I went to the market today and purchased some magic crystals. Hopefully they will solve all my problems. More to follow in a few days...

That stuff only works on tired batteries, yours sounds like it has a bad cell (full 2 volt drop)
If you want to fix the problem, bite the bullet and get a new battery, Motobatt used to be the `go to' brand but aren't what they used to be, lithium seem the best nowadays but from the sound of it you will probably get the cheapest, which will be fine as long as you keep it charged. (lithium seem to hold charge better than most)

 

magic crystals!!!
maybe not for the battery???

 

You'd think I would know better. I once heard of a guy who swapped his cow for some magic beans and that caused no end of trouble.

Anyhoo, first pass has certainly not improved the situation, but no major disasters. I am now doing my best to drain the battery (charged as best I can) and will then top up with acid (which I have had lying around for years anyway).

Its all fun and games until somebody loses an eye, as my mother used to say.
Seriously though - even though I read up about the chemical reactions and satisfied myself the risk was low, I still wear nitrile gloves, eye protection and work outdoors away from anything that might get damaged.



Also, in the meantime I have popped in a battery out of my GPX600R. Took some minor rewiring as the + and - terminals are swapped, but will let me see how a good battery behaves with the Hondas charging system.

 

That magic powder is just Epsom salts (Magnesium sulphate) and will not help in your case, but by all means get some, you can use the left overs in your bathtub for sore muscles.

 

Lol!

 

A few days ago I upended the battery over a plastic container overnight, got a small amount of electrolyte out.
Filled to the brim with fresh acid. It showed 12.7V, soon as I pressed the starter button it dropped to about 9V and failed to turn over.

Been fun, but in my case the battery was past any remedial help. A new battery is on the way - a simple flooded lead acid battery of 155 CCA.

For those who might be interested in the chemistry:
battery chemistry - why does adding MgSO4 dissolve PbSO4

And for them as like watching videos rather than reading:
(the talk was better if you were actually there, not a great quality recording).

 

At least you had fun, some people would rather tinker with their bikes rather than riding them.

Wet cell batteries are great for off grid power, much better tech avail for motorbikes though.

 

Owning more than one bike allows me to do both as I please

 

Lucky bugger!

 

Well, I do still seem to have problems.

The battery charges at 14.1V with headlight off, 14.6V with headlight on.
Tonight, I went to my Motorcycle club meeting and noticed after 3km that voltage was dropping - I glanced at the voltmeter and it was at 12.5 while riding at 3000rpm+, shortly after it was down to 12.1.

I ran on sidelight only where safe and it managed to get up to 13.6V at 3500rpm, switch the headlight on and it dropped immediately.

At the end of the meeting, bike started up and seemed to be charging normally until it had warmed up, then same thing.

So, the battery is not the issue this time.

Ah well, I'll test the rec/reg and measure resistance/voltage from the alternator. Hopefully it is not intermittent and is related to temperature.

Fingers crossed the rec/reg is at fault as it is way cheaper than the stator. Can't really sell the bike with a fault like that.

Update: pulled the ducktail off and removed the rec/reg. Once I removed the insulating tape from the connector, it did not look pretty:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-...FuV1J1ZGpjTWFv

I measured all resistances as per the CBR1000f service manual and they were all over the place. Without knowing the internal circuitry, I can't be certain, but it certainly seems likely the regulator is stuffed.

All four alternator coils show resistance - three stator coils 0.8ohm, field coil was 2.3ohm or so.