Topic: Charging System tips for stop and go/congestion

[Tdubsy]

Hey Everyone,

I'm just curious if you find your battery dying in stop and go traffic as well and/or what you do to deal with it.

Ive tested the output volts on my charging system and everything seems normal(I haven't done the complete resistance test though)

Its a new battery and I know the system charges the battery when I'm over 2500 RPM roughly going by voltage. I get around 14.7 around 4500 RPM. As well my battery voltage will increase after a short ride. where I can maintain a decent RPM

But I find if I'm in stop and go traffic after starting with a full battery my bike will seem to struggle to start after even half an hour of stop and go or constant traffic light downtown style riding.

Anyone else notice this or have any tips? I will sometimes run the idle higher to help it out a bit, But I'm worried about overheating. Would also switching to an LED headlight remove enough draw to make a substantial difference?


Thanks




I also have a brand new wiring harness and regulator/rectifier installed

[bryanj]

Its a characteristic of these charging systems that were designed before the use of headlamps became mandatory. Are you using standard ignition as if you have switched out to electronic that tends to increase the load.
Any led bulbs you can fit will help

[Deltarider]

What distance are we talking about?

[low-side]

Stop and go traffic is hard on these guys.  Personally, my recipe is an agm battery, solid state regulator/rectifier, and led bulbs all around.  Mine still wouldn't like a half hour of idling with the headlight on though.  A led capsule or complete headlamp assembly would be substantially lower draw than a conventional incandescent or halogen.

[Don R]

 I had a 76F with the turn signal beeper, when it beeped weakly I knew it was time to throw the battery maintainer on it. I've been guilty of short shifting too, these bikes like a little more rpm between gears than I use. 
  There are guys that swear there is no weak charging on a properly maintained cb. I'm sure they will be along shortly.

[tlbranth]

Yep I'm one of those. I have an Oregon Motorcycle Parts rectifier and regulator and if the engine is running, I'm getting 14.0 volts. I would check your charging circuit connectors to make sure they haven't melted. I replaced mine with Anderson Powerpole connectors. 14.7 volts is too high in my opinion. I think 14.4 is about the highest you'd want. As I said: my opinion.

[Tdubsy]

Yep I'm one of those. I have an Oregon Motorcycle Parts rectifier and regulator and if the engine is running, I'm getting 14.0 volts. I would check your charging circuit connectors to make sure they haven't melted. I replaced mine with Anderson Powerpole connectors. 14.7 volts is too high in my opinion. I think 14.4 is about the highest you'd want. As I said: my opinion.

At what RPM are you getting 14v at?

[PeWe]

14.4V is max recommended for GEL battery.
Old style acid can take max 14.7 if I remember correctly. Read on a site somewhere. My K2 has max 14.2 which is OK for me and GEL battery.

It take time running on 5000 rpm to get up to over 14V again after some city driving in lower speed (rpm). Braking and blinkers that consume some juice.

My CB750 K2 has a LED voltmeter that show me rhe status when riding. Easy to see if regulator start to fail. I had one where the relay switch could suddenly enter a position between its 2 position "Lo/Hi". Riding over a bump could help.

It would be better if 14V could be reached from 2500 rpm.

[maxheadflow]

PeWe,

I got to ask a dumb question. Why are you running a Gel battery? Where did you get it from?

[tlbranth]

Yep I'm one of those. I have an Oregon Motorcycle Parts rectifier and regulator and if the engine is running, I'm getting 14.0 volts. I would check your charging circuit connectors to make sure they haven't melted. I replaced mine with Anderson Powerpole connectors. 14.7 volts is too high in my opinion. I think 14.4 is about the highest you'd want. As I said: my opinion.

At what RPM are you getting 14v at?

Pretty much anything above idle.

[tlbranth]

I should add: there was nothing wrong with my alternator. The original rectifier crapped out a few years back and I replaced it with one from Oregon Motorcycle Parts. That fixed my immediate problem. Later, my voltage was acting strangely (don't remember the symptoms exactly) and I had a tete-a-tete with the owner of OMP. Bought one of his regulators and was amazed at its performance. At any RPM I'm getting 14.0 - 14.1 volts (I have a voltmeter on the dash).  I would recommend chucking the original and buying one of these. That said, the owner isn't as helpful as he used to be. The regulator/rectifier he sells for the GL1000 just plumb doesn't work and he doesn't seem to know why. I tried 2 of them and they both put out 15 volts which is too high. But the regulator on My CB750 is stirling.

[scottly]

Yep I'm one of those. I have an Oregon Motorcycle Parts rectifier and regulator and if the engine is running, I'm getting 14.0 volts. I would check your charging circuit connectors to make sure they haven't melted. I replaced mine with Anderson Powerpole connectors. 14.7 volts is too high in my opinion. I think 14.4 is about the highest you'd want. As I said: my opinion.

Me too. I never knew CB's had charging issues until I joined this forum.
To the OP, which model do you have? The 750's had a more robust charging system than the smaller fours.

[tlbranth]

VR3-H3p I think

[Spanner 1]

I think that's plumb wrong to expect the alternator to put out 14,2 V at idle and any RPM's above. By design the alt. achieves 14+V at 4,000 rpm, so if the 'new' regulator is achieving 14+ volts at idle then the alternator is super stressed/ overheated ! But, new has to be better, I get it .

[maxheadflow]

I think that's plumb wrong to expect the alternator to put out 14,2 V at idle and any RPM's above. By design the alt. achieves 14+V at 4,000 rpm, so if the 'new' regulator is achieving 14+ volts at idle then the alternator is super stressed/ overheated ! But, new has to be better, I get it .

I agree with this. It is desirable to have over say 12.8 at idle but you don't need any more there.