battery dieing!!!

I recently put a new battery in my 1998 VFR , two weeks to be exact. Today, after riding it, it wouldnt start after sitting about 5 mins. Any ideas what would cause this?? I hooked the trickle charger to her and it fired right up after about an hour of sitting and showing that it was fully charged. Any help would be great.

Thanks,

Patrick

 

sound like the regulator/rectifier is not doing its job. Get out your trusty digital multimeter and set it to ~20 volts. Start bike. Place test leads on appropriate battery terminals. rev bike to about 5K rpm, reading should be between 14 and 15 volts. If not, replace the r/r. if it is, check all connections and grounds.

 

I agree with the above, probaly the R/R if when you have a new battery. However, new batteries can fail if dropped during shipping.

Just to be sure, fully charge your battery and then disconnect the charger. Let the battery sit for a couple of hours and then take a voltage reading. Battery should read above 12.7 volts. (mine reads 12.8 - the book says 13.0 to 13.2). If the battery voltage is under 12.5 volts, suspect the battery. At 12.3 volts a battery is considered undercharged per Honda.

Check your R/R by hooking up voltmeter to the battery and running the engine at 5,000 rpm with high beams on. I do not have the exact specifications, but voltage should read somewhwere between 13.5 volts and 15.5 volts. To low and the battery does not charge, to high and the battery and other electrical stuff gets damaged.

If the above two are OK, suspect alternator charging coil (stator) not putting out enough amperage to do the job, or a loose (high resistance) connection somewhre in the circuit.

I now have the opposite problem, - to high a voltage. (16.5 peak and getting higher - R/R breaking down).

 

R/R and Battery

What caused the last battery to fail? Could be the RR. It may be necessary to replace both.

There are a lot of "how to" posts on this problem.

Here's a good one with step by step diagnosis, photos and explanation .

www.vfrdiscussion.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=8102&hl=regulator+gsxr

Look for HispanicSlammer post Electrical - Test R/R, Stator and Battery @VFRdiscussion.com

Good luck.

 

sounds like a short circuit more than a regulator to me, or a partial short circuit, so i'd remove the fuses for the clock, lights, etc, and let it sit with a charged battery. If it's dying while turned off and sitting there, the regulator isn't part of the circuit. Put the fuses back in one at a time until you find the battery dead after sitting, that's the circuit with a slow drain, something always drawing power or slightly shorted to gnd...justin

If the regulator's gone, the headlight should get brighter the higher you rev it, or at least that's how bikes used to be..