My battery.... or reg/rec is buggered!
Charge battery Sunday night for 6-7 hours, bike starts fine every day until friday/saturday when it takes longer on the button to get it going!
every time i have charged it i leave the battery in the bike but not connected. mon 7Am in the dark trying to put battery terminals back on isnt easy!

so can i charge the battery left connected?
i know loads of people have trickle chargers, i have no immobiliser.

also can someone remind me what the readings are for finding a buggered reg/rec?

Bike switched off battery reading:
bike idling:
Bike revving.. at what revs + reading:

will check it friday when its lowest as we have digital meters at work.

leopard_pagan wrote:
also can someone remind me what the readings are for finding a buggered reg/rec?

Bike switched off battery reading:
bike idling:
Bike revving.. at what revs + reading:

based on my little experience,

for buggered reg/rec,

ignition off - < 12.0 V
idling - > 14.5 V
revving @ 5k RPM - > 15.0 V

Leaving it all connected up should be fine, when using an Optimate or similar it's the same thing.
Hope you get it sorted, with the colder days coming you'll need a good battery.

that or charge it every damn night!

its not an optimate charger, just a normal ol 12v battery charger.
when i hook it up it shows 90% flat!
mon am when i unhooked it it showed 50%... 6-7 hours didnt seem to charge much!
thing is to test a battery they need it all day!, charge it fully-deplete it-then charge it again!
i cant do that as bike is only transport!

getting van sorted as i type, blew a head gasket few months ago. picking head up from being skimmed today. fitted back on van sat/sun.

leopard_pagan wrote:that or charge it every damn night!

its not an optimate charger, just a normal ol 12v battery charger.
when i hook it up it shows 90% flat!
mon am when i unhooked it it showed 50%... 6-7 hours didnt seem to charge much!
thing is to test a battery they need it all day!, charge it fully-deplete it-then charge it again!
i cant do that as bike is only transport!

getting van sorted as i type, blew a head gasket few months ago. picking head up from being skimmed today. fitted back on van sat/sun.

or your battery has coming to its end of life ?

its not even 2 years old!
or am i expecting too much from it?

tested it out yesterday
bike off: 12.92v
idle: 13.90v
5k rpm: 13.60v

i will test it again Friday as that seems the lowest day.

Those readings look fine.

Check the voltage at the same revs as this after you get back from a ride, that should shed more light on whether it's the battery, bike or charger. Finding which of these is at fault should be a fairly simple process to you LP!

A good peak charger (not a constant trickle charger - there is a difference!) will maintain the battery properly and are cheap these days. Using one of these at least narrows the problem down to the bike charging system or the battery itself. I use a single charger unit and fit fly leads to my batteries to use it on all of my bikes.

it is a full on charger i use. dont own a trickle as i ride the bike every day.. theory is it maintains its self!
also no alarms fitted to drain battery.

i need to test the output from the alternator later to see if its that. that was a re-con from GF 2 winters ago. replaced battery same time.

popped in to see my friendly auto electricians to test the alternator.
they also checked the battery and found there was NO acid in it! bone dry!
yes i am well aware its a maintenance free type.... topped up with acid, will charge it again tonight and start looking for a new one!

leopard_pagan wrote:popped in to see my friendly auto electricians to test the alternator.
they also checked the battery and found there was NO acid in it! bone dry!
yes i am well aware its a maintenance free type.... topped up with acid, will charge it again tonight and start looking for a new one!

acidity level for the battery should decrease over time. your battery problem seems normal though. go get yourself a new one, before it going to melt your CDI.