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problem with my Africa twin RDO 7 problem with my Africa twin RDO 7
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Photo by George Guille, It's going to be a long 300km... Bolivian Amazon

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Photo by George Guille
It's going to be a long 300km...
Bolivian Amazon



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  • 2 Post By ROYMACNIC
  • 2 Post By dstehouwer
  • 1 Post By RTWbyBIKE.com
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  • 1 Post By noel di pietro
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  #1  
Old 9 Mar 2015
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problem with my Africa twin RDO 7
Hi All ,was on the high way and it is my first time to ride the bike in the last 2 months at least ,
suddenly i lost all the electricity of the bike ( lights ,horn ,rpm, trip meter ,every thing ) but not the starter !!!
checked the main fuse ,the fuse box all good ..... what do you think that could be ???
thanks
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  #2  
Old 12 Mar 2015
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Could be the rectifier/regulator ,mine had some strange electrical happenings before it went.
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  #3  
Old 12 Mar 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ROYMACNIC View Post
Could be the rectifier/regulator ,mine had some strange electrical happenings before it went.
thanks for your reply
but the bike start good so the charging is OK
also the extra lights (connected straight to the battery working well,,,,
i will check the rectifier/ regulator for sure ,,,,,,
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  #4  
Old 29 Mar 2015
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if the rectifier/regulator goes, it gives you either too low a charging current and you run out of juice (this is the good version!) or it goes up, running the bike at 18V or something cooking your battery and electronics. So, put a voltmeter on your AT so you can keep an eye on it. During our RTW this saved our ass twice...

Now, a sudden loss of power is a short somewhere, bad connection etc. Can be very very difficult to find, but simply check all your cables and connectors.
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  #5  
Old 1 Apr 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dstehouwer View Post
if the rectifier/regulator goes, it gives you either too low a charging current and you run out of juice (this is the good version!) or it goes up, running the bike at 18V or something cooking your battery and electronics. So, put a voltmeter on your AT so you can keep an eye on it. During our RTW this saved our ass twice...

Now, a sudden loss of power is a short somewhere, bad connection etc. Can be very very difficult to find, but simply check all your cables and connectors.

yep, right, check at your (fully charged) battery and it should show 14.4V at 3000RPM not below 13 (lights on, (even with lights should be 14.4)) and not above 15 or you have a problem wir your rectifier/regulator (just bought a new one yestserday for our TA...) I installed a voltmeter from China for 2 € incl shipping...
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Old 1 Apr 2015
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yep, those voltmeter save the day!

We had to swap two rectifiers on our two AT's during our trip, but they were pretty high mileage too....

I also mounted the rectifiers on the left passenger footpeg - just drill two holes in the peg-mount and bolt it on. Then it gets some wind and can cool down.

I struggle to admit it - but Honda wasn't super-smart when mounting the rectifier WHICH HAS COOLING FINS ON behind that cover....
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  #7  
Old 6 Apr 2015
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Have you checked your mass (green) connections on the frame!
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  #8  
Old 23 Apr 2015
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Honda bikes, have one big problem and that is the fact that they fitted poor quality connectors to the original reg rec units.
The OEM SH reg recs were marginal in use and ran hot, and if the connectors between the alternator and reg got corroded the wiring can heat and melt or the connector melts.
The fix is to wire the reg output direct to battery with a fuse. and eliminate the connector between the alternator and reg unit.
Plus if you really want much less chance of the reg going bad, fit a modern FH Mosfet unit which run very cool compared the SH versions.
The Mosfet versions are easily found on most modern sportsbikes and will have the FH prefix before the serial number.
FH08, FH-010 etc
The only one that you should watch for is the CBR1000RR one as it has a really strange lead and plug which is impossible to get a sealed plug to fit apart from the stock plug.
The rest of them use Furukawa QLW connectors which are available aftermarket.
Easternbeaver.com sell wiring kits to allow the fitment of these reg units, which greatly increases electrical reliability.
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  #9  
Old 23 Apr 2015
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Hi all
Thanks a lot for your kind reply and the great information
Well I hope I can explain that in English !!
After checking most of every thing
I found out that the horn wire clip is fallen and the wire attach sometimes the metal part of the bike cause to make a short
And make all the electric mess
I don't know why it never blow the fuse ? Although it is the right fuse
So the problem is fixed by put a new plastic clip on the wire and move the horn a bit so the new clip won't get worn out again
Thanks again and ride safe always
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  #10  
Old 23 Apr 2015
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No substitute for logic when it comes to electricity
Here's a guide:-
Fault Finding Guide - Motorcycle Electrical Fault Finding Chart - ElectroSport

First things first, the wiring loom and connectors have to be "good" or that tricky electricity stuff goes down routes that the bike wasn't designed for.
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