woolhound227
Tricycle
I've seen threads from over the past 2-3 years that have dealt a little bit with what's generally considered an only an annoyance: a pulsating headlight at idle (dash lights, brake light, too). I haven't seen anyone in those threads post any real final resolutions, but let me throw out my situation, which occurs at ALL RPMs, but changes in frequency with RPM, and something else interesting I found tonight.
First, it's a 2006 with about 30,000 miles. I've used two different batteries with the same results. "Free power mod" done to promote better ground. I've disconnected, cleaned, and reconnected all multi-pin connectors. Battery cables cleaned and free of corrosion. Alternator connectors tight and clean. J-box connections (external) are all clean and tight. Voltage at battery while running is pretty steady at 14.5 to 14.6V. Steve-clean carbs, new plugs, wires, caps.
Situation: at idle, all lights on the bike pulsate. Think about how a headlight modulator looks. It's like that but not quite so dramatic. My idle is set at 1200rpm. As I increase RPM, the pulsating does not go away, rather the frequency of the pulsating increases with speed.
The pulsing in the lights is also clearly directly correlated with a noticeable "pulsating" in the idle. In other words, the fluctuation in the electrical system is affecting more than just the lights. Idle is also "pulsating", if you will, in sync with the lights. The impact on the running of the engine isn't as noticeable at road speed RPM because the frequency of the fluctuation has increased so much. The lighting issue is bad enough that while riding at night, I can see the modulating effect of the headlight shining on the road and on vehicles ahead of me. It's that bad.
Now while in the garage tonight I stumbled on something. When I grabbed the brake and the brake lights came on, the pulsating improved and the idle smoothed out some, but still in frequency with the improved pulsating issue. I then turned on the high beam and it got even better. The only other thing I could turn on were the emergency flashers. With all that extra load put on the system, the pulsating all but went away completely and idle smoothed out considerably. Taking each of those added loads off one by one, the problem increased again.
The battery, as a capacitor, should have the ability to help smooth out somewhat uneven discharge from the alternator, correct? But if it's unable to handle perhaps some excess spikes from the alternator, is that what's happening when I put the extra load on from the other lights? ...that those extra lights are absorbing an excess output from alternator that the battery can't absorb on its own?
I could let it go, perhaps, as an annoyance or "character" of the bike if it was just at idle, but when this is enough to make a flashing headlight (and all other lights) at night at higher-than-idle RPM, and when it noticeably affects engine performance, I want to get to the root of the matter and correct it before it turns into something worse later on.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
First, it's a 2006 with about 30,000 miles. I've used two different batteries with the same results. "Free power mod" done to promote better ground. I've disconnected, cleaned, and reconnected all multi-pin connectors. Battery cables cleaned and free of corrosion. Alternator connectors tight and clean. J-box connections (external) are all clean and tight. Voltage at battery while running is pretty steady at 14.5 to 14.6V. Steve-clean carbs, new plugs, wires, caps.
Situation: at idle, all lights on the bike pulsate. Think about how a headlight modulator looks. It's like that but not quite so dramatic. My idle is set at 1200rpm. As I increase RPM, the pulsating does not go away, rather the frequency of the pulsating increases with speed.
The pulsing in the lights is also clearly directly correlated with a noticeable "pulsating" in the idle. In other words, the fluctuation in the electrical system is affecting more than just the lights. Idle is also "pulsating", if you will, in sync with the lights. The impact on the running of the engine isn't as noticeable at road speed RPM because the frequency of the fluctuation has increased so much. The lighting issue is bad enough that while riding at night, I can see the modulating effect of the headlight shining on the road and on vehicles ahead of me. It's that bad.
Now while in the garage tonight I stumbled on something. When I grabbed the brake and the brake lights came on, the pulsating improved and the idle smoothed out some, but still in frequency with the improved pulsating issue. I then turned on the high beam and it got even better. The only other thing I could turn on were the emergency flashers. With all that extra load put on the system, the pulsating all but went away completely and idle smoothed out considerably. Taking each of those added loads off one by one, the problem increased again.
The battery, as a capacitor, should have the ability to help smooth out somewhat uneven discharge from the alternator, correct? But if it's unable to handle perhaps some excess spikes from the alternator, is that what's happening when I put the extra load on from the other lights? ...that those extra lights are absorbing an excess output from alternator that the battery can't absorb on its own?
I could let it go, perhaps, as an annoyance or "character" of the bike if it was just at idle, but when this is enough to make a flashing headlight (and all other lights) at night at higher-than-idle RPM, and when it noticeably affects engine performance, I want to get to the root of the matter and correct it before it turns into something worse later on.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts!
