WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?

[blandaw]

Getting my "new"wing ready for spring. Did an alt. conversion, brakes, air, oil, new speaker wires, starter sel. rewire, just cleaned up a buch of extra wires and junk from PO. I have ran bike since alt instal and it ran fine; 14.4v was tidying up some wireing in pocket and decided to pull this unit out. Intercom has been chopped to pieces and new radio instaled by PO; not a bad radio (Pioneer DEH-1900mp) and no intercom is not a biggie for me, if I want one later i will go for the wireless. So, What is this thing? looks like some sort of transmitter???

PS: There are no markings on it anywhere.

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Forgot to ad. went out to start bike tonight and no starter, just the selenoid click, click. Has been rather slugish and seems to drain a lot on bat, so I ordered a repair kit. Does this sound like. Even if I run a Jumper from bat+ to starter lug, nothing. I did go around and "snug" everything up, from what I have been reading is it possable I have turned the whole lug and severed the contact inside? also have read that iff this is so, I will be able to just resolder the connection?

[old gold]

Getting my "new"wing ready for spring. Did an alt. conversion, brakes, air, oil, new speaker wires, starter sel. rewire, just cleaned up a buch of extra wires and junk from PO. I have ran bike since alt instal and it ran fine; 14.4v was tidying up some wireing in pocket and decided to pull this unit out. Intercom has been chopped to pieces and new radio instaled by PO; not a bad radio (Pioneer DEH-1900mp) and no intercom is not a biggie for me, if I want one later i will go for the wireless. So, What is this thing? looks like some sort of transmitter???

PS: There are no markings on it anywhere.

---

Forgot to ad. went out to start bike tonight and no starter, just the selenoid click, click. Has been rather slugish and seems to drain a lot on bat, so I ordered a repair kit. Does this sound like. Even if I run a Jumper from bat+ to starter lug, nothing. I did go around and "snug" everything up, from what I have been reading is it possable I have turned the whole lug and severed the contact inside? also have read that iff this is so, I will be able to just resolder the connection?

I don't know what the thingie is.

1. Charge the battery. If the bike starts, the solenoid is good.
2. Disconnect the radio fuse and see if the battery dies again.If the radio has a memory, it will pull current when the key is off and eventually drain the battery.
3. Key off. Monitor the battery voltage with a meter for several hours. If the voltage drops, you've got something pulling power when the key is off.
4. How good are your cables from the battery to solenoid, solenoid to starter, and battery to ground? Corrosion inside old cables (very common) will cause the starter to drag and contribute to the battery not accepting a charge during operation.

These are great bikes, but the wiring is some 30 years old and subject to deterioration.

Good luck with your trouble-shooting.

[blandaw]

Getting my "new"wing ready for spring. Did an alt. conversion, brakes, air, oil, new speaker wires, starter sel. rewire, just cleaned up a buch of extra wires and junk from PO. I have ran bike since alt instal and it ran fine; 14.4v was tidying up some wireing in pocket and decided to pull this unit out. Intercom has been chopped to pieces and new radio instaled by PO; not a bad radio (Pioneer DEH-1900mp) and no intercom is not a biggie for me, if I want one later i will go for the wireless. So, What is this thing? looks like some sort of transmitter???

PS: There are no markings on it anywhere.

---

Forgot to ad. went out to start bike tonight and no starter, just the selenoid click, click. Has been rather slugish and seems to drain a lot on bat, so I ordered a repair kit. Does this sound like. Even if I run a Jumper from bat+ to starter lug, nothing. I did go around and "snug" everything up, from what I have been reading is it possable I have turned the whole lug and severed the contact inside? also have read that iff this is so, I will be able to just resolder the connection?

I don't know what the thingie is.

1. Charge the battery. If the bike starts, the solenoid is good.
2. Disconnect the radio fuse and see if the battery dies again.If the radio has a memory, it will pull current when the key is off and eventually drain the battery.
3. Key off. Monitor the battery voltage with a meter for several hours. If the voltage drops, you've got something pulling power when the key is off.
4. How good are your cables from the battery to solenoid, solenoid to starter, and battery to ground? Corrosion inside old cables (very common) will cause the starter to drag and contribute to the battery not accepting a charge during operation.

These are great bikes, but the wiring is some 30 years old and subject to deterioration.

Good luck with your trouble-shooting.

Fresh charge on battery, 13+v. May go ahead and replace battery to selenoid and selenoid to starter wires just for good mesure; as you said, its 30 years old. With meter, I am getting good volts to stsrter lug when start button is pressed, but volts drop prety quick and there is a slight lag before the volts show up at starter lug, if that makes any sence to you. Will keep posted on situation. Thanks to you and all the other helpfull members on this sight!

[Golden Highway]

That look like the ballast from a HID light conversion kit.

[kantor]

Getting my "new"wing ready for spring. Did an alt. conversion, brakes, air, oil, new speaker wires, starter sel. rewire, just cleaned up a buch of extra wires and junk from PO. I have ran bike since alt instal and it ran fine; 14.4v was tidying up some wireing in pocket and decided to pull this unit out. Intercom has been chopped to pieces and new radio instaled by PO; not a bad radio (Pioneer DEH-1900mp) and no intercom is not a biggie for me, if I want one later i will go for the wireless. So, What is this thing? looks like some sort of transmitter???

PS: There are no markings on it anywhere.

---

Forgot to ad. went out to start bike tonight and no starter, just the selenoid click, click. Has been rather slugish and seems to drain a lot on bat, so I ordered a repair kit. Does this sound like. Even if I run a Jumper from bat+ to starter lug, nothing. I did go around and "snug" everything up, from what I have been reading is it possable I have turned the whole lug and severed the contact inside? also have read that iff this is so, I will be able to just resolder the connection?

you know it looks very much like an aftermarket sound amp (small one at that)

[SIR tricky]

Forgot to ad. went out to start bike tonight and no starter, just the selenoid click, click. Has been rather slugish and seems to drain a lot on bat, so I ordered a repair kit. Does this sound like. Even if I run a Jumper from bat+ to starter lug, nothing. I did go around and "snug" everything up, from what I have been reading is it possable I have turned the whole lug and severed the contact inside? also have read that iff this is so, I will be able to just resolder the connection?
[/quote]

Did you try hooking direct to the starter?

Have your battery load tested and charged only then can you start to look for problems.

[bs175dths]

13.0+ Volts is only part of the measuring. These bikes need some serious amps to get started when cold!
First, you MUST use a quality battery with cold cranking amps > or = to OEM.
Quality batteries will carry the kind of CCA's required for many trouble free miles of cold start ups.
IF you battery has removable caps for the cells, make sure each cell is filled enough to cover the lead plates. If you see plates when you look into each cell, add distilled water until you see your reflection.
If you have a sealed battery, and all AGM batteries are this way, then you can't (sure you can but you shouldn't) open the battery to check the level.
Again, if you do have removable caps, after topping off each cell with distilled water, trickle charge (no more than 1.75A) the battery. Depending on the quality, age, and condition of the battery, it may take many hours before the cells start to form bubbles. I like to tip the battery from one side to the other to help release the bubbles from the plates. I had one battery not 'burb' and the acid was slowly forced out of one cell. Not Good!
The battery should be warm to the touch but not hot. If it gets hot, disconnect the trickle charger and replace the battery.
While the battery is getting to its point of forming bubbles, go get a hydrometer which will fit into the small openings of your battery.
What you want to do is get a sample of each cells fluid and measure its specific gravity. The higher the gravity reading, the stronger the cell. All cells should be at least at the 75% level. If lower than 75%, consider replacing the battery.

As batteries evolve, the hydrometer test is becoming a test of the past.
I am considering getting the electronic device which sends a specific amount of 'push' through the battery and the software determines the condition of the battery by measuring how much the battery 'pushes back'.
Evolution!

The main point of all this is to test to see what exactly needs to be replaced so you don't become just a parts changer but a problem solver.

Good Luck.

-Ride On

[ember1205]

CCAs = Cold Cranking Amps. They have nothing to do with the actual operation of the bike once it's running.

The ONLY correlation between CCAs and battery longevity is this: If the battery doesn't have the minimum CCAs to properly start the bike when it's cold, you'll overtax the battery at startup and degrade its internals more quickly.

Once the bike is running, all of the power comes from the stator (alternator if you've changed out). If you're drawing power from the battery while it's in operation, your stator (again, could be alternator) is toast.

[1060dsl]

Forgot to ad. went out to start bike tonight and no starter, just the selenoid click, click. Has been rather slugish and seems to drain a lot on bat, so I ordered a repair kit. Does this sound like. Even if I run a Jumper from bat+ to starter lug, nothing. I did go around and "snug" everything up, from what I have been reading is it possable I have turned the whole lug and severed the contact inside? also have read that iff this is so, I will be able to just resolder the connection?

Did you try hooking direct to the starter?

Have your battery load tested and charged only then can you start to look for problems.
[/quote]

This is pretty basic so excuse me if I am re-stating the obvious. The lug on the starter has a small wire connected (inside) and will certainly break off if you do not use the second (thin) 10mm wrench to hold it in place, basically you need to insure the lug does not turn while tightening the nut down, even slight movement of the lug might be too much. I ground down a wrench on the side of the grinding wheel to about half thickness to make it thin enough for these starters. As for re-soldering it from the inside, yes that's what the pro's do.

[bs175dths]

CCAs = Cold Cranking Amps. They have nothing to do with the actual operation of the bike once it's running.

The ONLY correlation between CCAs and battery longevity is this: If the battery doesn't have the minimum CCAs to properly start the bike when it's cold, you'll overtax the battery at startup and degrade its internals more quickly.

Once the bike is running, all of the power comes from the stator (alternator if you've changed out). If you're drawing power from the battery while it's in operation, your stator (again, could be alternator) is toast.

You are so very, very correct about cold cranking amps. Cranking a Cold engine requires more Amps than maintaining it running. (in most, but not all cases)
Where did I state cold cranking amps were required in the OPERATION of the bike once it is running?
I believe the statement was, you MUST use a quality battery with cold cranking amps > or = to OEM.
Quality batteries will carry the kind of CCA's required for many trouble free miles of cold start ups.
Of course, that is if you do read what was written.

After the motor is started, the stator (or alternator) supplies most (not all in all cases) of the power to operate the vehicle.

However, the thing to keep in mind is this, the original problem stated is difficulty in S T A R T I N G the motor (CCA), not R U N N I N G the motor (stator/alternator)

just a note here, it's CCA not CCAs....
If you would read the label on the battery it is CCA.
Of course, if you are one of those folks who calls it an ATM machine (ATM is short for Automatic Teller Machine - it is not an Automatic Teller Machine machine) or one who calls it a VIN number, (again, Vehicle Identification Number number?) then I understanding your confusion.

BTW, your stator, battery and regulator could be good, but if the connections between them are faulty, any one of these devices won't operate as designed and thus INDICATE a faulty stator, battery or regulator.
I would much rather clean the electrical connections on my 30 year-old bike first, than pull the motor and replace the stator, or by-pass the stator by making the Poorboy modification. (my apologies to Poorboy)
Part changing is an easy and expensive way of life, but I prefer to THINK it over and not have a knee jerk reaction and just replace any part and hope it fixes the problem.
Part changing can conceal the root of the problem, only making the fix temporary, thus causing frustration.

Riding On and ....