disconnecting the battery wont really say much IMO. get your battery load tested at autozone or a similar autoparts store in your area. its a much more accurate way to determine if your battery is on the way out or you have a drain in your wiring.

 

As much as I hate to say it, I don't trust Amateur Zone's testing very much, but it's still better than nothing. [8D]

 

Nobody mentioned this... When you shut off the bike you are pulling the key out in the off and not the park position right? Park turns on the tail light and will drain the battery.

 

I've taken it to advance and they said it jus needed charging. (I killed it once trying to start the bike a while ago). i take the key out in the lock position.

 

Then that rules out the battery as your problem, suggesting you need to run a test on your charging system to see if its actually charging or not, then determine where to go from there.

 

To find out if your battery being drained do a key off amp draw test. Remove your main fuse and place a multi meter in series ( in a manner to complete the circuit) on amps and measure, should be zero or near it. If there's alot of amps there you have to find out whats staying on or drawing amps. I'm trying figure out how to do it with out a mulit meter if I do I'll let you know. The next steps would be testing whole charging system

 

If you have drained the battery trying to start the bike but didn't charge it afterwards, especially if the battery is older than 1-1,5 years, it is somehow normal to lose current after 2 weeks. Verify that it has electrolyte inside (or if it's with gel, nevermind) and then charge it with a battery charger or take a longer ride with your bike. Also check if the R/R works: place a multimeter on the + and - of the battery, start the engine and keep it at about 5000 rpm and it should indicate between 13.8 and 14.4 volts, even if the headlight is on.
I had the exact problem and I found out that the battery was completely dry, no liquid inside. I filled it up to the marks and didn't have any problem for about a year, when I changed it because it's life was over.

 

Rickracer had some ideas, but I'm a M/C mechanic and a regulator/rectifier does two things. Regulator manages charging power, if its bad your battery would be overcharged, the rectifier only changes AC power (which your engines charging system makes)to DC power(which your battery can store). Nethier I think will discharge a battery, (I'm a new mechanic and don't know it all) do your troubleshooting. Its expensive (for a qualified mechanic to do)but willkeep you from spending unnecessary money on parts you dont need.

 

The regulator keeps the voltage between the specified limits (~13.5-14.4 V), no matter how high the voltage that comes into it from the alternator. Usually, at idle speed, the alternator delivers enough voltage to charge the battery, but if you have consumer on (like the headlight, cooling fan etc) it won't charge enough.
There are two types of alternators: the ones with a permanent magnet and the ones that have a coil in change of a magnet.
The ones with a permanent magnet (such as the ones on the CBR 600 F) are in fact dynamos and the higher the revs are, the more current they deliver, on a linear graphic. For example, at 1200 rpm it gives ~12.5 V, at 5000 rpm ~16 V and at 10000 rpm ~22V.
The ones with a coil act a bit different and the regulator is different also (CBR 1000 F for example). These ones are called alternators and work by a more complicated principle: when the regulator detect that the current is too low in the battery, it charges the coil from around the rotor and turns it into a magnet, transforming the whole unit into a temporary dynamo. Again, when the regulator detects that the battery is charged, it doesn't charge the coil anymore, demagnetizing it and thus making it not to charge. The cycle repeats everytime the regulator detects that there are changes in battery voltage.
Now, the regulator/rectifier can malfunction in two ways: the regulator breaks down and then, depending on the the type of alternator there are two posibilities (for a dynamo <CBR 600 F> it can't keep the voltage between the specified limits, either not charging at all, either overcharging the battery; and for an alternator not charging at all) and if the rectifier break down, then there's only one possibility, no matter of the type of the alternator: damage to the battery.

Here are some links that may help you understand:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_does_a_dynamo_work
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/alternator.htm

 

sweet. thanks for the tips. I'll check these out as soon as the weather warms up. Anyone else ready for spring?