What would you do? - Automobile advice

[ShyBoy]

Hey guys.

I was changing my bulbs the other day, and then the lights went - went online to ask some guys and they said its probably a cascade failure which is common on bikes since if one goes it blows the other. So anyway, was on the way to halfords and the bike cuts out power. A fuse blew. So took it home, and rather than replacing the fuse myself knowing if there was an undiagnosed electrical fault (considering the bulbs just going too) I called mechanic. Turns out that the CDI or ignition has gone. Called Yamaha. Want £386 for a new one! Going to try to source a new one but my options if this doesn't work (and I have a feeling it wont :()

- Send my old one off to be repaired for £100
- Get a new one for £386
- Sell the bike and concentrate on driving lessons, leave it til after I've left uni (:()
- Sell the bike, use my savings and get something more reliable.

The one I got was a steal at £350, it was running so wasn't a mechanical issue, it was just old and I guess things go. I could probably get £100 or so if I sold it for spares or repairs but I estimated I've spent probably £600 (including the current work it's having done) since I've had it getting it legal (I have to pay 'young person tax' on restriction kits and insurance, after all).

I'm a bit stumped at the minute. This will sound sad, but biking is at the moment something I've put a lot of my emotional energy into... sigh.

[g_angel]

I would send the old one off to be repaired. No point spending more than you paid for the bike on one single part.

[ShyBoy]

I could do, problem is the inconvenience and the cost is still a lot :/. But I'll have to see if this one I've bought of ebay works..

[Mist]

Be careful about throwing good money after bad. (Or is it the other way around?) If bits are failing then it'll only go one way from there on in. And it's not the pretty way.

[Click to see more]

Sounds more like the regulator/rectifier to me, ShyBoy. Grab a multimeter, get the blown fuses changed, and measure the voltage going to the battery when the bike is idling. You should be seeing 12.6v - 13.5v, and hopefully no more than 14v when the engine is running at 3000rpm+.

My money is on the reg/rec failing to a high, i.e too much voltage being pumped through the system. If it is the case, then it should be as simple as swapping the reg/rec, and a precautionary swap of the battery as well.

Failed on my VFR, wouldn't output more than 13v, nor would it produce enough juice to power the bike and the headlamp at the same time. But they can fail in either direction :).

Aftermarket reg/rec and a battery should come in at around 75 quid or so.