Hey guys, just bought my first bike, an 03 r6. Already put 300 miles on it, and on my way home today i used my turn signal to pull into my drive(this was after opening up on the throttle before i got there) and for some reason my dash was reading both turn signals going off(i don't have hazards on it). So I parked it, turned it off, turned it on. Applying any brakes turned both dash lights for my turn signals on. When i use the turn signal, both dash lights are going off but if I put it to turn left, the actual front right signal is blinking dimly. The front left signal blinks just fine, same if i put it for a right turn, but my rear signals don't show(it also seems like my brake lights are pretty dim when applied). About half an hour ago I decided to take it back out on the road, no dash signals lighting up unless i braked, or signaled, but until i started opening up on the throttle the dash lights for both turn signals were staying on(kinda dimming, but stayed bright most of the time). Any help would be much appreciated.
First Bike, Electrical Issues
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101 Posts
Good morning guys. Have either of you checked the charging system? A faulty charging system can do all kinds of crazy shit to the lights and guages.
Get your service manual at the link below.
http://www.r6messagenet.com/forums/...254-r6-service-maintenance-repair-manual.html
Read the charging section then charge the battery properly with a low voltage smart trickle charger (Battery Tender works very well) http://batterytender.com/.
While it is charging, check the connectors for your reg/rec, and stator and make sure they are clean and not full of corrosion or burned. If they are dirty, clean them with contact cleaner and put dielectric grease in them. If dirt and moisture in the connections cause corrosion, corrosion causes electrical resistance and this causes heat. That heat will over time cause your connectors to get really hot and melt.
After you charge it let it sit for an hour or so and then check the standing voltage with a multi-meter, it should be 12.4-12.6v. WRITE DOWN THE READING. Write shit down so you can refer to it later.
Then, with the probes in place, check your starting voltage. Look at the display on the meter, press the start button. WRITE DOWN THE READING. This should NOT drop below 10v, if it does your battery is on its way out and not holding a charge. New battery required.
Now the bike should be running, keep the meter on the battery and make note of the voltage, it should be more than the standing voltage. WRITE DOWN THE READING. Now bring up the revs to 5000rpm, hold it there while you look at the meter, you should see around 14.2-14.8v. WRITE DOWN THE READING. If it is not in this range you need to test the reg/rec and the stator output, these tests are in your manual that you are going to download, they will tell you which parts are faulty so you don’t just throw money at the problem blindly.
Please note, these numbers are from memory and may not be the actual numbers in the manual but they are pretty close.
Best of luck guys, I hope this helps.
Get your service manual at the link below.
http://www.r6messagenet.com/forums/...254-r6-service-maintenance-repair-manual.html
Read the charging section then charge the battery properly with a low voltage smart trickle charger (Battery Tender works very well) http://batterytender.com/.
While it is charging, check the connectors for your reg/rec, and stator and make sure they are clean and not full of corrosion or burned. If they are dirty, clean them with contact cleaner and put dielectric grease in them. If dirt and moisture in the connections cause corrosion, corrosion causes electrical resistance and this causes heat. That heat will over time cause your connectors to get really hot and melt.
After you charge it let it sit for an hour or so and then check the standing voltage with a multi-meter, it should be 12.4-12.6v. WRITE DOWN THE READING. Write shit down so you can refer to it later.
Then, with the probes in place, check your starting voltage. Look at the display on the meter, press the start button. WRITE DOWN THE READING. This should NOT drop below 10v, if it does your battery is on its way out and not holding a charge. New battery required.
Now the bike should be running, keep the meter on the battery and make note of the voltage, it should be more than the standing voltage. WRITE DOWN THE READING. Now bring up the revs to 5000rpm, hold it there while you look at the meter, you should see around 14.2-14.8v. WRITE DOWN THE READING. If it is not in this range you need to test the reg/rec and the stator output, these tests are in your manual that you are going to download, they will tell you which parts are faulty so you don’t just throw money at the problem blindly.
Please note, these numbers are from memory and may not be the actual numbers in the manual but they are pretty close.
Best of luck guys, I hope this helps.
whelp, weirdest thing happened, drove the bike to work this morning, everything all buggy still, and as i pull in to park everything goes back to normal??? Sooooo yea i guess i'll just wait till that happens again and then take it to my local shop
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23 Posts
At first, when I wiggled around my steering, it did that. Eventually, it led to me having to fumble with the wires through the side of my right fairing. And now it's completely black every time I start my bike. I have to wiggle the wires to get the lights on. Keep in mind, I'm riding an 06 R6S so our parts and stuff may vary.
Sorry if I'm thread jacking, but I think with what I'm going through, you might benefit from, R6gnar.
So my story goes: electrical worked perfect, eventually my headlights started to bug out. I wiggled my steering and they would work normal. eventually both signals would light up on my dash and my signals stopped working. One night all the electrical's lighting went out (dash, headlights, turn signals up front, but my horn worked). I did the sign of the cross, one hard wiggle, and the headlights and dash back light went on. Signals still didn't work but this time it was hard as hell to get my lights to work with just wiggling the steering wheel.
Took it into a shop to get some work done today and asked them to check that out. Told me there's a break in my wires somewhere, and best bet is to buy new harness(cheaper and easier than looking for the break). For now, I just have to reach in on my right fairing and wiggle the wires and it does the trick.
I've turned on and off and turned my wheels when parking about 6-10 times today due to riding around town, and now it's getting harder to wiggle on my lights with the wires. I just purchased the wires online and will have to do the swap when I get it. Wondering what all do I need to take off/apart from my bike to do this and how easy it is. Also my fairing stay is cracked and I'ma replace that at the same time. Should all of this be easy work?
Joined
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101 Posts
It's a big job to change out the main harness, everything has to come off the bike to expose the frame, subframe and engine. If you have never done it before be patient and take lots of pictures of the routing and connector locations BEFORE you remove the harness.
My money is on corroded connectors, actually no need to replace the harness, just inspect the connectors and clean them.
My money is on corroded connectors, actually no need to replace the harness, just inspect the connectors and clean them.
so far everything is still working perfectly, put another 200 miles on it without a problem. I did put some medicine n stuff under my passenger seat the moment b4 my electrics started wigging out and I went back under and played around, made sure nothing was touching. Problem was, previous owner did a crappy wiring job for the license plate lights so i had to cut the wires on the rear and left them like that just so i could get my plate on(fixing the wires this weekend). Im hoping that was the real problem but like husbeast said, after the season closes im going to rip apart most of the bike and make sure all my wiring is top notch
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