Battery Voltage above 15 amps!

First off, I appreciate all that responded to a r/r problem I had with my '96 VFR 750 a few months ago...since then, the bike has ran great without a hitch after putting a new one in.

NOW.

Recently, I checked the battery with my multimeter just to see the battery's juice. It was clocking in around 17-18 amps...that seems pretty high to me.
I'm wondering if my r/r is going bad or could it be something else like the stator? The bike starts up fine, there's no residue on the battery terminals.
If I'm crazy, please say so. Thanks for all replies.

 

Hi HH 96,

Were you actually measuring the current and got 17-18 Amps or were you measureing voltage and got 17-18 Volts?

 

If that is 17-18 volts then I would think you are well on the way to frying your battery. IMO of course. That just seems like a huge amount of voltage.

 

We need a few more details about idle level etc. it does seem to be over charging but without more details it's hard to say for sure, that voltage would indicate that your stator is putting out fine but your regulator might not be switching off when the battery is charged.

 

I just told this story in another forum question a few minutes ago on "possible problems with VFR's", but I think it is applicable here as well. I had an uncle with a '97 that had the same issue...voltmeter registered 16 volts on the battery. He noticed his from a high pitch whistle coming from under the seat, which ended up being the battery. The battery was being over charged b/c the rectifier/regulator was wacked and consequently getting so hot it would whistle from the pressure inside the overheated battery. Sounds like it may be time for a new rectifier/regulator??? Good luck.

 

faulty voltage regulator, common on 90s era Honda VFRs.