Triumph Starting Problems. What Can Cause Bad Starting in Your Motorcycle?

Triumph bikes are awesome machines, perfectly wheeled and designed to provide a great user experience whether old or new. They tend to last long and can be considered a good choice of bike to have in your garage. One thing about Triumph bikes is that, like other bikes, they can develop problems too. What kind of problems they can develop and how to fix them, will be explained in this article.

The Triumph Bonneville 2010 model is one of the bikes that we will be using in this article and even if your bike is different from the Bonneville, we have you covered. Most Triumph bikes have main functional parts similar in the build-up and design and anything learned on the Bonneville can easily be applied to other Triumph bikes including the Daytona series which will also be used in this article.

This article covers fixes of starter problems related to battery, regulator, connector, and stator in Triumph bikes. These problems can be a result of low battery voltage or poor voltage output from the regulator.

The Triumph starting problems together with the fixes for each of the listed problems can be seen below.

Battery Voltage Fix

The Triumph Bonneville 12V battery is strong and reliable to last long and still work efficiently but sometimes, it can become too tiring to continue and will need to be replaced. How do you know when your battery needs to be replaced? Being able to detect when your battery voltage is low is not a superpower ability at all and we will show you how.

Your battery voltage when fully charged can be over 12.70v and when low can be below 12 or a little above 12. When the battery voltage is lower than the voltage threshold, the bike won't start.

Modern classics and other Triumph bike computers are programmed to check the battery voltage with the key on. This device helps you detect when your battery voltage is either too low to start or high enough to comfortably start the bike.

A motorbike battery's estimated useful life is 6 to 8 years. Knowing this will allow you time to get a new battery before the old one goes blank or dead completely. The useful life is also applicable to the Triumph Bonneville.

Battery Voltage Threshold

The Triumph battery is placed in a compartment under the seat. To get to the battery, you will need to unscrew the seat and lift the seat off. Now, the battery is visible.

Behind the battery is the engine computer sitting close to the battery. The voltage threshold is programmed into the computer from the factory to control the bike to start or not start. Though this threshold can be adjusted in the factory if needed.

To check the battery voltage, you need a multimeter. Preferably, you need two; to be sure your reading is correct.

How to detect low battery voltage

The battery supplies power to the ignition and also the headlight. Turning the key on to the start position will send a signal to the battery to start the bike. If the fuel pump kicks and the bike doesn't start then the battery voltage may be low.

To be sure this is the problem, you need to check the battery with a multimeter. If the meter reads above 12.6, then the voltage may be fine. One thing you should take note of is a false reading. It can be misleading, causing you to believe the battery is fine when sometimes it may not be fine.

So, you will need to try starting the bike while the meter is still connected to the battery to accurately check the battery voltage level.

Allow the lights on for the voltage to drop with the meter still in place to show the battery voltage changing. If only the relay clicks and the voltage drops drastically, then the battery is bad but if the battery voltage doesn't take a large amount of voltage reduction, then the battery is working fine and you can accept the first reading before you turned the key on.

How To Fix a new battery

Getting a new battery will cost some money and you need to help fix the problem and not return to it for a long time.

To remove the old battery, take off the rubber strap holding the battery in place, unscrew the terminals on the battery, and then pull out the battery.

Install the new battery by screwing the terminals and placing the rubber strap to make the battery fit perfectly.

Then test to start. Your bike should be running fine now.

Not Starting Fix

Sometimes, the battery may be marginal and if this happens, the bike may not start. The Triumph bike is programmed well enough to allow bump start in case of no start. To bump start the bike:

• Get a good running start
• Put in first gear
• Put clutch in
• Move it at 5-7 mph
• Let the clutch out and it will come back to life

It is okay to bump start your Triumph bike if it happens once or in rare cases but if you have to always do this to be able to start your bike then your battery may have seen better days. Don't be too sure yet, remember we still need to check to be sure it is the battery.

You can get a battery low tester, which costs a reasonable amount of money or you could just rent or take your battery to a store to run a test on the battery.

The result of the test will show your battery health and charging level. If your battery health is low, then it is time for you to get a replacement.

Regulator Rectifier Fix

We will be focusing on the 2006 Triumph Daytona 675 here. A user once experienced electrical faults in his Triumph Daytona bike. Initially, he tested the battery and it showed all fine but later had to bump start the bike every time he wanted to turn it on.

The electrical system was cutting out completely without a sign: the bike shut off while on the road. This was enough for him to get the bike checked again.

He found out that the battery and the regulator rectifier were bad and the plastic connector for the 3 wires that came from the stator or alternator to the regulator had melted. This also caused one of the wires to melt.

The 3-phase stator or alternator puts out AC (alternating current) to the regulator rectifier which then converts the AC to DC (direct current) and regulates the output voltage. Low voltage could be the winding of the stator or from the rectifier. If there is a breach or fault in this connection, it can be a problem too big to be overlooked.

Still trying to figure out why the connector and one of the wires melted. We cannot be certain why that happened. It could be the hot temperature because of the position of the regulator or the bad battery. But that shouldn't be a problem anymore because we will show you how to avoid this from happening next time.

How to Fix the R/R Problem

To fix this problem, we will need to replace the battery, three wires, connector, and regulator. Some adjustments to the connector and R/R parts will be necessary too.

Following the first fix in this article, you can comfortably replace your battery and we won't need to talk much about that in this fix.

Replacing and Relocating the R/R

One of the things to do is to relocate the R/R away from the engine to the underside of the tail. This is a safe place, protecting it from a lot of heat that comes from the engine area.

Think about getting a Shindengen FH020AA or another R/R with higher amperage. This is capable of withstanding a lot of heat and avoiding burning next time.

Replacing the Connector

You will require the alternative connector for this model, which is comparable to the type used on the later generation of the 675s, but these are simple to locate.

Using Alternative Wires

Consider using a stronger gauge wire to replace the three wires that connect the stator to the R/R, and potentially do away with the connector entirely by gluing the stator wires to the R/R wires. If the tiny OEM gauge wires are used, the three stator wires heat up quickly.

Final words

Going through the fixes in this article, you can be able to fix the problem with your Triumph. We hope now you won't find yourself not able to start the Triumph. Even if you do, just use our tips on how to start a Triumph bike with a bad battery to get it on the road.