Dead Battery + what else??

[Gordon]

OK. I am mechanically challenged but still ride. Here's the story. Last year bike didnt start, but was turning over. Coasted down the driveway and headed out. Figured dead battery would charge during my ride, no biggie. Got about 30 miles from home and she started hesitating, then clock went out, then bike shuts off. Oh well, got her home, bought new battery and rode the rest of the season with no issues.

Put it on the trickle charger this winter and went to start this weekend and nothing. Clock was holding time, but doesnt turn over and it shut the clock off.

As I said, no tools, mechanically challenged. I have 2 ideas. Get it up to Martin and pay them to diagnose. Or see if someone here local to Pottstown wants to make some side money? All ideas welcome.

Thanks

[steves]

Make sure the battery terminals are tight.

Invest in a multi-meter and check the voltages.

[scottynoface]

Charging system?

[rexazz2]

Garbage battery and charger

I bought a cheap Harbour freight float charger , it cost me a 1 season old wet battery on top of its cost

[Gordon]

Garbage battery and charger

I bought a cheap Harbour freight float charger , it cost me a 1 season old wet battery on top of its cost

I think the charger is good as I've used it on other things and works great. Never a problem. I think it is the bike sucking down batteries. I put a cheap battery in last season and think between that and the bike, I just paid the price.

[steves]

Could be bad parts in the generator need a multi meter to figure out what's going on.

[Wild-Bill]

I discovered the Wal-Mart Duralast batteries lasted 1-2 years at best. The only good thing about them (other than the price) was the warranty. A lot of the time they'd die before the warranty ran out. A Yuasa can go 4-5 years. That's without a trickle charger over the winter, just using a regular 2 Amp charger every month or two.

[Gordon]

Thanks guys. I'll start there with the multimeter and I'm going Yuasa this time. I'll let you know what I find.

[steves]

A cheap DMM (digital multimeter) is only about 10-15 bucks. You'll be amazed at the information you can get from such a simple device. Set it to DC, and the range to like 10-100.

With the bike running, and the throttle up around 4k, you should be seeing around 13v DC.
At idle closer to 12.5v. If the voltages drop when running, or are really high then it's a generator problem.

If they check out, it's a cheap battery problem

[Kreylyn]

The charging system should be regulated to cap at 14.5v. If you see more than that on the system while running at any rpm, you have a regulator issue. To fix, it's replace the alternator (as it's integrated).

Over charging (higher than 14.5) can ruin a battery quick as it will boil out the fluid in it and/or over heat the wiring harness and cause issues.

Krey