battery dies

Set out on a 3 1/2 hour ride from Stockton ca to the Santa Cruz mountains. Once in the mountains stop at a store and my battery was dead. Charged it for a couple of hours and made it home fine, but when i ride too long battery dies. Went to Autozone used their handheld tester. 12v standing. 12.2 running. Battery is 12 months old. Suggestion?

 

http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/diagnosis/pdf/fault-finding-diagram.pdf

 

At idle the engine running the volts, need to be around 14.5 to stand any chance to recharge the bike. This sounds like another electrical issue which may be due to one of several common faults affecting VFRs of that age - #1 = defective Regulator/Rectifier, and/or #2 = fried Stator(alternator), and /or melted/defective wiring/connectors on the charging circuit.

If you own a voltmeter its worth doing a bit more assessment to identify where the fault lies and eliminate and avoid paying out to replace items which are working fine. Don't assume its just a faulty battery and simply buy a replacement - the problem is inadequate charging. If you have only run the battery flat once or twice, then with luck an overnight trickle charge will restore your battery - obviously dump it if its really ancient.

Anyway do a search on here for posts by Rubo as he did a major post showing what to check and where. Also do the recommended tests in the service manual. That should hopefully allow you to identify and resolve the problem.

Let us know how you get on.

skimad4x4

 

i agree with skid for the most part, but i would offer that it is very difficult for a permanent magnet alternator such as we have on motorsickles to generate 14.5 at idle. At higher rpms this voltage may be possible, but at the loads and low speed of idle not so much.

Charge the battery for sure, 12.0 or 12.2 indicates a low state of charge. You would like to see 12.6 12.8 or higher for a fully charged battery at rest.

The 12.2 when running would indicate that the charging system is trying to work--alternator, stator and voltage rect/regulator. Because the battery is at such a low state of charge, the RR is dumping all the power it can back into the battery, and the charge voltage is being pulled down to 12.2 from its usual 13.5 or higher depending upon rpm. So first get the battery charged then repeat the measurement and follow skid /rubo's advice on troubleshooting.

 

Talk about an all-too-common |VFR problem !!!!!! It's the r/r or the stator or a melted, damaged plug connection between the stator and the r/r or atop the starter relay.

The amazing thing about the photo is that the bike was still charging with the plug damaged like that !! If melting continued and the terminals shorted, it would have destroyed the stator.