Honda Steed 600

[tamsin]

my honda steed 600 keeps failing. it's ridden daily, so it's not because it's under used. i've taken it to several different engineers, but after anything between two months to two days, the battery fails again and has to be taken for re-charging. none of them seem to know what the problem is. can anyone cast any light? thanks.

[LivinLOS]

Does the charging system put current into the battery ??

I am assuming theres an intermittant fault there.. Of course the battery should be 100% working and new also.

If that sounds obvious it is.. But its either not getting a charge or not holding one !!

[tamsin]

Does the charging system put current into the battery ??

I am assuming theres an intermittant fault there.. Of course the battery should be 100% working and new also.

If that sounds obvious it is.. But its either not getting a charge or not holding one !!

after the first time this happened, thought it had been sold with a duff battery and bought a new one. then another new one. had this bike for around 3 years. whenever this happens, the battery gets taken to the nearest engineer for a re-charge, and that's been quite a lot of different engineer shops, so can't be their equipment. not sure how familiar all these different engineers are with big bikes, but would have thought one of them could have figured it out by now.

it has of course occurred to me that this is a fault within the bike mechanism, but what's puzzling is the differing periods of time between the battery going flat, would have thought that it would be the same every time, one day, week, whatever, and i've explained to each of them (if an engineer sends it back and it happens again, i of course don't return, so it's off to another engineer i go, so far without success). so now, around six or seven engineers have failed to address the problem and it's getting a bit dull. last night the bike was left an hour's drive away at a local wat. in the rain.

[Jim's_a_Thai_Fox]

Hey there,

have the guys checked the alternator? You only mentioned that they have charged the battery. One would assume so, but....

I bought a 400 and the bugger's battery died in a Big C car park with me loaded with food. Next day, the mechanic changed the battery. 1400 Baht.

1 week later. dead. Took it back, he went to charge the battery. I asked him to check the alternator - burnt to a cinder. Changed that, charged the battery and I never had an issue with the battery again.

Cheers

James

[stevemiddie]

As above. Its almost certainly an alternator problem. Renew it.

[SnakeBite]

If it is the alternator, then you might be able to just get the brushes changed at just about any auto electrical place. It might just be the voltage regulator as sometimes they will fail when over heated and then work again once cooled.

[tamsin]

yes, the alternator rings true, had an old banger years ago, and same thing happened with that. don't think it can be the voltage regulator as the bike still doesn't start even when cooled. would have thought that at least one of various engineers could have figured it out by now. arrived back yesterday with a new fuel pump(?), and of course was able to be driven as battery re-charged.

so think easiest and less money wasting way out of this is to buy a new alternator myself and tell them to put the thing in. at least i know they'll have the right part this time.

would be grateful if someone could point me in the direction of whichever far flung area of bangkok i could find one, and about how much? remember from old banger, not very expensive. thanks again.

[chavy]

I had this problem with a regular flat battery with my steed. I took it to my mechanic who spoted the problem straight away. Part of the charging unit called the CDI unit was the culprit. It's about 3 inch sqr. It cost about 1200 BHT to replace & have not had a problem since. If it was the alternator I would of thought no charge going into the battery would wear it down quicker than one week plus as described.

[ray23]

1400 Baht for a battery charge if that was all that was done, is ridicules, yuo can buy a trickle charger for less then that that.

I had the same problem with my 535, to the point of putting the headlight on a different. It was charging couln't find a short anywhere. New dry cell battery. Once a week it still did it. Never found the problem meaning me and the mechanics in the area. Wehave one in Udon taht is very sharp on eletrical he couldn't find the problem and he went through the entire system

I finally adjusted to giving a quick charge weekly.

Have a newer model drag star 400 now and no such problems

[tracker]

you could test the alternator yourself, with a multimeter and perhaps a maintenance book. The book does not have to be specifically for your motorcycle, as the procedure is always the same. You might just have other wire colors... Anyway, a lot of maintenance manuals of motorcycles are free downloadable from the net. It will tell you where to find your wires and how to test them. After some browsing, I found my maintenance manual (yamaha tdm850) also free for download from web. Now I do almost everything myself....

The alternator provides the power for your bike. It should give reading, if working correctly, directly on battery terminals a specific voltage to charge and maintain the voltage. It could be something like 12.5 to 13v or something (better check some manual).

also you might have a problem relate to water(rain).. because water can f... up a wiring-system a lot.

If however you are time restricted... or whatever your reason... you will have to submit to other peoples opinions and their price...

good luck!

[srgoldie]

I was having similar problems with my 400 Steed. Fitted a new battery and was ok for a while. Then left it standing for a couple of months. Problem returned. Alternator checked and OK. I'm now wondering if the CDI is the problem as I also have ignition problems.

[Meridian007]

I was having similar problems with my 400 Steed. Fitted a new battery and was ok for a while. Then left it standing for a couple of months. Problem returned. Alternator checked and OK. I'm now wondering if the CDI is the problem as I also have ignition problems.

That's pretty typical, if you leave the bike for more than a month you should charge the battery before trying to start it. The ignition could also be your starter, I've heard that they have a tendency to burn out on the steeds.

[laidback]

I was having similar problems with my 400 Steed. Fitted a new battery and was ok for a while. Then left it standing for a couple of months. Problem returned. Alternator checked and OK. I'm now wondering if the CDI is the problem as I also have ignition problems.

Not to change the subject but can any one help me with buying accessories for my bike Honda Phantom 200

Looking for a shop in Phuket willing to go to Bangkok if necessary

[thaicbr]

rectifier thats whats wrong. probably the connecters are burnt. thats what happened on my cbr250. clean up and new connecters and its fine now 400baht.

[dynabob]

I was having similar problems with my 400 Steed. Fitted a new battery and was ok for a while. Then left it standing for a couple of months. Problem returned. Alternator checked and OK. I'm now wondering if the CDI is the problem as I also have ignition problems.

Not to change the subject but can any one help me with buying accessories for my bike Honda Phantom 200

Looking for a shop in Phuket willing to go to Bangkok if necessary

this is a common fault on steed's which is caused by voltage regulator the circuit board gets brittle and cracks that's what cause's intermittent fault.NEW regulator + labour 1300 to 1800 B.

PHANTOM PHUKET.About half way between patong gov hospital and junction of nani road comming fron hospital he is on left side his name is DAK #0897245435.When i lived patong he did all work on my 600 steed.will explain your problem and tell you cost of repair no work will be done until he shows problem and you approve cost.

LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES

[Pikey]

I wonder if the OP got this fixed as this was all going on in July 2007!!!

Just a FWIW for some basic testing - Put a multimeter on the battery terminals and with the engine running the meter should read between 13 & 14.5 volts. if so, all OK. For the charging system, it goes something like this - alternator chucks out AC power, rectifier converts it to DC, regulator regulates the amount of charge going back into the battery to keep it topped up.

In my experience, mainly in Thailand with my rental shop experience, if a bike is going through batteries, the most likely culprit is the regulator/rectifier combo unit which is normally found under the seat or a side panel, is about the size of a packet of fags, has 3 same coloured wires heading to the alternator and a couple for the battery and has a big finned heatsink on the outside. It's worth bearing in mind that you can intermingle units as well. We have a bunch of SuperFours in our shop and rather than put the original, hard to get & expensive ones on, we use Suzuki Bandit (125cc) ones and they work fine. Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Pikey.

[BigBikeBKK]

LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES

Funny, I heard that in Pattaya loud pipes will get you shot...

[dynabob]

ripleys.

on my second trip to pattaya up jomtien one day watched as the paraglider landed on the road only to be run over by a bus and killed stone dead.they say addicts become very resourceful to conseal their habbit from people and bosses father was no exception only for the massive fatal heart attack we never would have known about his viagia addiction,

[professor49]

my honda steed 600 keeps failing. it's ridden daily, so it's not because it's under used. i've taken it to several different engineers, but after anything between two months to two days, the battery fails again and has to be taken for re-charging. none of them seem to know what the problem is. can anyone cast any light? thanks.

Can anyone help me with information on steed 600 S/N ?? I am looking at buying one but eng S/n starts with PD06E ?? Brian at [email protected] Thanks Brian

[professor49]

I am looking at buying a 93 steed 600 with s/n PC21 1200478 (frame) PD06E 1200477 (eng) does this look right ?? the only info i can get looks like the eng should be a PC21E #. Can anyone help me with info Thanks Brian [email protected]

[Kf6vci]

One unorthodox suggestion: charge the battery, then use an infra red camera. there might be some short - generating heat and draining the battery. It will show up that way.

Alternator etc. were checked, I suppose? Are all the fuses ok?

Chris

[BKOKVLX]

my honda steed 600 keeps failing. it's ridden daily, so it's not because it's under used. i've taken it to several different engineers, but after anything between two months to two days, the battery fails again and has to be taken for re-charging. none of them seem to know what the problem is. can anyone cast any light? thanks.

I have a Honda vlx 600 which is the U.S version of the Steed. The charging system on these bikes has always been the week point. The charging system needs high RPMs to charge so if you are only driving around town at low speeds the battery might not be getting charged properly

Mark