More on lack of charging

I am a new member of this site, a new owner of my first VFR, a 1998 5th gen. I didn't make it home from purchasing it, dead battery. Well, I read all about it on this site, and went to work. My previous bike was a 2002 Moto Guzzi V11 LeMans. It had a similar battery placement, and quite a bit of info on the specific needs of an all position battery in the owners manual. I looked at the near new Yuasa laid back with the posts down, and saw part of the problem. After getting it home, I tried to charge this battery with a battery tender while in the bike, and it would not come up to a full charge. When removed, in a vertical orientation, it took a full charge in a couple of hours. So I am guessing that the charging system worked itself silly trying to charge a battery with the posts shorting. Anyhow, I then ordered a new regulator/rectifier from Joshua at JT Electrical, along with the heavy duty three wire hookup kit. I also ordered a TruGel battery from my local shop, a true any position battery. The thing works like a charm, keeps about 14.7 volts at 5K rpm. So I guess the real point of all of this is that an all position battery is a must in a VFR (at least the 5th gen, and all others with a reclined battery). An alternative might be to find a battery with the pos and neg reversed, so the battery could be mounted with the posts up, assuming the battery leads would reach. Being an AGM battery is not sufficient, it still has to be mounted with the posts above all of the acid medium. I do love this bike, I can see what all of the positive ranting and raving is about!

 

Are you saying that the posts (+ and - terminals) were shorted to the frame?

 

Welcome! I am glad you sorted it out.
I have the same bike as well.

 

Kennybobby, The short I refer to is inside the battery. According to Moto Guzzi, and several battery manufacturers, any battery with a liquid acid medium has to be positioned so that the posts are above the liquid. As positioned in the 5th gen VFR, the posts are below. Rotating the battery 180deg, getting the posts on top, would be fine, but the pos and neg would then be reversed left to right.

 

Big Ass Spar

Thanks Buzz i see it now, should have looked it up first. What do you suppose the dumbass at honda was thinking when he designed the subframe with that big ass spar running up the middle?

 

Are you saying that the battery is upside down. I've never ever seen a battery in a bike upside down. Laying down, or on it's side...sure, but never upside down.

 

Not upside down, but laying way over toward the side to flood the terminals.

http://vfrworld.com/photos/showphoto.php?photo=28235&cat=1255

 

Yeah, in some bikes, I may have seen it in a Buell, the battery is upside down. In the Guzzi, it layed flat, but with the posts to the top.

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and state what I think about the VFR charging system. I suspect that the factory charging system is marginally adequate if the battery posts were not shorting internally. With the shorting battery posts, the charging load is always high, hence the heat builup in the R/R and the three wire connector to the stator. The short service life of the R/R, stators, and batteries are all related to what I feel is a poor design in battery placement and/or battery choice. I have a near new Yuasa YTX12-BS battery. When in place in my VFR, I cannot bring it to full charge with a Deltran Battery Tender. The charger gets quite hot, and stays that way for as long as I am willing to let it go. When I take the same battery out of the bike, it will come to a full charge in several hours while in a vertical orientation. The gel battery I installed in my bike came right up to a full charge while in the bike. Moto Guzzi addresses this very issue in the owners manual of the V11 LeMans. I purchased a new AGM battery for my LeMans from Batteries Plus (they have good batteries at good prices), and the info sheet that came with that battery addressed this issue quite plainly also.