Kawasaki Cheer With Dim Headlight

[ClareQuilty]

So, it seems that Kawasaki parts have become very hard to find. I had a shop fixing a few things on a good running and driving old Kawasaki Cheer I picked up for just 3,000 baht (basically just the kick start and electric start, cost about 1,500). It was of course straightforward to fix the kick-start (some internal part with gear-teeth on it), but the electric start somewhat befuddled the mechanic, and he seemed to be trying many things before finally discovering that by replacing the ordinary battery with a quite expensive and unusual one ( I believe it said '12 volt' on it, and cost about 600 baht as opposed to the normal 280-300), the start worked perfectly.

Here's the thing, before the headlight was strong and bright, but now it is so dim the bike is undriveable at night (when I do 90% of my driving), so I'm thinking what could it be? The 'generator' or 'alternator'? I think they call it the 'die-mo' here, short for 'dynamo'. It is obvious that whatever the mechanic did to it caused this problem, as it was fine before he had it.

I've asked a couple of shops if that part were available for Kawasaki and they doubted it. Does anyone have any advice about where to find parts for an old Kawasaki? Or about what may cause one's headlight to run very, very dim?

[BigBikeBKK]

Your comment about the 12 volt battery is a joke, yes? Most likely the mechanic broke or shorted a connection when he was playing with the starter assembly. Less likely but also possibly a bad regulator or stator. Get yourself a voltmeter and test them both. Pretty sure Kawasaki still sells OEM parts for that bike so check with them and use genuine OEM parts before you let a tin shack mechanic make things any worse.

[Lickey]

CQ, check your headlamp bulb, sometimes one filament breaks away and touches the other filament, causing a dim light,

an easy way to check this is test your main and dip beams, if it doesnt change, bulb is at fault.

[ClareQuilty]

Thanks guys. I'm sure you're right BigBikeBkk, the man must've messed it up somehow, because the problem materialized just after he worked on it. One thing I saw him doing was he took out a part that looked like a little dynamo (with wires wound round and round), and he worked on it for like 1 or 2 hours - didn't see what he was doing but maybe re-winding it or something like that. Earlier he had told me it was impossible to get Kawasaki parts so he would have to try to make do. Perhaps he messed up the dynamo (which alas apparently wasn't the problem in the first place!) And Lickey, I know it isn't the bulb because I took it to another shop (a late night one), and he tried a new bulb on it and it had the same problem.

I have to admit I can't work on the bike and know very little, I just wanted to learn a bit in order to be able to deal with the mechanic. Unfortunately there are only 'tin shack' mechanics up here in Isaan, at least here in Maha Sarakham.

Edited December 9, 2011 by ClareQuilty

[BigBikeBKK]

Thanks guys. I'm sure you're right BigBikeBkk, the man must've messed it up somehow, because the problem materialized just after he worked on it. One thing I saw him doing was he took out a part that looked like a little dynamo (with wires wound round and round), and he worked on it for like 1 or 2 hours - didn't see what he was doing but maybe re-winding it or something like that. Earlier he had told me it was impossible to get Kawasaki parts so he would have to try to make do. Perhaps he messed up the dynamo (which alas apparently wasn't the problem in the first place!) And Lickey, I know it isn't the bulb because I took it to another shop (a late night one), and he tried a new bulb on it and it had the same problem.

I have to admit I can't work on the bike and know very little, I just wanted to learn a bit in order to be able to deal with the mechanic. Unfortunately there are only 'tin shack' mechanics up here in Isaan, at least here in Maha Sarakham.

Sounds like you might have a bad stator coil. They can usually be rebuilt, but if your mechanic isn't up to the task I would recommend replacing it. I'm pretty sure Kawasaki still stocks parts for this bike. You'll need to call a Kawasaki dealer to make sure. Ride On! Tony

[karlos]

As Tony said check the voltage across both battery terminals with the bike running at idle or just a little over idle (1000rpm should be ok for most bikes).

What you're looking for is a voltage between 14v - 14.7v anything less or more indicates a problem with the charging circuit, there are plenty of self diagnostic charts to find on Google

If every other electrical component on the bike works fine, then maybe start by checking the contacts for the headlight, the bulb it's self and the wiring harness, it's possible that with such an old bike someone over the years has cut some wires at some point and just twisted them back together inviting corrosion to set in.

Karl

Edited December 10, 2011 by karlos

[ClareQuilty]

Thanks everyone for your great advice. Good news - I took the bike back to my 'tin shack' mechanic, and after leaving it with him for a day or so, when I picked it up he had the lights working right and didn't charge me a thing (that is, he fixed whatever he had messed up for free).

So, I have a little bike that's rough looking but great-driving, with a good title and tags, for 3,000 plus about 2,000 in fixing up costs. The title transfer and tags amounted to about 1,000, so a bike for 6,000 isn't bad.

These little Kawasakis have a nice feel - I like it better than the Yamaha Fresh & Spark, and the Honda Waves that I've had.