Aye Ian,
Seems as though the v-twins are being cantankerous!
Having fitted new tyres, new sprockets and chain, new fork ATF, cleaned the brakes and given the old bird a general de-clag, today was the day to give the Bros400 a canter to see if all was well. So, with me on the SRX600 Mono and Kat on her beloved, we set off to Lochearnhead, Killin, Kenmore, Aberfeldy, Glenalmond, we got to within 4 miles of returning home, when the engine stopped!
No lights, no starter, NOTHING! Walked back to my stranded spouse, turned the ignition "OFF", selected neutral, turned ignition "ON" producing two glow worms, oil light and neutral light, but nothing else.
We have been smelling a sulphurous smell on the past 3 runs and this time I could smell it whilst following the Bros. Similar to crude oil and thought it might be some manky old oil, but I'd cleaned that all at this last service and it was really strong.
Nothing for it but a call to my local workshop for the van of shame!
I sat on a garden wall and pondered the Bros, whilst Kat rode the SRX home. Van of shame arrived and we had a brief discorse, "regulator/rectifier", we agreed on. Unloaded the "stinkbomb" and I whipped the seat off to see the battery reference and ........ WTF!!!***8?
No wonder we had been smelling sulphurous fumes. With great care, we removed the time bomb (See attached images.), afore it went "BOOF!". You can see where the casing was parting, with the heat and gas pressure!
Thankfully, Kat avoided a fire/exploding hot acid bath. A new battery has been purchased from the local workshop and a new Electrex regulator/rectifier is in the post.
ADDENDUM 2024-07-25: The last Motobatt lasted 7 years before failing, in a similar manner, with an apparent internal short circuit. This Motobatt was its replacement and had been performing well. It is my belief that the old, 36 years and over 100,000 miles, regulator/rectifier failure caused the overcharging.
We can't complain, with over 100,000 miles under the wheels, but it was a close call. Tyres last 11,500 miles on the front and 6,500 miles on the rear, whilst the chain and sprockets managed 14,000 miles, before the front sprocket became lairy.
Hopefully, you can crack this SRV "Gremlin"?
Good health, Bill
