I Need More Electricity!

[DerekAbroad]

I don't know if it has the same name on a motorcycle, or in international English for that matter, but I'm talking about an alternator, or the thing that charges your battery when you drive. I know little about motorbikes, but I worked on automobiles throughout high school and university as a hobby.

I have a Mio115, which seem to be notorious for not charging your battery well. I've added a louder horn and an extra brake light and the mechanic said the current battery will be pushing it as-is. I currently have a 5 amp, and they recommended moving up to a 7 amp from a CBR for the current electronics and a couple lights I plan to add in the future.

Is the bigger amperage alone sufficient to solve my problem? I would think I need more charge/input for the battery as well. We also discussed a secondary battery for the additional lights that would be manually charged when it gets drained, but we're trying to find a more convenient solution. I'm not familiar with the mechanical layout of a motorbike engine. Is the charging device external and changeable, meaning can I put a stronger one like I could do on a car?

I'm learning, so any advice/input would be appreciated!

[poanoi]

I got the most beautiful thing for You my friend !

http://www.amazon.co...r/dp/B001D2V4ZE

[DerekAbroad]

Thanks for the interesting idea. A solar panel? 2 watts... I'll have to see how much my output is. I may need several of these. But even with just one, mounting it without it looking silly will be a challenge.

[poanoi]

It covers my 1100cc that demand quite formidable power to turn around, and i barely use the bike so no real charge from engine, 1 of these that is.

On my bike, there was two suitable places, on the box or on top of the front wheel,

i picked on top of the box

Edited October 22, 2012 by poanoi

[BSJ]

If your wanting extra electricity mount one of these to your top box.

Just joking!!!

What I have been pondering is the installation of a capacitor bank to handle the extra load of starting and when using air horns.

The trick is to get the right balance of storage capacity and have ability to re-charge quickly. Plus, I am no expert...so I may be pondering for some time!

[VocalNeal]

Unless you use the horn every 10m or brake every 5m the extra horn and extra strong brake light won't put any extra load on the charging circuit, that is what the battery is for. Changing from a 5 Ah to a 7Ah won't do anything except give you more oomph for starting. If you put an extra driving light on and the continuous load is too much for the generator then you need an uprated generator.

The question is does an uprated generator exist for the Mio, which I doubt , then yes you need one but the larger battery will not do anything.

[DerekAbroad]

Thanks. The shop said my battery was weak. Actually, I had to kick-start it this morning. On the way home tonight it died and won't even kick start. Everything is closed, so I'll have to mess with it in the morning. Right now, it's chained to a post.

Sent from my Desire HD using Thaivisa Connect App

[Richard-BKK]

Thanks. The shop said my battery was weak. Actually, I had to kick-start it this morning. On the way home tonight it died and won't even kick start. Everything is closed, so I'll have to mess with it in the morning. Right now, it's chained to a post.

Sent from my Desire HD using Thaivisa Connect App

I would recommend that you buy a spray can of WD-40, and start to spray all electronic parts. Also make sure that your battery is still in good shape and that the terminals are securely attached (any corrosion on the battery terminals, or slightly stressed battery side-walls (like expending or imploding) are not a good sign.

You're correct with the saying that the Yamaha Mio 115 has some electric problems, especially in the raining season you can expect some problems. But to my experience you can seriously improve the Mio 115's wet weather capability with using WD-40...

Edited October 22, 2012 by Richard-BKK

[BSJ]

Our Fino is 2 years old now so out of curiosity I pried the plastic cover off the battery, removed the rubber caps from the cells and with a light looked inside each one. Every cell had the plates exposed! I added distilled water and stuck it on the charger for 8 hours. Had to epoxy the plastic cover back on but at least I may get another year or 2 out of it.

[dave_boo]

Your generator (or more likely rectifier/regulator) is dying/dead.

Since the bike died while running, it's not a battery issue. You should be able to pull the battery from any bike, kick or bump start it, and it will run until shut off...unless the generator is not kicking out enough juice...or the rectifier is bad.

[roban]

I had to kick-start it this morning. On the way home tonight it died and won't even kick start.

A friend with a 2010 Mio 115 had exactly the same problems.

From one day to another, he couldn't start the bike.

Either electric nor kickstart. Not even the control lamps were shining.

Battery was good

He told me, the workshop removed the right fairing under the seat und there was a brown/(red?) single-core cable, which was somehow interrupted or "bad connected".

I assume, it is a cable from the ignition-switch to a main relais or fuse...

However, the shop cleaned the connector(s) and contacts and after that, the bike started without further problems.

Edited October 24, 2012 by roban

[DerekAbroad]

I had to kick-start it this morning. On the way home tonight it died and won't even kick start.

A friend with a 2010 Mio 115 had exactly the same problems.

From one day to another, he couldn't start the bike.

Either electric nor kickstart. Not even the control lamps were shining.

Battery was good

He told me, the workshop removed the right fairing under the seat und there was a brown/(red?) single-core cable, which was somehow interrupted or "bad connected".

I assume, it is a cable from the ignition-switch to a main relais or fuse...

However, the shop cleaned the connector(s) and contacts and after that, the bike started without further problems.

It was the ignition. Had it replaced the next morning.

I'll keep the WD-40 in mind for the rainy season.

[Fishenough]

Commonly called a Stator on a motorcycle.

Not as common today, but a couple of decades ago it was common for me and my riding buddies to rewind the statorfor more power. Smaller bikes have smaller stators, see picture below that I choice as it's looks similar to the stator on a small bike from 20+ years ago. We often added far brighter headlights to our DS bikes. Also was an interesting project to pass the winter time with (not quite an issue in CM), and keep your hands busy well watching the telly. Original equipment replacement stator are costly, well a properly rewound unit provides more juice. Manufacturers do not fully wind the stators to save on cost, though I'm not certain that this is a common practice today.

Maybe you could find a small electric motorcycle service shop that could do this for you, one that likely works on alternators too; with all the Fino, Mio, etc, running around with dozens of headlights these services must exist in CM?

CR450 Stator

Edited October 28, 2012 by Fishenough

[roban]

with all the Fino, Mio, etc, running around with dozens of headlights these services must exist in CM?

Do you really believe, someone cares about these unimportant details?

Edited October 29, 2012 by roban