Electrical Issues (IMO battery related)

[nikreinert]

Hey guys, long time lurker, figured I'd turn to the Ninjette town for help.

So 2 or 3 days ago I was riding my ninja around town, at a stoplight the teach went all wonky, flipping from fully maxed to 7-8k, basically in a random pattern. The bike idled alright, but when i gave it gas it sputtered horribly. I killed to engine, and all the lights went off. Turn the key back to on, all lights off, no power anywhere. ~10 min later I flipped the key back to on, and like magic power was back, fired right up and drove home. Wrote it off as a fluke.

Today: Riding on the highway, about 30 min into the ride. Tach goes wonky again, bike sputters terribly. I pulled in the clutch and pulled over. Same as before, killed engine, all lights dead, no power. So this time I borke out the tool kit and looked at the battery (first guess, idk how logical but I'm helpless on electrics). The phillips screw holding the left terminal in was about halfway undone, the connector was still attached and all that, but the screw was way loose. After tightening the screw down the bike started right up, bright lights, rode fine for the ~30 min ride home.

The question for Ninjette town: Could this loose connection really be the source of these problems? If the battery is connected in series I could see how it would mess everything up, but from the looks of the electrical schematic it seems like its in parallel with another loop.

Thanks for the help!

[nikreinert]

[x-post from pregen thread, my bad]


Hey guys, long time lurker, figured I'd turn to the Ninjette town for help.

So 2 or 3 days ago I was riding my ninja around town, at a stoplight the teach went all wonky, flipping from fully maxed to 7-8k, basically in a random pattern. The bike idled alright, but when i gave it gas it sputtered horribly. I killed to engine, and all the lights went off. Turn the key back to on, all lights off, no power anywhere. ~10 min later I flipped the key back to on, and like magic power was back, fired right up and drove home. Wrote it off as a fluke.

Today: Riding on the highway, about 30 min into the ride. Tach goes wonky again, bike sputters terribly. I pulled in the clutch and pulled over. Same as before, killed engine, all lights dead, no power. So this time I borke out the tool kit and looked at the battery (first guess, idk how logical but I'm helpless on electrics). The phillips screw holding the left terminal in was about halfway undone, the connector was still attached and all that, but the screw was way loose. After tightening the screw down the bike started right up, bright lights, rode fine for the ~30 min ride home.

The question for Ninjette town: Could this loose connection really be the source of these problems? If the battery is connected in series I could see how it would mess everything up, but from the looks of the electrical schematic it seems like its in parallel with another loop.

Thanks for the help!

[Alex]

Yep, loose connections to the battery cause all sorts of weird behavior. It's one of the first things to check when weird things like that happen. Also - you can't tighten the battery bolts down tight enough with just a screwdriver; they are shaped like a nut for a reason. Use a ratchet to get them tight enough that there's no risk of vibration ever working them loose.