Bike not charging battery

[LennonRVF400]

Bike not charging battery...don't kno a lot about electrics could some1 tell me what could b causing this thanks

[manicguitarist]

If you don't know much about electronics - then the best bet is to take it to a bike dealer - as advice you might receive on here - whilst accurate, might cause you to do something that is dangerous.

That said - you need to check the voltage at the battery when the bike is running and not running.

That would tell you if the battery is dead and also if the reg/rec is giving charge. Then check the voltage into the reg/rec - that will tell you about the generator.

M

[LennonRVF400]

Just charged the battery to 13.5 volts it's slowly dropping an it's at 11.4 now with out being in the bike... The battery is 10 months old

[manicguitarist]

The battery is borked. Has it been on a trickle charge over winter? Does the bike have an alarm? If your answers to that are no/yes. Then the battery is borked. The battery is probably borked anyways.

[LennonRVF400]

No just a normal charger when it goes dead...and doesn't have an alarm

[manicguitarist]

Hmmm...even then I think a battery might lose charge over a period of months if not used.

I'd leave the battery a few hours and see what the charge settles at - it might show that a cell has gone within the battery.

Can you see the acid levels in the battery? If so, are they all pretty equal?

Mrs Manic's bike battery died a few years ago from lack of use. No alarm on the bike - but when I came to start it after 6 months standing - it was dead. And it wouldn't recover. I've now got a dual battery trickle charger / conditioner that the bikes plug into as soon as they come home.

If it helps - car batteries would probably fail after standing for 6 months too....
M

[LennonRVF400]

The bike is never left sitting for long period of time an when I do drive short it's mostly short spins

[manicguitarist]

Dunno then. If the battery is losing charge without being attached to the bike - then it is most certainly borked.

Check the voltages at the reg/rec and see what it is putting out - and also what it is getting in.

[crookzy1]

For comparison my battery was charged yesterday to about 13.4V. It has dropped to 12.8 in 24 hours. I think that's pretty normal. 11.4 quickly is not normal.

[LennonRVF400]

Dunno then. If the battery is losing charge without being attached to the bike - then it is most certainly borked.

Check the voltages at the reg/rec and see what it is putting out - and also what it is getting in.

Not great with electrics so how do I test the reg with multi meter?