Starter / ignition update.
So, I have finally got my ignition problem sorted out. It seems as though the battery was the fault after all. I was told a battery can go bad by losing it's 'amperage' but the volts can still be high and registering good (12v +). The good amperage is what is needed to crank the motor.
Since I thought my voltage regulator / rectifier may have something wrong with it, back after my previous battery failed but, didn't know where it was to find it. I just wanted to change it out for sake of mind and also the problems I had with the l.e.ds blowing. I figured maybe the regulator needed changing and maybe faulty after all. It's likely it's damaged the cells by not regulating the voltage correctly.
A way to test this was by shorting or bypassing the solenoid across the two points (with the nuts on). Remember the solenoid is just a switch, an electro-magnetic one but just a switch all the same. A positive in and out, you're just joining them back up again!
Now this is another way to point out a faulty solenoid but we can kind of rule that out now. You can short it by using a piece of insulated wire with ends exposed or a screw driver. Remember if your not using something insultated you WILL get a 12v shock! If the battery isn't up to switching the solenoid the power will go straight to the motor and you can see if it's weak or not. If it gos and it's weak in turning the motor it's battery related, if it's got a good turn over then it's a poor solenoid / starter relay that's not working.
When done the motor turned but very poorly and briefly this pointed similar to a low charged battery although it was registering good voltage, it suddenly seemed the above was my trouble after all.
I do have another battery here the same size, a cheap but brand new Yuasa branded job for a different bike, I thought I would swap it out to test but, first I swapped out the voltage regulator rectifier for a brand new two plug one (my bike takes the two plug version). There was no point in damaging another battery before hand.
Changing voltage regulator rectifier.
When I swapped the voltage regulator / rectifier the voltage gauge gave me a different reading with the new one.
Two blocks below 12v (that rose back towards 15v when running) on the old battery. The previous one read between 12v - 15v (that rose back towards 15v when running). So right away there's a difference between the two components which raised my eyebrows. Now, I don't know for sure if the regulator was faulty /damaged or just wasn't brilliant or if I just had two macaroni batteries in a row (unlikely). Even though the Powerline battery seemed good on paper remember, it was still cheap. But it still wouldn't start off the button on the old battery.
Remember the voltage regulator / rectifier is underneath the rear right hand side panel, if you want to find it.
I swapped out the flasher unit next to it for a new one while I was there, they're only cheap and it's due for its first M.O.T in the new year. I don't intend to go back under there anytime soon. I kept the old one for spare as it hadn't failed of course but I would rather a new one in there with the M.O.T coming up.
After I put the Yuasa battery in & run it a bit to make sure charge was up I successfully turned the motor & started the bike off the button again several times, I could even hear the solenoid clicking / switching properly.
So in a nutshell, it was the battery but, batteries can fail in a way that is confusing because they still show good charge, although the cells have been damaged. So I will run this battery a couple of weeks just to see how things are going, then buy a better replacement, as this is for another bike. I'll likely try an Enduroline battery, which claims to have more power than lithium batteries but one to throw a few more coins at just in case it was due to a cheap battery going bad over time however my money was on the voltage regulator being the issue.
Luggage rack bolts.
I did say I would try to check the sizes of the luggage rack bolts, to swap them rusting ones out for better stainless steel ones. Now they are an M8 thread with a pitch of 1.25, overall screw length of 65mm and a screw thread length of only 25mm.
So: M8 x 1.25 x 65mm
Now a full length threaded bolt would still do the job but I wanted them as close to the original ones as possible. You won't find a listing for 25mm thread length but you will find visually some on eBay that fit the above dimensions with a partial thread. That will do ( & may well be 25mm anyway). There were some titanium examples but £5.00 a bolt is ridiculous for an application such as this. A pack of 5 steel were about £2.00 - £3.00. I forgot to pick up some stainless replacement washers but, that's not such a big deal. I can get those at a later date.
Before I put the old bolts back on for now, I ran my M8 x 1.25 die over each one and re-cut the thread with a touch of WD-40, as there was all rust built up and slightly bent thread due to the soft metal used. None of that should be an issue when the replacements arrive.
Using a solenoid from a Japanese bike.
Back when I had my starting troubles and thought it could be the solenoid I thought about maybe using a solenoid off a Japanese (or other) manufacturers bike. Since solenoids are all essentially the same thing (a switch) just different in dimensions and cable connections, it is in fact very possible indeed. The solenoid used for the XTRS is the same one pretty much used in many Chinese GY6 type scooters for example.
Now, I did find a Honda solenoid that looked like it might fit (maybe what these were modeled after in the 1st place). In fact on the site the same one is used for many Honda bikes and quad bikes.
Now it's likely not an original Honda part (it says as much) and indeed maybe Chinese again but you could use the model information above to source a genuine Honda part. You would need to change the connector for the two wires, you could do this by cutting the wires off your old one and soldering them to this one instead. Just a thought.
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