hey guys i got a new battery about 4 months ago for my bike, well now today its dead. i am dumbfounded on why the battery died. i ride the bike every day as my daily commuter. all my lights and electrical components are stock, so there is no other strain on the bike except for the normal stock things. any ideas on why the battery would die like that? any info or comments are appriciated.

 

Follow the instructions from page 16-7 of the service manual to see if there is excess current draw (ie: a short) on your bike when it's turned off. If not it is possible to have a lemon battery. Does the battery take a charge?

Here's a pic from the service manual:



[IMG]local://upfiles/9768/9FCA8A96171B46FABA963C893E7A64A0.jpg[/IMG]

 

battery does take a charge, but runs down quickly. ill check the mA leakage later, and let you know how it goes.

 

there is no amps in leakage. when i tested it like the manual said, the amp on the tester read 0. maybe just a lemon battery. i hope not. anything else that you can think of? also i have noticed it kind of sputters when i have it running at around 5500 rpms, kind of like it is out of gas, but i have a full tank. any suggestions on that?

 

I had a similar problem one day, the battery died. I also use the bike for daily commute.
The problem in my case is that my commute is hardly 10 mins either way. The battery takes at least half an hour to get charged, so if you commute for a very short time every day then it could run out once in a while.
What is the voltage on the battery when the engine is off but electrics are on? Shouldnt be too much smaller than 12 V (Otherwise the battery is still dead and needs a full recharge. mine showed 6V!!)
What is the voltage when you start the engine? Should be around 14V (Otherwise the battery isnt being charged by the alternator)

 

Just curious, what RPM's are you riding it at? I thought I read that the
charging system didnt kick in until like 5500 RPM. I could be wrong, but
that sticks in my mind for some reason.

 

when the bike is off, and the electronics are on, the battery was reading 12v, but when i hit the starter button, it goes down to 7v. most of the time, its not enough voltage to even start the bike. and about the rpms i ride at, i have a daily commute of about 30 to 40 min and i stay at about 6000rpms the whole time. so the charging system does kick in. the problem is not the battery dying when the bike is running, it is more starting the bike up.

 

What's the voltage on the battery when the bike is running? Sounds like you may have a problem with your charging system.

 

Check your grounds. Also, if you can, do a voltage drop test. Be sure the ground for the battery is tight on the frame and hasn't vibrated loose. Can also be a faulty starter pulling too much power down.

 

the voltage when the bike is running is about 12v and if you rev it slightly it goes to about 14v. i was thinking that it might be the starting system, but hoping that it wasnt cause its kinda hard to change. any more ideas?