[NormSash]

My daughter has a TW200 and she is complaining that the headlight is dim and the blinkers are slow to start the first blink cycle (e.g. you turn on the blinker and then have to wait for awhile before it starts blinking.) The bike seems to turn over OK with the starter so my assumption is that the battery is OK. Where would I start checking? Regulator? Stator? Something else? Is there a good way to check if the various parts are ok?

 

[rm_hm]

We are gonna need to know what year the bike is to help you. There are some wiring changes that took place through the years.



Are all the bulbs oem wattage?



Stock size battery?



Battery voltage when running at idle and at high rpm?



Are your battery terminals and other electrical connections clean, bright & tight?



Have you downloaded a free copy of the shop manual for more troubleshooting tips?

 

[Rainman]

Rich brought up some excellent points. Year of the bike would be my first question.



My 1990 had a dim head and tail light and dim blinkers. I replaced my fuse and all is better. The fuse wasn't blown, but it was corroded.

 

[NormSash]

Thanks for the replies... It is a 1996 TW... I don't have access to it right now, but I will be going there in a couple weeks and plan to work on it then. The battery is a year old... can't vouch for the size although I know it was the "recommended" one at the time of the purchase.



Good points about the corrosion... I'm sure that is one of the possibilities and I'll be going through looking for that when I'm at my daughter's. I was just thinking of getting a head start on this if it sounded to some like a regulator or stator; I could pre-order the parts. But if it isn't a common problem then I'll just wait till I get there and clean up all the other possibilities first.



And nope, I didn't download the free manual. Didn't know it existed, and yes, I would love it. I'll search on this site for it, but if it is located somewhere else a link would be very useful.

 

[NormSash]

Found the manual on the wiki... Thanks!!!!

 

[Rainman]

I wouldn't go out and buy expensive parts for your bike before you've diagnosed it. Parts do go bad, but more likely its corrosion, a broken wire, bad connection, old battery, etc....



I had a problem with my bike that would make it sputter when I would hit a bump. Turned out it was a corroded connection.



I'd go through the whole bike and unplug and plug in every connection. Make sure they are in good shape and fit tightly.

 

[qwerty]

Seafoam DeepCreep is kind of expensive ($10/can), but it and Q-tips are a dandy way to clean all the electrical plugs and terminals. Spray a bit of DeepCreep in its cap, dip a Q-tip, and scrub away. Then use a small squirt of DeepCreep to rinse a connector clean. you'll notice that a DeepCreep rinse floats the loose bits of corrosion right off the metal rather than making it stick to the metal like WD-40 or most of the other spray concoctions used for cleaning electrical terminals and connectors.

 

[NormSash]

Cool beans, @Rainman and @qwerty.... I'll follow both of your advice! Maybe all it will take is a little ol' elbow grease and it will all be fixed.

 

[jbfla]

+1 on Qwerty's and Rainman's advice.



First thing that came to mind was a bad/corroded ground.



jb

 

[qwerty]

Use dielectric grease on all the plugs, terminals, and such to prevent further corrosion.