positive battery terminal

I have an 1982 kz 440 and another strange problem. Feels like I used to come on here to enjoy the sites of pther bike projects now that its riding season all i do is research problems,

well here it goes.

I pulled into to a parking lot yesterday, turned off the bike to make a phone call, when i was done and went to turn the bike back on I had no power. If i jiggled the bike around the power would flicker on. so naturally, I check out the battery (happened to have some tools with me) and when i jiggled the battery near the right terminal it came back on. I am stumped. Sometimes I wont get this problem then all the sudden it will happen again. And the same solution works everytime. It isnt always starting the bike thoguh... clues:

When the bike is on, and idling or whatever im doing and the problem come up then something more serious happens. it starts to cough madly. The RPM gauge is showing jumps back and forth of about 1000 rpm. It just bounces around even with full throttle itll only bounce as high as 3000 RPM. and I will still at that point loose power. Help anyone?

I just want a problem free riding season.. makes new bikes seem much more appealing..

All conncetions to the battery are tight. Everything else seems tight. I tried jiggling cables, but only jiggling the battery will work. HMM.

Sounds like the battery itself may have a break inside. Can you borrow another battery to see if the problem persists? Or, if the battery is more than 3 or 4 years old just replace it. Ed

How old is the battery? I'd say fully charge it and have a shop load test it for a quess on the useful life. Checked the Negative connection going to the engine? They sometimes get loose.

Another possibilty is corrosion inside your battery cables, this may be why moving the battery makes it work. You may have to strip the insulation back to find this corrosion and it can be repaired using heatshrink tubing. If the cable feels "Crunchy" this is where the problem is.

If the corrosion is too bad, replace both battery cables.

I will check all of these things. I just hope whatever it is isn't overly costly.

Today I passed a police car who had a car pulled over. The speed limit in that particular zone was 50, so cars had been moving at about 20 around the stopped police car, as it has its lights still on and they were being cautious. There was a back-up of about 5 cars behind the police car in the oncoming lane, and I was the only vehicle in my lane. I was on my motorcycle and dramatically reduced my speed to about 30 (I had not been speeding to begin with) and as I passed the car, a school bus about 10 meters behind the police car turned on it's yellow lights. I was not in any range practical enough to stop. So I slowed down as much as I could and moved to the far right off my lane by my curb (farthest from the school bus.

He then slammed on his horn (to make a point) as school buses get passed on a regular basis where I live and he was well aware of the police car several meteres in front of him. I stopped on the side of the road regardless as soon as I was able to make the stop in fear of the honk being for something non-criminal related (Bike problems?) I heard the sirens and knew that I was going to be pulled over for "failure to yeild". The police officer had not been finished writting a ticket, so I don't understand why he just tore away from the car he has pulled over but i waited.

Turns out he has a KZ305 and 550 as a younger kid and went on about the bikes. My father is also in the police force (RCMP) and happens to be his superior. He asked if my father was as he saw my last name. I told him he was and he did not look impressed. He then began asking me questions about my father's career. He went back to his car and wrote the ticket for 292 dollars. I was shocked, as first thing, I committed no offense that I could have avoided. two, I would be shocked if he witnessed ANYTHING but a school bus honking and he then saw its yellow lights and a motorcyclist passed the bus. And I even more doubt that he gave half a rats ass if I did it or not. I will go to traffic court to fight it but it is very rare according to my Father that anyone gets excused from such an offense.

I feel trapped, and being a young motorcycle driver will be penalized heavily for something I did not due. I would be shocked if the Judge would believe my word over the police officers. My only hope is that the officer does not show up.

Fight it.
You cant be penalised for fighting it, You can only gain.

I plan on it. My dad gave me advice on what to do as he is in the RCMP himself. I need to see if the bus follows procedures, so that means seeing if it's stopping properly, if it honks at any vehicles passing by etc. I know people that have done very criminal things in cars wtih no penalty, i'd be pretty frustrated if a mistake on their part cause me thousands of dollars. To be updated !