85 vf700f starting issue

The other day I left work and started the bike up and went home the long way. (The bike started fine) I got home about 1/2 hour later. shut the bike off to open the garage door, went to start it up to pull it into the garage and it would not start. Pushed it into the garage and left it sit for a day went to start it and turned real slow and then nothing. Put the battery on charge over the weekend for about 6 hours the bike fired right up. Whent for about an hour ride came home and went to start it and again it turned slow and would not start. How do I know if the battery is shot or my stator is gone? or could it be omething else? Please help, I dont want to park it for the season yet. way to early for that. 85 VF700 w/ 32000 miles.

 

First off stators don't really go bad unless the case is hit hard or it over heats a lot. First thing to check would be the connector for the rectifier/voltage regulator. Under left side cover. They are the first to go in the electrical line. The contacts become corroded for several reasons. One being running head lights over 65w for long periods. They don't make a good enough connection, build resistance then over heat and make a worse connection. The voltage reg part usually goes first. If the connection is fine then the battery is the most likely culprit. If you see any white dots/area looking at the sides of the battery(most are translucent enough) then the battery is sulfated and dieing. Can't hold a charge long. Some of the parts stores had a load tester for batteries.

 

So I guess the 1st thing to do is to have the battery tested. Can I test the rectifier/voltage regulator after checking the connections? If so how is this done?
Thanks!!!

 

85 starting issues

Hey, I had the same problem with my 85 about a month ago. It wouldn't start, I'd charge it, it would start once. I tested the battery with a volt meter and it would read 13.5 or so right after charging then not start. I had the battery tested "on load" and that was the problem. I would take a charge but would not hold up once a load was applied. I installed a new battery and haven't had a problem.

 

Wow I hope it is something as simple as a bad battery.

 

Put a voltmeter on the battery terminals when you start the bike. If it drops below 10 volts, then you need a new battery.

With a good charged battery, you should be able to start the bike about 7-10 consecutive times.