Topic: dead battery?

[markreid]

Why would my battery die after about twenty miles of riding yesterday?  A few days before this I rode my bike for about forty miles without a problem.  Yesterday I was riding and the bike started to sputter so i turned the fuel from on position to the reserve position and the bike quit sputtering but than a 1/4 mile down the road it just lost power?  I tried to push start it but that didn't work.  I'm not sure why this happened?  The bike is a 1974 cb550.  It has a brand new regulator/rectifier installed.  The battery is only a year old with only about 100 miles of ride time on it.  I dont know if it is my stator or something else?

[Skunk Stripe]

Are you sure the battery died? You never said you charged it after this. It could have been a loose connection in the ignition switch or somewhere else.

[markreid]

sorry bout that. After I got back to my house and got the bike off the truck I tested the battery and it was reading 11.4 volts

[Skunk Stripe]

When charged, what did it read? Once on the bike, with the bike running, what did it read? Rev to 2500 rpm and what does it read now?

[crackerbat]

When charged, what did it read? Once on the bike, with the bike running, what did it read? Rev to 2500 rpm and what does it read now?

11.4 usually dead dead.  I doubt it could be charged

[BobbyR]

What may have happened is that you were riding on the battery and then it crapped out. You need a cheap meter from Radio Shack or wherever. You should be in the 14V range at 3,000. You may have corroded points on your regulator. Some problems are easy and cheap to fix.