sliverstorm

oh and I've found some of the links posted before, but unfortunately I'm from the USA so UK shops are far from ideal. Expensive shipping etc

Hello again! I am now going over my bike looking for problems, and have found a few (rear brake line had a piece taken out of it, for example) but this brings me to a problem. Where do I get parts!? Things like the belt that adjusts my rear shock can't possibly be common in generic stores, and there's no FZ600's for parts nearby. Is there a good store to go to? Also, semi-generic things like my brake line. Where's a good source for that? I can't cut brake line to length, so I have to order the right size. Also, is there a good place for rebuild materials for the carbs? Or are those generic enough parts I can find them anywhere? I've been spoiled by the availability of parts for my '86 MR2 P.S. my rear shock looks like it's in rather poor shape- the foam rubber stuff is falling apart and such. Do these shocks last forever, or should I rebuild/fix/replace/upgrade it?

Thanks for the input guys! I found it, by the light of the moon and my AA flashlight. The plug to the rectifier was partly melted. It seems like what must have happened was water shorted the connections, and 30 amps basically melted the socket and destroyed the terminals. The short circuit may or may not have been causing problems; more importantly, since the power line from the rectifier was toasted, the bike wasn't charging. Hooray! Now let's just hope I don't have to replace the rectifier, ever. I had to do some hacking, cause the plastic was actually solid in some places. as in, the plastic liquefied, mixed and set.

Well, the short only shows up when the key is in the 'on' position. Would a dead battery explain the voltage dropping even while the bike is running? That's why it dies, is the stator seems unable to keep up with the load. I tracked it down to a certain fuse. The irony is, at .4 ohms, it was drawing ~30 amps- it's a 30 amp fuse, so it was *just* too little to blow. Anyway, I thought I had it pinned down to the instrument panel, so I took of the fascia and tested unplugging those connectors, but just when I thought I had it, my readings on the multimeter went wacko. Possible it's a short in the harness between 2 wires, and me moving the harness has affected them.

Ok, I just checked the resistance across the battery connectors. .4 ohms. that's 30 amps of current flowing when nothing is happening It fluctuated a little depending on where I was poking, but only by an ohm or 2. Also, this massive short only appears when the key is switched to the 'on' position. This also easily explains why the voltage is not 14V when it's running; with that much draw, even a good 14V output would fall flat on it's face. Any ideas how to find an electrical short?

I'm working on an '87 FZ600, and I'm trying to figure out what exactly is the matter. I think it's either a short or the alternator, but I'm not sure- basically, it dies when it's running normally, and when I tried to fire it up a few times today it stopped working. The first time it started, I stalled it on accident, and couldn't start it again, and the battery read ~2V. I jumped it to a car battery, and it started up and would keep running until you disconnected it. At first, remove the jumper and it just died. If you waited a while before disconnecting the cable, it'd keep running for a bit and die. It's either the alt not charging the battery, or a short draining more current than the alt can supply. My very first thought had been, measure the voltage while it's running, but that first time when I tried to measure it, I couldn't tell if it was 12V (i.e. battery) or ~14V (i.e. alternator) cause the meter I was using is crummy. My current thought is charge up the battery, and either leave it in the bike overnight and see if it drains, or charge said battery, run it, and watch the voltage. Any tips, or recommendations of good places to look for shorts? Also, if it turns out the bike is just draining the battery while it runs is there a better way to test the alt itself, and make sure it's not rust or corrosion etc in the wiring to/from the alt? P.S. the bike was running fine, then it sat for a while and this cropped up. P.P.S. tried push-starting it, didn't work. This suggests alternator, but I'm more familiar w/ cars than bikes- on a bike, will push starting it work if the battery is gone/dead?