My 750SF on a short neighborhood July 4th ride - electrics totally cut out

aircooled1

aircooled1

New member
Location
Concord, CA USA
Hi,

I am new to the forum and have enjoyed reading various postings from you all.

As it's the 4th of July I thought I'd take out my Laverda 750SF for a brief spin around the surrounding neighborhood. Just a small distance. Everything went well until about 3/4 of my 1 mile ride - the electrics totally died.  No starter. No nothing. So luckily I was wearing shorts and T-Shirt (it was a slow/easy ride) and pushed it home. A cold beer awaited which was much needed. I never had electrical issues with the bike. Have not ridden it much and frankly want to learn more about it after having owned it some years and this forum is getting my enthusiasm up.

So I was wondering if anyone has some tips on where to start figuring out why it died just in an instant. No warning.
Things that come to mind:
1. Check battery for voltage
2. Check fusebox and look for a blown fuse

I'm suspecting 2. but was wondering before I go look if folks want to offer a best guess for the cut-out?

:) Jeremy  Concord, CA  90degrees out.
 
Hi Jeremy,

That was a fine idea for a celebration. Every ride I take on my SF feels like a special occasion. Just to be clear, are you talking about an actual 750SF (i.e., not SF1 or later)? I would make sure the battery connections are tight and look at the fuse box behind the left side cover first, but if it has the BMW-style "nail" ignition key in the headlight shell, but then that would be the second place I would look. Those ignition blocks are rather complex, though, so hopefully you won't need to troubleshoot in there. I'm betting on the fuse box. If the fuses are old they may have some corrosion on the ends, and holders almost certainly do. Clean up the contact points on holder and fuses with a bit of emory cloth and try bending the holders a little toward each other to get a better grip on the fuses.

Eric
 
As a starting point use of a simple 12v test light and check battery and battery cables first,  and then  in and out a fuse box, (with key on), connection blocks, and ignition switch should point you to the problem of no power.  Two assume you did t not the kill switch  by accident.....do not ask.....
 
a) there is no such thing as a slow and easy skin graft, insurance companies have never heard of them.

b) batteries have a habit of suddenly dying when a plate drops due to vibration.

Paul
 
Check battery condition (and kill switch) first per previous advice. Battery connections clean? Negative to frame often overlooked and very important. I find mini wire brush wheel less destructive than emery paper. Wear eye protection! Concord ..You're just up the road. 100 here in Sac.
 
Sounds exactly what my 750SF0 used to do until I change out the Prince of Darkness Bosch Ignition Key Switch for a heavy duty Toggle Switch.
 
Today was the big day to get back to this project. Been anticipating it perhaps with some trepidation. But started in by removing Seat to inspect battery as a starting point.

I wanted to show a picture of what I found but this forum limit of 300K is ridiculous.  How do I attach a photo of bigger than postage stamp?

Then I tell the tale.

 
Use the pic resize site. Follow the directions under the "how to post pictures" thread at the top of General. Dead easy. I have never worked out the other options for the tech savvy. I guess you found the problem then.
 
About time I shared the outcome - upon removing the side cover and seat I realized that the bolt holding the ground to the batter had fallen out and as luck would have it - the bolt was in the battery tray still! Which was lucky since I pushed the bike home about 1/2 mile. So - tightened it up and started like a dream.  Note to self: Tighten battery bolts and others properly as vibration will tend to loosen them. :)
 
Good outcome - so often it's something absurdly simple. Bolts will not come loose if they are tightened properly or thread-locked or nylocs are used. I guess it's preferable to have things come loose due to insufficient torqueing than have all your threads stripped for the opposite reason!! You get a feel for it over the years (but some never do).
 
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