battery problems

my battery on my 4th gen. doesnt keep charge. any ideas where to start.? i took the battery to get charged and the autozone "experts" said the battery is fine.

 

check the age of the battery...... get a new one to start troubleshooting....that way you know its not the battery... start with pulling voltage from your R/R it should be up around 14.... IIRCanything less and your battery is not getting charged properly..
Someone else can chime in .....Bueller ......Bueller..........

 

thanks for info.

 

Carefully inspect the connection plug at R/R ---3 yellow wires, also wires on top of starter relay.

As Crusty says, use a meter across battery with engine running (@ about 5,000 rpm) and check charging voltage.

 

what should voltage be when engine is running at 5k rpm

 

13.5 to 14.5 VDC

 

thanks ill look into tommarow after work.

 

with bike runnuing at idle the voltage was at 12.7 at 5krpm it jumpped to 14 . ill go buy a battery this weekend like crustyrider suggested

 

You're charging fine; outrageously, a new battery is gonna cost about $70 !

 

Buy the battery to be sure but it is also a MUST to check the wiring and connectors as Squirrel said.It is the down fall of these bikes.

 

thanks for the help everyone ill be checking the wires soon. can some one show me the pic of the infamous rr

 

while you are buying a battery, invest the extra $35 for a battery tender. My 92 (owned since new) is still on it's original battery and rectifier. Battery Tender is the answer, if the bike is parked, it's on a tender.

 

big o'l giant +1 on that!

 

....another +1, which makes +2

A primary cause of failed batteries is letting them sit in a partially-discharged state, and letting the state of charge fall to too low a level for too long WILL ruin it.

During storage a battery should be recharged one day per month at a minimum.

 

^^^^^

+3!

Bz

 

How did those wires look?

 

Is it possible for a battery to die if the bike is idling for a long time? If I understand the charging system (somewhat) correctly, the battery doesn't really get any juice back from the stator/RR until the bike is revving at around 5k. If one was stuck in stop and go traffic for say 40 minutes and the revs never get anywhere near 5k, at some point would the battery drain to the point where it can't make sufficient spark to keep the motor going?

My 95 died on me after sitting in traffic on the way home last night. Jumped it, ran fine, and got it home. I put the battery on the charger/tender and this morning with bike off was getting 12.6V. In the run position but bike not started, 11.7V. So given that, dying battery seems likely - it's at least 3 years old. I'll still check the rest of the charging system after a new battery but I'm just wondering if the same would have happened to a good battery. Thoughts?

 

it could be dieing. or the stator/RR isnt charging it. more than likely the battery didnt have a good winter and needs replacement. you can have it tested at autozone or one of those type of places. Has the batt been on a tender all winter?

 

I sit in hour long traffic a lot, moving at 5 mph average. If I just sit in it idling mine does die, happened just 2 weeks ago. I went to give it some gas to move and just died, pushed it off the road waited a few minutes and then push started it as it did not have enough juice to use the starter, kept it at 5k the rest of the way to work and it was fine. If I rev it up once in a while for a minute or two then I normally do not have a issue. I have a new r/r, stator, battery, connectors. I just learned to not let it idle in traffic for whole time, normally I just reach down and set the idle to 2200 to 2500 just to get it to run closer to 12.5v, once the fan starts kicking on I will rev it up to 4 to 5k more often to recoupe some charge, but then you have to balance reving for charge and let it idle down to let it cool and kick the fan off. Yes I know it is bad to charge a low battery using the bike but what you going to do when you got to get to work. Once I got home put it on the charger and tested it and it is fine. Getting a volt meter on the bike is the best thing to do if you sit in traffic like me. Waiting for mine to come in.

 

Your bike shouldn't die from riding in city traffic. If it does, something's wrong. Your charging system should 'break even' at idle, or just above. The biggest draw on the battery is the starter. Even though it's only engaged briefly (if the bike starts good), huge amounts of battery capacity need to be replaced.

It may be that even a strong, fully charged battery and a fully operative charging system would eventually go 'flat' with lots of short trips in city traffic. But I tend to think even that would take several days or weeks of abnormally lobsided used. The same battery kept on a 'tender' would be fine.

Betarace put his finger on the real issue. Keep your battery fully charged. Don't use your bike as a battery charger. Clearly, R/R's are a 'weak link' in the charging system. Still, most charging system failures and overheated wires and connectors have a root in running with a discharged battery.