Topic: Ok... I gotta get this battery situation solved. Help appreciated.

[shane]

Charged my battery last night, checked it this morning it was at 14.4 volts. Didn't touch the bike all day. Not a flip of the key, no start, nothing. Checked it tonight: 12.8 volts.

That's not normal is it? There has to be something draining it right?

Can someone walk me through using a test light. I'm an idiot when it comes to electrical probs.

[seaweb11]

Does the bike start?

[shane]

yeah, bike starts, runs good.

I thought maybe I had a charging problem but now i'm suspecting something might be drawing on my battery, considering I did nothing to it today, and its 1.6 volts lower than it was this morning.

[dave500]

yes thats normal,14 or more volts directly after charging is normal ,a fully charged battery is 12.6 and the surface charge will dissapate down over night,thats normal,leave it for a day more and check it again,it should be around 12.4-12.6 depending on temperature.

[shane]

yes thats normal,14 or more volts directly after charging is normal ,a fully charged battery is 12.6 and the surface charge will dissapate down over night,thats normal,leave it for a day more and check it again,it should be around 12.4-12.6 depending on temperature.

Awesome, thanks for the good news Dave. I was thinking I was gonna have to tear apart.

[seaweb11]

Your good to go

[dave500]

if you have a digital multimeter you can hook it in line with the battery and itll show any current draw with everything switched off,like if you toot the horn or use the blinkers,dont try and start the engine with the starter motor though,its too much draw for the meter,if you spend about 15 or twenty bucks youll get a semi decent one with instructions in the packet,,the real cheap ones dont.

[Zaipai]

One side note, if you don't do a lot of riding the bike wont completely charge the battery. I maybe wrong, however I seem to recall some one saying these charging systems really don't throw out a good charge unless the RPM's around 3k or higher, so if you do a lot of around town driving and the RPM's are low most of that time the battery will need to be charged up at some point. What made you think you had a charging issue?

.: Scott :.

[shane]

One side note, if you don't do a lot of riding the bike wont completely charge the battery. I maybe wrong, however I seem to recall some one saying these charging systems really don't throw out a good charge unless the RPM's around 3k or higher, so if you do a lot of around town driving and the RPM's are low most of that time the battery will need to be charged up at some point. What made you think you had a charging issue?

.: Scott :.

The exact issue you just explained was the reason I thought I had a charging issue... This is my first bike, so I rode it for about a month, just quick little 5 mile rides around town, just getting used to it, and trying to feel out any issues. Eventually the battery was dead.

[Zaipai]

Exactly. You may wish to get a trickle charger to plug in at night. They have nice ones that will fit under the seat and stay attached all the time.

.: Scott :.