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Royal Enfield Motorcycles => Bullet with the UCE engine => Topic started by: clubman on July 17, 2010, 07:05:25 pm

Title: Electrical problems
Post by: clubman on July 17, 2010, 07:05:25 pm
Odd day. Left home early to go to British Superbikes racing at Snetterton but after about 25 miles (bike running superbly) I experienced a gradual but noticeable decline in power and then splutter to a halt on dual carriageway. Great! Tank is full so it's not that. A half hour push to a slip road where I was going to ring recovery gave a little time to think it over. I had a feeling it was electrical and had one more go at starting, using the kickstart. She starts! Ride home leaving the lights off and power level is fine again. Get to my dealer who is marvellous and fitted it in to a busy schedule and continued to work on it past closing time so I could get it home and use it tomorrow. The problem was two fuses had blown and it wasn't charging. The fuses have been replaced and he has demonstrated to me that it is charging again so for now all is well. Trouble is that neither of us know why the fuses blew in the first place. I know it could be anything but has anyone had a similar experience we can learn from?

Title: Re: Electrical problems
Post by: Sub on July 18, 2010, 03:04:33 am
If possible, follow the lines of the shorted wires and see if you can find a place where they are fraying - maybe where it bends around metal or something.
Title: Re: Electrical problems
Post by: gashousegorilla on July 18, 2010, 03:29:11 am
If possible, follow the lines of the shorted wires and see if you can find a place where they are fraying - maybe where it bends around metal or something.
Yes I agree, it must be something , like a short to ground involving those two circuits. Bare wire is probably touching the frame somewhere. for both circuits, at one point.We know one of them is your charging circuit. Pull out your wiring diagram in you handbook, look for the fuses, than follow the wires for a likely spot.Find your charging circuit fuse first. A short like that, is going to leave a mark, most likely. That's  two 20 A fuses if I'm not mistaken? Your clubman is based on the G-5, correct? WE don't have them in the States :'(
Title: Re: Electrical problems
Post by: gashousegorilla on July 22, 2010, 03:23:42 am
Another possible spot may be your ignition switch. At that point your charging and other load(lighting,etc.) circuits are close. At least according to the C-5/G-5 wiring diagram. You said you shut off your lights and she started,right?  Hummm........
Or you may also have some back feeding or load sharing going on. That tank looks retro fitted, how is the wiring harness underneath , was it moved around to accommodate the tank?
Title: Re: Electrical problems
Post by: clubman on July 22, 2010, 01:22:22 pm
Thanks very much for your input guys!  :)

Following the Saturday problems I did make it to Snetterton and back last Sunday, albeit without the lights on giving the battery 230 miles to charge up again. When I got home the battery charger said it was fully charged again and I checked that all the fuses were still intact, which they were.

Following this I got an email from my dealer saying he'd taken it up with Watsonian, (the UK importer), who said there were a few early models that were wired incorrectly. They thought they had checked them all over but maybe mine slipped through the net so it is going back to my dealer tomorrow for a checkover. He said that he will look for shorts at the same time. Great customer service and I'm very happy with it.
Title: Re: Electrical problems
Post by: gashousegorilla on July 23, 2010, 01:51:31 am
Good news clubman, sounds like you got a good dealer there. Let us know what He finds, so if the issue pops up again with someone else, we can help out.
Title: Re: Electrical problems
Post by: clubman on July 25, 2010, 08:38:39 pm
I really lucked out with my dealer.  :)

Well, I got the bike back yesterday and I've put 250 miles on it since then, headlight on all the time and no problems. I was told that the wiring was wrong and it has been corrected as in now following the wiring diagram in the manual. Prior to this the ignition circuit bypassed all fuses and was running direct off the battery. Hence it continued to run with two blown fuses until the battery was drained and I spluttered to a halt. (No power to run the fuel pump.) During the half hour until I restarted it with the kickstart the battery recovered enough to get me home with the lights off. So it all makes sense. Now it is definitely charging, is correctly wired and hasn't blown any more fuses. However we are still not really sure why the fuses blew in the first place. My dealer did look over it but didn't find anything.
Title: Re: Electrical problems
Post by: 2bikebill on July 25, 2010, 09:53:22 pm
Glad to hear it's sorted. Psychic fuses huh? I guess they had the apprentice on the wiring that day... ::)
Title: Re: Electrical problems
Post by: gashousegorilla on July 25, 2010, 10:19:59 pm
Good to hear it, clubman. ;D