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Downtown 300 / Re: Have you guys tried lithium ion batteries?
« on: February 21, 2020, 06:02:43 PM »
Checked the battery's voltage and it was 12.something with it off and 14.something on and a bit higher at 3000 rpms.
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Downtown 300 / Re: Have you guys tried lithium ion batteries?
« on: February 20, 2020, 06:42:46 PM »BTW, the three easiest places to take measurements are : at the battery, from the accessory socket (if yours is working) , and up under the front fairing. If you have a tender on the battery, that is ideal as well. Whatever is easiest for you to get a voltage.
Now, here is what my Downtown does and what you should expect: When I turn the ignition on, the voltage is going to drop into the 11.x . After you crank, it will go to charging at 13.9 v to 14.4v. I would test the battery and then change the regulator if it ever dropped to below 13.2v charging at any point after startup. If my Downtown drops into the 10.x volts , it is iffy if it will start. Sometimes I get lucky. I dont mean to be disrespectful. I want you to find the problem , and fix it, and ride! After two weeks you are still scratching your head on it, and I think you are making it way too hard on yourself. When I decided to run heated clothing, I had to figure out what exactly the Downtown could do, lest I find myself at the side of the road frozen. I decided that I needed to know the state of the battery and charging at all times. So I put an accessory-to-SAE plug in the accessory port, and ran it to an SAE voltage indicator. Since then, I have kept an eye on it just like I do engine temp, etc. But even if you dont want to mount one somewhere, It is always good to have in your toolkit ($12) , and it will attach to your battery tender cable ($8) (which you should also install to do battery maintenance). You might already have done so! While my wheel is off for tire change, I am currently installing a second 15A cable with SAE end connector to the glove box. Unlike the accessory port fuse, this fuse will be accessible through the cable window in the tub. I used a fishtape to pull the wire from the front through the tunnel . You can see both the tender cable and soon to be glove box cable here:
I'll hook it up to a multimeter when I get home and check it out.
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Downtown 300 / Re: Have you guys tried lithium ion batteries?
« on: February 19, 2020, 03:44:29 PM »Ever get cold where you live or visit? Lithiums don't do well when cold.
Nah Tampa Bay area nice and warm here.
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Downtown 300 / Re: Have you guys tried lithium ion batteries?
« on: February 19, 2020, 03:04:50 PM »Have you checked the voltage regulator? The VR may have failed and not charging the battery. You need a digital multimeter to make voltage measurements at the battery with scooter not running, scooter running at idle and scooter at around 3000rpm.its a 2013 with about 3300 miles on it. I have a spare reg rect just was a pain to install so I haven't done it.
What model/year is your scooter and how many miles?
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Downtown 300 / Have you guys tried lithium ion batteries?
« on: February 19, 2020, 12:21:04 PM »
I wonder if they help with lackluster starting power vs cheap internet batteries. After getting the spark plug changed everything was fine and a few days later leaving work it took several tries to get the bike to turn over with the battery light coming on. I think my internet battery I bought might be just a POS. Thinking if I upgrade to Li ion it will solve my problem.
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Downtown 300 / Re: Tried pulling spark plug and pulled the wrong thing.
« on: February 15, 2020, 08:01:39 PM »Curious here.....where do you live?
If 10% ethanol gas was actually damaging a modern scooter or motorcycle --- my mega-mall, official Ducati, Honda, Yamaha, Kymco and Suzuki dealer would have gone out of business years ago.
Because ethanol free gas is not available where I live, nor is it readily available to, or used by, the vast majority of riders in the USA.
Stig
I'm in Florida a lot of stations have it around here. Just seems to have a smoother ride the engine sounds a lot nicer with it. Unless the gas that was in there was just old idk. It was the gas I got with the scooter.
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Downtown 300 / Re: Tried pulling spark plug and pulled the wrong thing.
« on: February 15, 2020, 01:12:53 PM »
So from my understanding it was the puke tube that I drained. So a good thing. Also went to the dealer mechanic and they changed the spark plug, told me to add ethanol free gas and it now runs and starts like a dream.
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Downtown 300 / Tried pulling spark plug and pulled the wrong thing.
« on: February 14, 2020, 06:28:05 PM »
Thought it was a spark plug cover and it was a plug for some kind of oil or fluid and some came out. Wasn't a lot making sure it's not critical or what it was and if I need to add more in and where. It was between the kick stand and center stand on the left side. Plug just pulled out thought it was the spark plugs cover. That's what I get for DIY haha
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Downtown 300 / Re: New battery died. Regulator?
« on: February 14, 2020, 06:05:22 PM »
Today it wouldn't start right away but the battery light didn't come on. Required me to give it throttle to start and that oil can light came on when it didn't start right away and went off once I got it started. Doesn't start without throttle which is concerning. Might have ordered a part I don't need but I'll probably need it eventually.
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Downtown 300 / Re: New battery died. Regulator?
« on: February 14, 2020, 04:19:11 PM »
Found it! Now I just gotta figure how to do it without taking off the side panels. Think I can fit my arm back there with a wrench we'll see
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Downtown 300 / Re: New battery died. Regulator?
« on: February 14, 2020, 02:39:11 PM »
Where's the regulator located? Gonna try to do it myself shop wants $60 to change it plus part. Got the part shipped will be here today.
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Downtown 300 / Re: New battery died. Regulator?
« on: February 09, 2020, 10:58:14 PM »
Yeah the light was on for battery.
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Downtown 300 / New battery died. Regulator?
« on: February 09, 2020, 10:22:10 PM »
Installed a new battery and now it's dead a couple days later. Thinking it's the regulator as I only have 3k miles total on the bike and I just got it myself. 2013 model.
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Downtown 300 / Re: Seat won't close all the way after changing battery.
« on: February 07, 2020, 07:01:11 PM »
Took it to a Kymco dealer and they fixed it for $30 and got one side of the latch to work. So it will close shut and lock on one side. The other side would have been a lot more labor so I said as long as it all works that's fine by me.
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Downtown 300 / Re: Seat won't close all the way after changing battery.
« on: February 07, 2020, 04:35:25 PM »Sit back, relax, do something else totally unrelated to that frustrating project, something else you really enjoy that takes little or no skill. Then, when you have lost the feeling of wanting to RIP your hair out by the roots, go back and I will GUARANTEE it will practically jump back in place! I know. I had it suggested to me years ago. It works!
I think it was mostly the seat strapped onto it causing the issue with creating tension underneath. Took the seat off and it worked a lot better. Not perfect but close enough. Messing with the seat cushion now to get the straps right.