is your battery?
I'd do a full electrical system diagnostic as Brian P. suggested.
 
Brian P said:
...A dead battery is frequently a symptom of an underlying problem (charging system not charging) as opposed to being the actual problem. Stalling while the engine is already running points the diagnosis towards the charging system rather than the battery.
Click to expand...

Do you have HID lights, USB port(s), heated grips, or any other components that may tax your electrical system?


D-J said:
I had this happen to me about a month ago. Was riding and unexpectedly lost power. I had replaced the battery about 2 weeks previous. Turned out to be a fried stator coil. How old is your battery?
I'd do a full electrical system diagnostic as Brian P. suggested.
Click to expand...
 
D-J said:
Do you have HID lights, USB port(s), heated grips, or any other components that may tax your electrical system?
Click to expand...
No to all of that. The headlight bulb is an LED, but that should draw less power even.

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Battery is a little more than a year old I'm guessing. I bought the bike last year and was told it was new. I trust the seller as she was a friend's aunt.

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Did you put the battery on a tender/trickle charger during the winter and also during riding season when the bike sits for a number of days ?

Do you have a multimeter to test the voltage of the battery at rest and also under load? You will also need it for other tests.

You mentioned an LED headlight. Is that how it was when you bought the bike or did you change the bulb out? If so, when?
 
Robbo said:
Did you put the battery on a tender/trickle charger during the winter and also during riding season when the bike sits for a number of days ?

Do you have a multimeter to test the voltage of the battery at rest and also under load? You will also need it for other tests.

You mentioned an LED headlight. Is that how it was when you bought the bike or did you change the bulb out? If so, when?
Click to expand...
Tender on the battery over the winter yes.
Between rides during the season no.

Have a multi meter and will check. Is it like a car battery where if it shouldn't be below 11V at rest and should be about 13.6 V while the engine is running?

I swapped the bulb out when I first bought the bike, last July, and 2000 miles ago.

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Put the battery on a charger for half an hour or so, enough to start the engine.

Set multimeter to measure DC volts, put the probes across the battery terminals. Note the reading. A fully charged lead acid battery should show about 12.8 volts with no load (it might be a little less because you haven't fully charged the battery). Start the engine. Note the voltage reading across the battery terminals while running the engine at various speeds in neutral.

Ideally it should be 14.something volts. The shop manual for your bike will give a specified range. In the absence of specifications, it should be between 13.5 and 15.3 volts. It may be a little below that at idle and if the battery has a very low state of charge it might be towards the lower end of that range (and increase as the battery charges up) but it should always be more than the no-load measurement noted above. This indicates that your charging system is working normally.

Charging system working normally based on the above tests but battery won't hold a charge? Battery is pooched. Replace it.

If the voltage is ever above the maximum specified in the shop manual (or 15.3 volts not knowing the specs) the voltage regulator is not regulating. Make sure the ground wire to the regulator, if present, is secure. If it is properly grounded but is not regulating, your voltage regulator is toast. Replace it.

If the voltage is below 13 volts at any engine speed above idle or, worse, if it is less than the at-rest voltage, your charging system is not charging but further investigation is needed to establish if the problem involves the stator, the regulator, or the wiring. If this is what you find, post up for next steps.
 
Brian P said:
Put the battery on a charger for half an hour or so, enough to start the engine.

Set multimeter to measure DC volts, put the probes across the battery terminals. Note the reading. A fully charged lead acid battery should show about 12.8 volts with no load (it might be a little less because you haven't fully charged the battery). Start the engine. Note the voltage reading across the battery terminals while running the engine at various speeds in neutral.

Ideally it should be 14.something volts. The shop manual for your bike will give a specified range. In the absence of specifications, it should be between 13.5 and 15.3 volts. It may be a little below that at idle and if the battery has a very low state of charge it might be towards the lower end of that range (and increase as the battery charges up) but it should always be more than the no-load measurement noted above. This indicates that your charging system is working normally.

Charging system working normally based on the above tests but battery won't hold a charge? Battery is pooched. Replace it.

If the voltage is ever above the maximum specified in the shop manual (or 15.3 volts not knowing the specs) the voltage regulator is not regulating. Make sure the ground wire to the regulator, if present, is secure. If it is properly grounded but is not regulating, your voltage regulator is toast. Replace it.

If the voltage is below 13 volts at any engine speed above idle or, worse, if it is less than the at-rest voltage, your charging system is not charging but further investigation is needed to establish if the problem involves the stator, the regulator, or the wiring. If this is what you find, post up for next steps.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the Intel.
I will follow these instructions the next time I'm with the bike (stored at my folks' for now), maybe tomorrow. That is, IF it will even start.
Its on a tender now on trickle.

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Good to see you are using a battery tender in the off-season. Btw, before testing, please make sure your battery connections are clean and tight. Check for any other loose or corroded connections in the bike's wiring.

A strong healthy battery should have a resting voltage between 12.6 and 12.8 volts. Once my battery can't hold a charge above 12.45 volts, I will replace it.

Assuming you begin with a fully charged battery, check the voltage drop when starting the bike. If it drops below 10 volts, the battery is weak, and below 9 volts it is bad. Ideally it doesn't drop below 10.5 volts on startup and quickly rises back up above 12 volts.

Next, with the bike running at idle, the voltage will usually be lower than resting voltage but should be stable and not drop below 12 volts. Mine tends to be around 12.2 volts at the correct idle setting.

With increased rpm, the voltage should rise to between 13.5 to 14.5 volts.

Let us know how the battery testing goes.
 
Robbo said:
Good to see you are using a battery tender in the off-season. Btw, before testing, please make sure your battery connections are clean and tight. Check for any other loose or corroded connections in the bike's wiring.

A strong healthy battery should have a resting voltage between 12.6 and 12.8 volts. Once my battery can't hold a charge above 12.45 volts, I will replace it.

Assuming you begin with a fully charged battery, check the voltage drop when starting the bike. If it drops below 10 volts, the battery is weak, and below 9 volts it is bad. Ideally it doesn't drop below 10.5 volts on startup and quickly rises back up above 12 volts.

Next, with the bike running at idle, the voltage will usually be lower than resting voltage but should be stable and not drop below 12 volts. Mine tends to be around 12.2 volts at the correct idle setting.

With increased rpm, the voltage should rise to between 13.5 to 14.5 volts.

Let us know how the battery testing goes.
Click to expand...
Will do thank you.

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When I took it off the tender, the standing voltage was 9.37V.

That wouldn't start it so I hooked up my battery pack and I still couldn't get it going, so I had to boost from my running car.

While the bike was running (idle), the voltage was jumping around from 3.88-6.93 volts.

Applying throttle made it bog and sound like it was going to stall.

Terminals and wiring around the battery looked decent.

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1. Never boost with a running car. This is going to cause havoc on your
bike's electrical system - there is going to be way too much amperage.


2. Sounds to me like you have a charging issue, but also a battery issue.


Usually if batteries are drawn so low (V), they never revive as well
as when they are new.


From previous bikes i've worked on, id be pretty certain certain your stator
would be shot by now. But its always a good idea to test out all the components
like stator, rectifier, battery - connectors, grounds etc.
 
oh and also, since you have a CDI box and electronic pick up etc, they usually run to about 9v.
anything in the 8v-9v they act funny and below 8v they usually just die.
 
Time for a new battery. Buy a decent one.

When you install it, check the voltage at idle and with increasing rpm.

If you don't get good readings per my previous post, there are other issues with the charging system.

Hopefully this solves it for you and you are out riding again.

Btw, it's not advisable to boost a bike from a running vehicle. You should only boost from a non-running vehicle (contrary to boosting a car).
 
Learned something new: not to boost from a running car. However in this circumstance, it wouldn't start otherwise.

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Can someone with apparently more electrical knowledge than me explain why boosting from a running car would damage the electrical system? Maybe I need more coffee but I have an electronics degree and can't think of how it would cause a problem unless there was a short somewhere. I've boosted three different bikes several times off running cars and never had an issue.

I've once connected several batteries in parallel to get enough amperage to turn over a truck engine that had been sitting for a long time but that's a different story.
 
unL33T said:
Can someone with apparently more electrical knowledge than me explain why boosting from a running car would damage the electrical system? Maybe I need more coffee but I have an electronics degree and can't think of how it would cause a problem unless there was a short somewhere. I've boosted three different bikes several times off running cars and never had an issue.

I've once connected several batteries in parallel to get enough amperage to turn over a truck engine that had been sitting for a long time but that's a different story.
Click to expand...

I'm mostly on your side. The first thing I can come up with is when a tiny bike battery is hit with almost unlimited amps at 14.7 volts it can't take it. If the car isn't running, both the amperage and voltage will be lower. The second thought is the bike starter is sized to run on 9 volts or so (bike battery with a huge draw on it) and may see 13 or so volts when started off a running car. Neither of these explain how the computer/cdi/reg rec/any other parts(aside from the battery/starter/starter relay) get permanently hurt.
 
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