A bit of a head scratcher

I ordered a new Yuasa for the Bumblebee as I also like OEM....it came and the darned thing was made in China....

I was going to get an Lithium battery but there are few places here to get them and have any support if anything should go wrong....I didn't want to order one on line for the same reason...
The concours (and I hear the gen3 busa) come with an FB super MF battery, which is made by furukawa in Thailand. I never heard of them but it proofed to be good. I didn’t think it would last this long considering I discharged it a couple of time through the years by not putting it on the tender and letting the bike sit for months at a time.
 
I wonder @mabupa how many gen 2 specifically '09 owners have had issues with this relay?

I've researched for quite a while and really found nothing other than your issues that closely replicates the issue I had/have with my relay...

I get to wonder if the issue I had last summer was from this relay and if so, it is really intermittent as the bike ran perfectly after and up to this latest issue...

Both times I immediately thought of bad fuel but when the bike shut down and displayed an interruption of power to the fuel pump, thoughts of bad fuel quickly left my mind....and something electrical entered....

I really hope this relay resolves the issue as the thought of having an unreliable or problematic bike would not be good....and would lead to my getting rid of it as this unreliability would always be in the back of my mind...once you get left on the side of the road, it never leaves you....
 
I wonder @mabupa how many gen 2 specifically '09 owners have had issues with this relay?

I've researched for quite a while and really found nothing other than your issues that closely replicates the issue I had/have with my relay...

I get to wonder if the issue I had last summer was from this relay and if so, it is really intermittent as the bike ran perfectly after and up to this latest issue...

Both times I immediately thought of bad fuel but when the bike shut down and displayed an interruption of power to the fuel pump, thoughts of bad fuel quickly left my mind....and something electrical entered....

I really hope this relay resolves the issue as the thought of having an unreliable or problematic bike would not be good....and would lead to my getting rid of it as this unreliability would always be in the back of my mind...once you get left on the side of the road, it never leaves you....
After I resolved my issue, I did some digging on the forum and google, and there has been a few people that had issues with these relays. Gen 1 uses the same part number. I know the feeling and I’m glad that was my problem. I have seen taken my bike to some pretty remote areas of central Florida without issues and haven’t felt worried about being stranded.
 
I'de say the whole bike is junk now, it already let you down...better go get that gen3 before it's gone...paint it yellow...
A couple people stopped and asked if I was OK or needed anything..

One guy said he'd be back in 20 mins or so and if I was still there, he'd go get his trailer and get me home....I said if I'm still here he'd know it by the trail of black smoke from when I stuff a rag in the gas tank, light a match and then walk the 10kms to my home...he laughed said he's felt like that on more than one occasion.
 
Got the relay in the mail today, I installed it and rode the beastie rather hard for 40 or so kms and so far no issues...

@smithabusa perhaps you'd know if a relay could be partially not working and delivering a full voltage charge to the fuel pump? The bike seems to be more snappy now that I've changed the relay....I was wondering if it could gradually fail then go intermittent like it did.

Here's the Bumblebee ready to roll with .org baton on board....

IMG_0680.JPG
 
I was wondering if it could gradually fail then go intermittent like it did.

Yes. Search the Net for articles on fuel pump relay symptoms and you will find these symptoms.

Here is an interesting thread I found with a couple of actual cases and details of internal part failures:

 
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Got the relay in the mail today, I installed it and rode the beastie rather hard for 40 or so kms and so far no issues...

@smithabusa perhaps you'd know if a relay could be partially not working and delivering a full voltage charge to the fuel pump? The bike seems to be more snappy now that I've changed the relay....I was wondering if it could gradually fail then go intermittent like it did.

Here's the Bumblebee ready to roll with .org baton on board....

View attachment 1666923
I think you hit the nail on the head when you said in one of your post about the problems you had last season. I think that relay has been your problem all along and then finally gave up
Glad it's sorted and now you can make up for lost time
 
Yes. Search the Net for articles on fuel pump relay symptoms and you will find these symptoms.

Here is an interesting thread I found with a couple of actual cases and details of internal part failures:

I read that and it makes sense to me...

The bike feels much stronger right now..

I gave it a few beans in the lower gears and the front end got really, really light.......more so than before.
 
.....electrical issues are my Achilles heal
Yep, but you know how if you practice and work on something repititiously and for long periods you get really good at it?
It's like that with auto electrics, I used to steer well clear of electrical issues on cars and bikes, then one of the mechanics I worked with a few years ago took me under his wing and explained a lot of the "mysteries" of electrics and showed me correct diagnosis techniques and showed me the most common issues and WHY they are common and why they fail.
Now, electronics issues are another kettle of fish, it's specialised knowlege but like anything, it can be learned and diagnosis can be achieved relatively easily . . . IF you do it enough and regularly to stay in practice.
Now concerning relays, they can fail over time, with dry solder joints on the internal wiring and arcing on the contacts causing poor conduction of current.
You see it with the old points ignition on old cars and bikes, as you've seen in my posts I've been resurrecting old vintage bikes lately and a good clean up of the points (medium grade wet and dry or emery tape) makes a world of difference to the spark at the plugs.
The breaker points in relays are no different really.
Stuff deteriorates over time.
That's why I have a job .. . . to keep stuff working well!
 
Yep, but you know how if you practice and work on something repititiously and for long periods you get really good at it?
It's like that with auto electrics, I used to steer well clear of electrical issues on cars and bikes, then one of the mechanics I worked with a few years ago took me under his wing and explained a lot of the "mysteries" of electrics and showed me correct diagnosis techniques and showed me the most common issues and WHY they are common and why they fail.
Now, electronics issues are another kettle of fish, it's specialised knowlege but like anything, it can be learned and diagnosis can be achieved relatively easily . . . IF you do it enough and regularly to stay in practice.
Now concerning relays, they can fail over time, with dry solder joints on the internal wiring and arcing on the contacts causing poor conduction of current.
You see it with the old points ignition on old cars and bikes, as you've seen in my posts I've been resurrecting old vintage bikes lately and a good clean up of the points (medium grade wet and dry or emery tape) makes a world of difference to the spark at the plugs.
The breaker points in relays are no different really.
Stuff deteriorates over time.
That's why I have a job .. . . to keep stuff working well!
I can understand the basics but if it gets too in depth it's beyond me and I am not too proud to say it either...

My expertise lays elsewhere....
 
The problem wasn't resolved as hoped...out today and the FI light started flashing and it felt like it went on two cylinders, I limped it home, shut it off, turned the key back on and the FI light was still flashing but it started and ran perfectly (same as last summer). I went to put it into dealer mode and turned the key and "chec" came up with the (-). now nothing. and temp gauge goes to hot when the key is turned on

I'm going to disconnect the Bazzaz system as that might be going bad causing a fault?

I should have bought a new one as I was tired of wrenching on my other bikes, now I'm back to wrenching instead of riding....grrrrrr!
 
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