Electrics/speedo issue

At the weekend, My friends and I had been out on a road trip about 20 miles out from home I noticed my rev counter had stopped working.

Then I noticed when I used my indicators, they werent flashing as they usually do.

It was at this point I decided to head back home. Half way home I noticed my speedo had stopped,

it would come on intermittantly and the readings were way off.

About a mile from home the bike lost all power and stopped. When I turned the ingnition i noticed some slight flashing lights, but that was it.

The bike wouldn't even attempt to start.

Im hoping its a lose connector somewhere but Im not entirely sure where to start.

My bike is a Suzuki SV650 2003

Hi Epic,

I take it you've done the standard checks to see if the fuse and the battery are fine, I recently had to change the ignition barrel on my CBR as that part became faulty (no idea how) and the barrel was fine however it would just not turn on. I had to get my repairer to pick the bike up as it broke down after I just finished work. My repairer was the one who suggested to check the fuse and battery first.

Check any electrical connection you can find, something will be loose or corroded or both

Sounds like rectifier / regulator failure but don't go rushing out and spending money until you have checked all your wiring . Look for melted block connectors or loose or corroded battery leads and earths .

I'd talk to harry potter about magic and wizardry (electrics)

On my input I have no idea I hate electrics

Cheers guys, I only gave the bike a quick once over, waiting for the weather to improve to give it a proper looking over.

battery connections would be my first port of call

Hi

I would suspect the regulator rectifier and probably as a result fried electrics. Hopefully not but the description you give with components stopping individually over a short period would led me to believe your circuits where over voltage and have fried.

Check the main wiring that heads to the front of the bike! Suzuki have a habit of putting a large connector in that collects water and corrodes causing various issues

Speedo could be unrelated and could be water in the connector! Which is on the left hand side just up from the sprocket cover just follow the wire that's on the sprocket cover upwards and you will find it! Pull it apart and check for water ingress

Check the free stuff and easy things first before digging deeper

The connector is normally on the right hand side of the bike

Ive bought a new battery as it was showing signs of issues, the day before I set off.

So I might as well replace that, whilst Im at it. Ive checked the cables as best I could but will no doubt have a deeper look.

The issue lies with it being an old bike and it having signs of being tinkered with around the cabling. Lots of black tape around numerous cables which makes it difficult to trace/follow.

It may well be that I have to undo the tape work out whats what then tape the cables back up once I have a better under standing.

Its a possibility that water might have got in and rusted some connectors maybe. it was dry and bright the couple of days before and during the road trip.

I had similar problems with my GSX600.

Fault was a bad earth connection, the black wire that goes form the battery to the frame hada connecter half way along, it had got wet and correoded. I cut the connector out soldered the 2 wires to gether. The connector seemed a bit redundant since one end of the cable was bolted to the battery end the otherto the engine/frame.

Ive replaced the battery and its all working as normal, so far so good.

But as I'd been riding for 3 hours that day, im wondering if the battery was just knackered completely,

or if its not charging whilst riding.

Do you have a multi meter? If so check the voltage at the battery with the engine running should be about 14 volts and drop with the engine off. If the voltage stays the same then it's a charging problem.

I don't know much about electrickery, but everything ive read here points towards reg/rec failure.

Could be as simple as a loose pin or corrosion on the connector blocks.

Have a look at Matt Hudson/Matt's Workshop on YouTube - he's done a couple of videos on reg/rec diagnosis and replacement on his sv1000.

Been very busy as of late, so hadn't had chance to tinker with the bike until recently, had a multi meter on the bike and it was ready about 17 with the engine running, so believe the reg/rec has been over charging the battery as it were, and killed it.

Going to order a new reg/rec and hopefully that'll sort all my problems and i can make the most of the bike this year.