2002 Sv650 - issues/opinions?

[Matt_Zeus]

Bought a cheap 2002 SV650, first bike after passing Mod2 last month.
Short Version:
1) Cheap bike turns out to be faulty.
2) Struggled to start/ Once riding the dials went crazy then cut out
3) Garage Removed alarm and repaired fuel tap as engine was flooding.
4) 200ish miles same issue, Garage replace battery and replace fuel tap
5) One more chance or sell on?

Long Version:
Did some very clever things:
1) Bought the first bike I saw. Saw it running, seemed great (21500 miles, hardly used over last 3 years according to MOT, new chain and sprocket, new brakes)
2) Bought a bike with no history.

Passed my test, went for first ride-bike wouldn't start.
Replaced battery.
Replaced Starter Solenoid and repaired Starter Motor.
New Battery turned out to be faulty, put old battery back in and it started.
Got the bike working for 4 days, bike broke down (symptoms, struggled to start, then rode about 2 miles, dials went crazy and cut out).
Took it to a Garage, diagnosed as faulty fuel tap flooding the cyclinders and the Alarm wiring was messed up.
Alarm removed and fuel tap repaired, oil + filter replaced- £286 later..
Rode 200ish miles over next few days, then same issue, struggled to start,rode about 500yards, dials went crazy and bike cut out.
Back to same garage, their diagnosis is fuel tap repair failed, and the Battery is causing the electrical problem so they've put new battery in and replaced fuel tap.

I'm picking the bike up today.
Now I'm not really trusting the bike, would you give it another chance or sell on?

Sorry for long post... thanks for any opinions !

[Fleegle]

Give it another chance. If it fails again with similar problems I would be of a mind to break it and sell as many bits as possible

Out of curiosity, what did you pay for this 15 year old bike?

[tom_e]

Crazy dials can also point to reg/rec going which would also explain dying batteries but then if it's had an alarm chopped into the loom it could be absolutely anything.

[thatdude]

When you say the dials are going "crazy", what do you mean? There is a connector at the back of the dials (get all the fairing off!) and inspect it for corrosion. Clean it out with electrical connector cleaning spray, then use some dielectric grease before putting it back together. It may be worth tracking all through the loom and inspecting every connector, and also all the earthing points, and making sure everything is clean.

As for engine running issues, the carburettor choke plungers can give issues as well; the one on the front carb in particular can get corrosion, and only a small amount needs to be there to hold it open and cause issues.

If you are in doubt, may I point you in the direction of Stewart of Stewarts Motorcycles (http://www.stewarts-motorcycles.co.uk/). Even if he is too far from you, I would still advise you contact him and ask his advice. He has a good deal of exprience with SV650's having gained quite a few customers from the sv650.org forum.

[Matt_Zeus]

Thanks for the comments so far, I've posted this on sv650.org too, just looking for a spread of knowledge
The bike was £880

The dials going crazy- speedo/rev counter shooting up to the top and back down repeatedly, fuel light flashing on and off. As if you were turning the key to the on and off position repeatedly.
After doing this and then cutting out the bike would not start up at all again (no electrics)
The garage did say they checked the charging system-rec/reg and found no issues, this is why they initially left the old battery in even though I gave them a brand new one with the bike when it first broke down.

Thanks again,
Matt

[thatdude]

Are you comfortable doing your own little bit of work on he bike? They are not difficult to work on, and I have a haynes manual for these carburetted models (I'm assuming it's carburetted because you said it was a 2002 model), so I can take pctures of relevant sections and post them up here

[darkyoung1000]

Up until you said the reg/rec had been checked, it's where my money was. a Worth checking again using a multimeter in case the garage got it wrong.
Otherwise, it could be the 'green connector block' issue. This is inconveniently located in front of the front cylinder, but has been known to cause random electrical issues through corrosion.
Cheers,
Tom

[Matt_Zeus]

Picked the bike up yesterday. Only rode it for 10minutes so hard to tell.
They advised they checked all the electrics again and didn't find any issues and cleaned all contacts up.

They didn't replace the fuel tap but they found debris in the system so cleaned it all out again.
It used to pop/backfire quite a bit (assumed due to the aftermarket exhaust) and it didn't do it once on the ride home.

I think i'll give the bike one more chance and change the reg/rect as a precaution.

thatdude said:

Are you comfortable doing your own little bit of work on he bike? They are not difficult to work on, and I have a haynes manual for these carburetted models (I'm assuming it's carburetted because you said it was a 2002 model), so I can take pctures of relevant sections and post them up here

If you have the section on the reg/rec that would be great! thanks for the offer

[Matt_Zeus]

Update, Used bike from Thursday to Monday with no issues.
Battery completely flat when tried to start this morning. Battery was brand new, YUASA installed on Thursday.
Guessing that points to the reg/rec even though garage said they checked the charging system.
My father-in-laws ER5 started on the button after sitting for nearly a month without being started

[road_rager]

Does seem like you may have a charging proboem. Buy a cheap multimeter from maplin, jump start the bike from your car, and see what the voiltage is across the battery with the bike running. Should be about 14V that rises slightly as reved if all ok.

[Matt_Zeus]

I plugged in my Oxford Oximiser.
Battery was reading 13v and the bike started up when plugged in.
Was reading 14.9V when Idling.

I'm guessing that is too high assuming it works the same as a multimeter?

[road_rager]

14.9v is a little bit high

[carinaman]

Does it stay at 14.9V when revved?

Would a faulty rectifier cause the voltage indicated on your Oxford Optimiser to rise when the throttle is revved?

I see on eBay you can get rectifiers from China for £10 or £15

How much would a breaker want for one, it seems from eBay the SV650 rectifier is fitted to other models.

Ask on the 650org forum if someone has a rectifier they can lend you so you can swap them around and see if the fault symptoms disappear?

Is the alarm a factory fit one? I've heard of a wrongly fitted car alarm repeatedly draining batteries.

Disconnect the alarm for a while and see if the battery retains charge then?

[carinaman]

darkyoung1000 said:

Up until you said the reg/rec had been checked, it's where my money was. a Worth checking again using a multimeter in case the garage got it wrong.
Otherwise, it could be the 'green connector block' issue. This is inconveniently located in front of the front cylinder, but has been known to cause random electrical issues through corrosion.
Cheers,
Tom

There seems a fair bit on the Internet about that problem with that connector.

[Matt_Zeus]

carinaman said:

Is the alarm a factory fit one? I've heard of a wrongly fitted car alarm repeatedly draining batteries.

Disconnect the alarm for a while and see if the battery retains charge then?

The garage removed the alarm completely when it broke down the first time with the electrical issue.
Its going back in tomorrow and I'll advise the readings I got from the oximiser, they claimed they tested the charging system but part
of me thinks they're just finding a potential issue, fixing that and then saying its sorted.

What are the odds on having 2 faulty new Yuasa batteries? Shows correct voltage on the charger (when engine not running) but the first one failed a load test.

[road_rager]

Matt_Zeus said:

What are the odds on having 2 faulty new Yuasa batteries? Shows correct voltage on the charger (when engine not running) but the first one failed a load test.

Very very unlikely!

Maybe try a different garage, you do obv have a problem, these bikes are not that complicated so hopefully someone competant can't get you sorted out

[Matt_Zeus]

Bike started with no choke from cold today. I had the battery hooked up to the oximiser for 10mins max yesterday so doesn't seem to be a battery issue.
Smelt very rich when running.

3rd time lucky with the garage hopefully.

[Jujuuk68]

I'd go over to the guys at www.sv650.org and ask them.

But with decent tyres, they're good little bikes. If you can upgrade the suspension, they're even better.

[Max5476]

Matt_Zeus said:

I plugged in my Oxford Oximiser.
Battery was reading 13v and the bike started up when plugged in.
Was reading 14.9V when Idling.

I'm guessing that is too high assuming it works the same as a multimeter?

It still sounds like a reg / rec, the battery voltage should be ~12V with bike off, 11.5V with ignition on, 12-13V at idle, and 13-14.5V when reving at 5000RPM, at no point should the voltage go over 15V.


My first bike was a 2002 SV650S, first bike i saw, and it had a broken reg/rec when brought!

[Matt_Zeus]

Started on the button with no choke this morning. Took it the garage, said they'll hopefully have a look today.