Forum

[Barry_Q]

I've never owned a bike that had an ammeter until I bought my Lightning. Everything works as it should, but the ammeter is driving me nuts. The needle bounces back and forth like a dog in a butchers doorway when accelerating or cruising above 50mph. Is this normal?

[Riggers]

Dogs cruising above 50mph in butchers' doorways? Definitely not normal.

[Skip]

My ammeter isn't exactly bouncing around like yours but (to me) is exhibiting a strange tendency! When I first start the bike, the needle is buried well over on the positive side of the meter, but as I ride along it slowly makes its way back across towards the center of the display....... I haven't ridden the bike far enough for it to reach the middle yet, but don't think it should be doing this. As I've never owned a bike with an ammeter before either, but I'm wondering if this is normal? Is this the battery being recovering after the initial demand has been made on it for starting purposes and the meter is displaying there is less demand on the charging system or is it that there could be a slow, progressive fault within the charging circuit that is reducing the amount of electrical capacity available to the system? As the bike is an Electra X I'm reliant on the battery etc. for ignition and don't want to be in the situation where the battery is drained to the extent the bike won't fire - I've been there and done that with a CX500 and it was bloody heavy to push!...............................I noted that during my ride today the meter needle seemed to settle its self about half way between the '0' center point and the '+' sign, can anybody shed some light on this please?? Tnx Skip.

[simon]

Skip's experience is normal, The charging system will compensate any loss of charge since the bike was last run and any draw that something like the electric start will have used. If you switch on the headlights whilst the engine is running there should be very little perceptible movement as the regulator should compensate for the addition draw whereas if you turn on the headlight without the engine you should see the needle swing significantly to the negative side of the dial. Barry_Q's issue sounds like the needle mount is loose or the needle has come off it's mount. There isn't a simpler electrical gauge in existence and they are very cheap to buy from our hosts so after checking that you haven't got issues with your charging output with a multimeter I'd slot a new one in.

[Gwilly]

Doesn't sound right to me Barry, they usually move a bit after you first start the bike but settle down after a few minutes as the battery gets charged. Certainly not at cruising speed..

It may be the instrument itself, not built like the old smiths but then there cheap and cheerful.

Maybe you could use a multimeter to check regulator/rectifier at different RPM's.

Could be alternator output changing with speed... One of the coils breaking down.. Poor wiring connections... Long list of possibles i guess.. headlight flicker at all? gwilly

[Skip]

Tnx Simon, I assumed that might be the case but its always good to ask and confirm suspicions lol. 196 Watts isn't a massive amount to play with in terms of emf! I wonder has anybody tried re-winding a stator to give significantly more power out put???

[Gwilly]

Sorry Simon, i wish i could type faster.....

[Alan R]

Hi Guys-------- RIGGERS, yes that IS unusual.. Round our way it's normally about 40mph max , woof, woof!! LoL !!!...BARRY Q...it might be early signs of your rectifier / regulator breaking down ??........BUT, as also mentioned it could just be a semi-duff Ammeter...As they are fairly cheap to buy then "test-by-substitution" is probably the thing to do...Are the two securing nuts tight??

[jaffa90]

My 08, 535 lightning ammeter is not reliable,i`ve checked the battery/charging voltage and all is well.Put a sticker over the the dial or buy a voltmeter.

[Jack]