Funny Bike Problem

I was riding home from my friend's house tonight and it came to my attention that my headlight blinks on and off with my turn signals. I do not think this is supposed to happen. I do know my battery is toast so I am wondering if that has anything to do with it. The bike is a kickstart so I didn't really care about the dead battery until now. Am I on the right track or should I be looking elsewhere?

I'm guess the turn signals are pulling enough energy from the stator to dim the headlight without a good battery.

^This.

Also common with vintage bikes with stators/generators that barely put out enough power to keep the lights on with the motor at idle. In fact, plenty of them don't send enough juice to the flasher relay to actually flash the signals unless the bike is revved.

I'd chuck in a new battery first, then check the output of your stator to make sure it's charging the way it should. May also be a bad regulator/rectifier preventing the charge.

Well I'm glad my diagnostic skills are up to par. Now I just have to find some cash for a new battery. If it helps/makes you think of a cheaper (freer) solution, the bike is question is a KLR250.

thatsnowinnebago wrote: Well I'm glad my diagnostic skills are up to par. Now I just have to find some cash for a new battery. If it helps/makes you think of a cheaper (freer) solution, the bike is question is a KLR250.

Use a Wall Mart or Tractor Supply lawn tractor battery,1/5 the price of a motorsickle battery

pilotbraden wrote:

thatsnowinnebago wrote: Well I'm glad my diagnostic skills are up to par. Now I just have to find some cash for a new battery. If it helps/makes you think of a cheaper (freer) solution, the bike is question is a KLR250.

Use a Wall Mart or Tractor Supply lawn tractor battery,1/5 the price of a motorsickle battery

Oh really? Fantastic

Spend some cash on a Battery Tender. It will extend the life of cheap batteries, so it basically pays for itself after a while.

alex wrote: Spend some cash on a Battery Tender. It will extend the life of cheap batteries, so it basically pays for itself after a while.

In addition to the battery tender, I use LED bulbs for the turn signals. You may need to change out the flasher, but once done, the draw will be minimal for everything. I have an XR400 with the baja designs battery (looks like 8AA batteries in a grouping) and use the factory system to light the lights. I have put LED bulbs in the tail light (mainly for vibration) and led front turn signals. will put LED in the rear signals soon.

SInce the bike is a kick start, the battery is mainly for lighting the tail light for 15 minutes per CA DOT code. With the LEDs, that is no problem.

Good thinking.