Electrical faults - Honda NSR 125

[Anton17]

Right guys, it seems the end of my woes is not the end yet.

Bought a second hand NSR 125 off eBay for a grand, tested bike at purchase and all was a-ok apart from an oil leak.

Took it to a Honda garage down the road the day after and they said the oil tank had split. Being a 2-stroke the cost was at £250. A few days later they come back and say the rectifier was dead and the battery wasn't charging. Another £120. Fitted a new rectifier yesterday and the battery still wasn't charging - another £40 for a new battery. Took it home today.

Rode around for about 10 miles to get used to it, everything fine (horn worked) but quickly noticed the indicators weren't working correctly. They would come on at different speeds, not come on when lights were on, or not come on at all - then magically start on again. Eventually they stopped working at all and the lights were very dim. Tried starting the bike up again and the battery was gone. Took the indicators off and the front ones were rusted as almighty hell - back ones nice and shiny new. Took a bulb out and tried starting bike, all ok. Took some rust off of the front indicators and then the bike didn't start. Tried the horn and a very dim sound came out. Indicators work with lights off, didn't work with lights on. Front display lights would dim when the brakes are pressed. Lights still dim. Checked connections again and then bike would not start. We bump started it and drove it around the block a few times to try and get some life. Still all same problems and does not start from stop - only starts with bump start.

I'm taking it back to the garage in the morning but I'm growing thin and tired of this now. Everything should have been sorted after paying them £450 but evidently not. I just want my bike working normally, that's what I paid for... I just passed my CBT and I want to use the damn thing. Has anyone ever had similar problems or know just what could be wrong with it?

Thanks for any replies or advice... feeling a bit crap with all of this.

Edited September 24, 2009 by Anton17

[Anthony]

Well you have obv worked out what the problem is, and its a non charging battery, now if you found a haynes manual you could do some tests yourself to find the problem then take it to the garage and tell them what you have done, found and want doing, this is usually the best way, as it means they arent spending time looking for the problem, and as they say, time is money

you could just charge the battery to stop it becoming useless and then get Honda to fix the problem or do it yourself

[Anton17]

Had a number of people come back to me and said it was the alternator, but the garage doesn't seem to think so. However, they don't seem to know the problem either, and said today they will try and make it priority but they have a lot of work (they haven't called back today) - does that sound fair service to you? £450 for a repair, the repair didn't work, and then they say they're too busy? From a Honda garage, I will find it very hard to keep my cool if they come back with ANOTHER repair cost after they said the bike was good to go.

I'm getting very concerned now. The repair cost is already half the cost of what I paid for the bike and it doesn't seem to be getting any further forward. Whenever I've used eBay in the past for expensive items, I've never had a problem - now I feel like a royal idiot. What should I do? The cost is now at £1500 for the bike and the service costs and I do honestly expect the garage to come back with another cost to fix it. It's turning into a fantastically bad deal. Do I suck it up and keep giving the garage money since at the end of it I'll finally have my working bike, or... what? I'm gutted and frustrated at all of this.

[Guest]

regulator and rectifier are usual/common probs..

as youve replaced rectifier, then regulator... must be part of the charging circuit, and i'd get an optimate charger...

[Ingah]

I feel your pain, i got done over in almost exactly the same way early this year (bought a bike from a dealer over the phone, and ended up having to do lots and lots of repair work to the "excellent condition" advertised bike) - i find it quite disgusting how many people are willing to sell bikes in a downright poor condition, at top whack prices.

Regarding the garage, it sounds to me like they've just reported problems as they've found them, probably not doing a full investigation because you haven't asked for one (it would take them alot more time after all). Although on the other hand, if they are advising the replacement of parts i'd very much hope they've ascertained those particular parts are causing the problem first. I'd be more angry at the seller though (not that i think you can do much about it if it's a private sale - and even if it's a dealer you're usually still screwed as i found).

If you're looking at saving money on further repairs it's worth finding a decent independant mechanic, as they'll probably charge about half of Honda dealers.

Another idea is to ask for some parts to be replaced with a 3rd party pattern part rather than a genuine Honda part - could be as little as a third of the price (NB: Depends on what you're replacing, as some pattern parts are apparently a waste of money - maybe you'd best take the advice of their mechanics as to what this could apply to).

If you're really determined to save money it may be worth trying to cautiously investigate the problem yourself, with the aid of a Haynes manual, a multimeter, and some basic tools to get the panels off (all of which can be obtained relatively cheaply).

Hope that helps.

[Guest]

Hi mate did you ever get this problem sorted if so what was up as my bike is doing exactly the same

[JRH]

Hi mate did you ever get this problem sorted if so what was up as my bike is doing exactly the same

 

Don't think you will get an answer, the thread is 9 years old!

[fastbob]

Right guys, it seems the end of my woes is not the end yet.

Bought a second hand NSR 125 off eBay for a grand, tested bike at purchase and all was a-ok apart from an oil leak.

Took it to a Honda garage down the road the day after and they said the oil tank had split. Being a 2-stroke the cost was at £250. A few days later they come back and say the rectifier was dead and the battery wasn't charging. Another £120. Fitted a new rectifier yesterday and the battery still wasn't charging - another £40 for a new battery.

 

Mate these people are stealing from you ! I've just seen an oil tank on eBay for £15 ! £120 for a rec reg ? The one on my ER5 cost me £13.95 and there's no way you should be paying £40 for a battery . If you can afford it good luck to you but if you can't, you're being robbed .