I have a "new" 2007 Vectrix with a few hundred miles on it and it will not charge at all now. When I plug it in, nothing happens: No lights, no instruments, no noise, nothing. My guess is either a blown fuse or a bad charger.
I am in San Diego and there is no local dealer. The bike was delivered to me by Long Beach Motor Sports as a warranty replacement for my original 2007 bike which had problems for months and eventually became unusable. Long Beach Motor Sports said they no longer repair Vectrix, have no spare parts, and never received a factory shop manual to work on them.
Are there any instructions on how to remove the body panels to get to the fuses or the charger? I really need to get the bike running again. Thanks!
Dan W.
San Diego, CA
858-546-0707
dauntless [at] gmail.com
If that bike sat up for an extended length of time, it's battery may have lost down to 80 volts or less, and the charger will no longer recognize it.
Before you rip into it, give us some more info. How long has it been since it was last charged, and was it ridden at all after that last charge?
No sense in tearing into it if it sat up for a couple months or more (or sat for a few weeks after a ride down). There may be nothing wrong with the bike, but you'll need professional assistance to ressurect the battery up to charge acceptance status.
I can't help you with any of the technical how-tos, but this may help you diagnose the problem at least. I don't think I've ever read of a fuse blowing when the bike was NOT out on the road, and all of the blown fuse stories I've read about described a stuck speedometer needle as the most common denominator.
I completely agree. Stored Vectrix must be recharged every month. If the bike has not been properly mantained, the battery is under 80v and the internal computer is turned off to prevent damage. However I assume the battery is damaged to some extend. You need to bring up the battery voltage above 80v to turn on the internal computer, then plug in and the internal charger will turn on.
In order to bring up the voltage, you'll be forced to open the battery cover. Before proceeding with the recovery, please check with a tester the voltage from cells from the upper floor (no need to dismantle anything from the core battery). Despite it is only 1/3rd of the entire battery, it will help you/us to figure out if the cells are balanced and how many bad cells there can be.
Have a look at this post:
http://www.voltforum.cat/voltforum/YaBB.pl?num=1256521497
I talked to the guy, (he gave a phone number) and his problem is NOT low battery voltage, or a blown main fuse, because the bike WILL turn on, and the motor will run! It simply refuses to CHARGE! He said he tried a different outlet, etc. but no luck.-Bob
Robert M. Curry
Dan
If you turn the key on then plug it in, do you see any of the charge icons illuminate? ie the little plug icon? This can indicate if there is a problem with the power section or with the logic section of charger.
So the bike turns on! This was reported once before. The bike did turn on, and refused to charge. well, not exactly: the bike did nothing special when plugged. It behaved as if it was still unplugged. In that previous post I suggested to check the wires of the plug, I can't locate it, anybody remembers which post was?
No lights, no instruments, no noise, nothing. My guess is either a blown fuse or a bad charger.
(You forgot to mention that the bike successfully turns on)
Just 4 questions, in case anybody experiences something quite similar:
1 - When you plug the bike does nothing? - charger does not receive energy - check for loose wires in the V's plug
2 - When you plug, the bike does something special like http://visforvoltage.org/forum/7741-vectrixs-recharge-halted-due-water-sensor-temp? - bad temp sensor
3 - When you plug, it does a reset and turns off? - accidentally activated charging delay with brake lever? re-plug it.
4 - When you plug, it does something else? please record it with a camera and post the video here.
Answer: 1,
check for loose wires in the V's plug
I've found the post:
http://visforvoltage.org/forum/7730-vectrix-vx-1-will-not-charge
It can't be the same bike: without recharging ability by now the battery voltage would be pretty low, the bike would not turn on.
What happens if the Ac voltage form the wall outlet is under acceptable level? The bike would charge if the voltage is around 90v - 100v AC?
I've asked he local dealer, and they're not sure, but they suggest the bike may not charge under strange voltage supply.