Driving with no battery...?

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Disco
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Joined: Sun Jul 24, 2016 3:00 pm
Location: Wisconsin

Driving with no battery...?

#1 Post by Disco » Tue Jul 26, 2016 8:25 am

Hello all, new rz owner here, actually owner of 2. I couldn't pass up the price for 2 vs. 1 when the owner didn't want to split them. My wife hasn't come back from the bar yet, it's been 5 days, is that bad?? :D

I've read on here and other sites that running/driving an rz even for a few hours (days, weeks, whatever) without a batter will destroy the stator. PO has put thousands of miles on both bikes, neither one with a battery (and no battery bipass thing). He said he hasn't used a battery in either one in over 5 years, and that there is no issue driving them as such (other than blinkers and horn). The guy does seem to know what he's talking about via the various and quite intricate other mechanical things he works on (airplane engines for example). And both bikes start, idle, and run superb without a battery.

So...what's the real scoop? Rumors about the stator being ruined, 100% fact, or maybe one of those grey areas where some people swear by it, some people ignore it, and both happen to work fine?

I'm sure i'll have plenty more questions as I go along, but this was my starting point on this forum, one that seems to be an awesome resource. Thanks, Disco.

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Questo vecchio rz
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Re: Driving with no battery...?

#2 Post by Questo vecchio rz » Tue Jul 26, 2016 3:02 pm

1st off hello & welcome, you will find alot of help & insperation here. Heres a old post you may have not read , might clarify some of your questions. viewtopic.php?p=47317" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I'm not qualified to answer techniclly, but practically.. If Japanese engineers developed the system with a battery, common sense tells me its a good idea to keep it like they designed it & avoid any potential negative side effects. Especially on a streetbike, with dimming lights or no lights if the engine dies on a roadway.

What harm can running a cheap $40.00 battery cause? There is no downside to running a battery, even weight reduction is almost pointless, especially with modern batteries. Of course any difinitive knowledge gained is always welcome from a reputable source.
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Disco
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Location: Wisconsin

Re: Driving with no battery...?

#3 Post by Disco » Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:01 pm

I wasn't really asking if I should continue driving as the PO did, without batteries in the bikes. I was asking if there is definitive proof that it will ruin the stator, therefore me needing to potentially replace it on both bikes.
Sounds like the jury is still out on that other than the obvious warning in the manual as quoted in the link you provided as it can ruin the generator . I assume they are using the term generator while many on this site use the term stator (?). Thanks for the link. I did several searches for battery/stator/generator and really found very little that equated to this particular situation. The search function on this site is not ideally set up...?

So I guess I'll hook up a battery probably only give it a partial charge and see how long it holds it's charge, improves, or diminishes. That should probably provide the real answer, Yes?

yamasukiman
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Re: Driving with no battery...?

#4 Post by yamasukiman » Tue Jul 26, 2016 9:12 pm

Where about's are you located Disco?

MK
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Re: Driving with no battery...?

#5 Post by MK » Wed Jul 27, 2016 10:22 am

The source coils definitely don't like to run without a load attached. I've seen burnt coils when using DC CDI's and letting them unconnected.
This is due to the fact that they produce a few 100V loaded and much more when nothing is attached. In that case a weak isolation will fail and create a shortcut that destroys the coil.

The 12V part is different.
First it doesn't create that high voltage with nothing connected and 2'nd you stille HAVE something connected like rectifier/regulator, lights, signal, brake-light, ...
The bat is used to smoothen the AC part of the regulator output and also acts as a constant load.
The first thing is usually helped with a big capacitor (AKA battery eliminator).
For rating the second issue you need to know that the regulator works just like you'd let your engine always run on WOT and control speed by braking.
A constant load is just like a constant breaking, i.e it makes your regulator run a bit cooler. Or the other way: letting the stator run without load exposes the regulator to a higher temperature.
Bye
Martin

Disco
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Location: Wisconsin

Re: Driving with no battery...?

#6 Post by Disco » Wed Jul 27, 2016 6:40 pm

Thanks all for the replies.

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