[1Bad1000Xxc]

Certainly someone out there has found a way to modify the idiotic methodology behind the Renegade (and I assume the Outty) charging system so that it doesn't wait until 4k RPMs to start charging. That is by far the stupidest thing I have ever heard of in my life in relation to ATVs.

Yesterday I was riding and had my key turned to the position where the headlights were on and I just had low beams on. (Easier to see the person behind or in front of you through heavy dust if the lights are on). We were doing trail rides and many times at very slow speeds, therefore low RPMs. It was unavaoidable going slow b/c of pits to avoid, hairpin turns, etc. So, after 30 minutes or so of this, we stopped for a pee break. I cut my quad off, did my business, and went back to crank it up. The battery was VERY weak and made me very nervous. So, the rest of the time I rode with the lights off and the next time I had to re-crank, the battery was fine, obviously b/c the headlights weren't causing a drain.

I absolutely, for the life of me, cannot imagine the thought process of not allowing the damned thing to start charging until the RPMs get that high up. That even means winching at idle will cause a major battery drain unless you're in neutral and run the revs up. STUPID!

Thanks for any thoughts someone may have.

Buster

 

[stray]

unless you know someone who will make a custom stator, there are only 2 options. 1) upgrade the stock battery to one with a higher capacity or, 2) add a 2nd battery. other than that, minimize the usage of any electrical components. when using them is necessary (winch, etc.) put the bike in neutral and maintain more than 4K revs.

 

[stray]

one other idea would be to carry a battery booster in case your battery is unable to start the quad out on the trails. the dual battery setup would have one battery running all of the accessories and isolate the 2nd battery to be used in a similar situation. there are several variations in setting up this type of system, so that both batteries get charged back up. btw, i noticed your post over at awf regarding the same issue. don't take anything personal over there - for some reason, there seems to be alot of smart-a$$ know-it-alls there. :club: it is a very valid point, and as you stated, alot of people have made it known that they are unhappy with the charging system. it is unfortunate that the most expensive brand of atvs have these issues (charging system, frame, etc.). i guess the best thing that we can do, is to be aware of the shortcomings and be prepared to prevent them whenever possible.

 

[1Bad1000Xxc]

yeah I noticed that guy was a dumb ass from his first response to me which in no way addressed my question. I have no patience for a wise ass know-it-alls and will fire back at them quite quickly as I did with him.

Funny thing is with a less than desirable looking site, a poor forum structure and people that give poor responses loaded with attitude, I would really rather not return to that forum and simply stick with friendly communities like ours and can-amtalk.com. Can-am talk is well structured and has a load of helpful folks. I've never seen attitude there and personally don't understand why the mods at aurora allow it. Just my opinion anyway.

 

[stray]

you're absolutely right. but, for some reason, they have alot of members and sometimes i get some good info there. it's definitely not at the top of my list, but i still check em out every now & then. btw, my username is "stangs4" over there. i setup an account as stray, but must've used a different email and password cause i can't use it. lol

 

[BATTLEGUN]

As if ya'll thought I'd stay away from a Can-Am post right! I've not had any issues with this Buster. And quite honestly didn't even know there was an issue to be considered. But then I've not been in a situation where it might affect me. Mostly because I can't keep my thumb out of the throttle. This is a very serious issue, especially for a Utility ATV. I'll be looking into this too. I'm having trouble wording my part 3 review so as not to bash the CVT of the Outlander. I hope I don't have to work around something else too!

First the frame, then the CVT, then the stator. Why do people buy these machines for such an ungodly price? Will I end up regretting this purchase for the rest of my days? Naaaaah. I'm a tinkerer. More importantly, I know the limits of my machine and my own personal limits. That is key.

As far as the other sites go. I have had a hard time letting the link-back to awf go in the shifter thread. I want to keep it cause it's a decent deal on a seemingly impossible grease. But I'm not much on that sight for the same reasons listed above. If I'm going to allow link backs or cross linking it's going to be with a site that would allow the same thing and more importantly has a welcoming bunch of folks. If awf represents the Can-Am crowd, then I don't want to know them. I think I've made up my mind. The link back is going down. No offense Stray I can not personally thank you enough for your insight to several issues here on ATVT.

- Nate

 

[GRIZZLYWIZARD]

You guys are making it extremely hard for me to want on of these at this point. I am beginning to talk myself out of it now.

 

[stray]

none taken, i've expressed my feelings towards the snobbiness over there. maybe, we could ask anyone interested in the isoflex to pm one of us? in all fairness, the mods i've dealt with over there who handle the isoflex and decals have not shown the same ignorance as some of the members. i do agree, however, that they should step up to cut down on the bashing that goes on there.

 

[BATTLEGUN]

You guys are making it extremely hard for me to want on of these at this point. I am beginning to talk myself out of it now.

I told you what I would do. You won't listen to me though. :bash:

I like my quad. And face it. Every quad has their set backs. You have to pick your battles man. ???

 

[GRIZZLYWIZARD]

I told you what I would do. You won't listen to me though. :bash:

What exactly was that? Enlighten me.

 

[BATTLEGUN]

What exactly was that? Enlighten me.

That does it man. No more liquid enhanced chats with you.

I told you I'd sit on what I had and wait out the market. You know something spectacular is going be released in a year or two. Providing the world is still turning. Do you think a Gade is going to get your V? Do you think you'll want to ride the tech stuff at speeds approaching those that your V is capable of? That's what the Grizz is for.

But man....that new quad smell is hard to beat. Do what you gotta do. The power and handling of these machines makes up for a lot of their short comings. Maybe that's why people break them so easy. They ride the crap out of them.
:seesaw:

 

[stray]

You guys are making it extremely hard for me to want on of these at this point. I am beginning to talk myself out of it now.

lol, all i can tell you is, even if i had to turn wrenches on this thing every week, i still don't regret buying it. i can't speak for the outlander cause i've only had limited ride time on two of them, both owned by my friends, but the renegade is the most incredible thing i've ever driven. cars, trucks, sleds, anything... nothing has the overall performance that it has. in fact, i just figured out a solution to the charging problem. if i mount solar panels inside my helmet, right in the mouth area, the big f***in grin that i have from start to finish should provide the extra juice! :rockon:

seriously, i'm sure whatever you chose will be a great bike for you. the important thing is that you're out riding! imo the renegade is the bike i've been looking for all of my life. i love to go to places where 4wd is a necessity, and i love to ride aggressively where the trails permit. my foreman thanks me for getting the renegade cause i was just beating it to death!

 

[GRIZZLYWIZARD]

You do have a valid point BG. I should wait it out just a little bit longer and see what manifests this fall in the market. My thoughts are, not much will happen, but you never know. I know what the bike ride like, I know what the KTM runs like (wow). Now the decision to be made in the next few days is whether to go with the Gade, save a little bit of my money and build my garage by keeping my Grizz, and then this fall, buy whatever I want, while keeping the Grizz for hunting the V for smoking the Gades and whatever new bike that may be out on the market.

Decisions..decisions!

I guess with the extra room my garage will bring, that would free up plenty of space for a Razr or the new SxS Can Am wouldn't it?

 

[BATTLEGUN]

You do have a valid point BG. I should wait it out just a little bit longer and see what manifests this fall in the market. My thoughts are, not much will happen, but you never know. I know what the bike ride like, I know what the KTM runs like (wow). Now the decision to be made in the next few days is whether to go with the Gade, save a little bit of my money and build my garage by keeping my Grizz, and then this fall, buy whatever I want, while keeping the Grizz for hunting the V for smoking the Gades and whatever new bike that may be out on the market.

Decisions..decisions!

I guess with the extra room my garage will bring, that would free up plenty of space for a Razr or the new SxS Can Am wouldn't it?

Well. I would wait if I had your line-up. Honestly. Worse case scenario, you get a 2010 or 11 Gade. I honestly don't think you'll regret getting a gade unless you jump and kawi puts out a 850 EPS, EFI Sport 4x4. LOL.

You do have some decisions to make. Glad it's you and not me. :toothy:

 

[stray]

Certainly someone out there has found a way to modify the idiotic methodology behind the Renegade (and I assume the Outty) charging system so that it doesn't wait until 4k RPMs to start charging. That is by far the stupidest thing I have ever heard of in my life in relation to ATVs.

Yesterday I was riding and had my key turned to the position where the headlights were on and I just had low beams on. (Easier to see the person behind or in front of you through heavy dust if the lights are on). We were doing trail rides and many times at very slow speeds, therefore low RPMs. It was unavaoidable going slow b/c of pits to avoid, hairpin turns, etc. So, after 30 minutes or so of this, we stopped for a pee break. I cut my quad off, did my business, and went back to crank it up. The battery was VERY weak and made me very nervous. So, the rest of the time I rode with the lights off and the next time I had to re-crank, the battery was fine, obviously b/c the headlights weren't causing a drain.

I absolutely, for the life of me, cannot imagine the thought process of not allowing the damned thing to start charging until the RPMs get that high up. That even means winching at idle will cause a major battery drain unless you're in neutral and run the revs up. STUPID!

Thanks for any thoughts someone may have.

Buster

i'm noticing that some riders are replacing the stock battery with a 20 amp common powersports battery, designed for the honda goldwing. wal-mart sells an "energizer" model and sears sells a "die hard" model. both battery numbers are 50-N18L-A3. deka sells a similar battery (ETX 18L), but i believe minor modifications are required for proper fit. i feel a battery tender would also help, by maintaining the charge while the vehicle is not being used, as well as extending the lifespan of the battery.

 

[BATTLEGUN]

There has to be a true fix for this, not just patches. I'm going to research this some b/c it just bothers me. If I have to replace the altenator or rebuild it, I will fix this problem somehow, sometime.

 

[1Bad1000Xxc]

Stray, I too have seen people replacing the battery with a 20amp which may be the easiest fix. From what I've read, the stator DOES actually charge at the lower RPMs but the amount of charge coming out is fairly weak up until 4k RPMs when it becomes a good strong charge.

Something else that I've read as a possiblity to my problem may or may not be true. Some people suiggest that if the dealer simply puts acid in the battery and just puts it in the quad or throws it on a 1 hour quick charge during their aseembly routine, that the battery will not maintain a charge as well as if they had put it on a slow 24hour charge. That being said, I've done many a new battery and just put acid in it and let it rip and not had a problem. So, that may just be some BS someone pulled out of their u-know-where to try to sound intelligent. Who knows. Someone else suggested I may have a bad stator or battery which I don't think either. The damned thing charges, it just doesn't do it worth a crap at running an extended amount of time at low RPMs running the headlights. Frustrating!

 

[GRIZZLYWIZARD]

Here is the fix....Ride it like you stole the thing!

 

[1Bad1000Xxc]

I dunno if I can do that. From what Koko said in my other thread about the wheels, it looks heavy, maybe even too heavy to ride. Maybe I should just sell it. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.

 

[GRIZZLYWIZARD]

I would sell it and buy a Polaris, they seem to charge the battery just fine. I will give you $2000 for it. That's my best offer! Hell I'll probably lose money on the deal.