Okay so my bike fried two batteries in like two months after I got it, I'm on the 3rd... and oddly it hasn't died, I hadn't been riding her much, (maybe 2-5 miles a day) and then I rode her almost 40 miles yesterday. The first time I took her on the freeway, I got down behind the windscreen and accidentally did 135... -.- she fried the battery about 10 miles down the road after that, I was surprised she hadn't fried it on the 40 miles I did yesterday due to the fact I thought the rectifier might be bad, I don't have a multimeter and can't afford to put any out for one at the moment so I still can't figure out if it's bad.

The 40 miles I accumulated yesterday was a 11 mile ride to my friends house (hour cooldown) then another 15 mile ride to my other friends house (hour cooldown) then another ride to the local hookah bar which was around... 10 (only to find out my friend I went to meet got sick and puked and went home 2 minutes before I got there so no cooldown between riding), followed by a 4-7 mile ride home... so do you guys think the rectifier could still be bad? What could possibly be going on?

By the way, I have a 1992CBR600F2 with 68000 miles... I'm her 3rd owner and I have taken good care of her (other than my wreck.)

 

does the bike smell horrible... like someone farted bad lol thats the smell of battery acid. (you might notice when you come to a stop light)

if that's the case, your battery is leaking battery acid because of overcharge. yes that is the r/r fault.

 

lol one of the funny/good/bad things about my bike is that the seat is never screwed on... (I really should fix that, but I haven't.) Anyways, so I can take off the seat easily to check on the battery anytime, Both fried batteries have never leaked ANY acid anywhere.

 

I think it might have just overheated the first time... what do you guys think?

 

The rectifiers job is to convert AC power to usable DC power for the battery. If the rectifier fails, it will send AC power directly from the stator without converting it, therefore shorting out cells in the battery.

If you can't afford a multi-meter, go down to autozone, if you have in your area, and borrow one. They, along with many other parts stores, lend out tools for free. You need to check the resistance across all three leads of the stator. If they check out ok, your rectifier is probably bad. Also, check the plug on the rectifier, many times, the plug will be melted, a sure sign of rectifier failure.

As far as it being weird about it ruining the battery. It very well may be the rectifier is working at a low capacity, then when the stator is spun at higher rpms, the amount of AC current is too much for it to handle it doesn't convert it. Just a guess though.

 

That almost seems likely, I haven't pulled the plug out yet to look for fried pins but riding it in town for almost 22 miles with a 1-2 minute cooldown didn't seem to bother the battery this time, so that's what's wierdest, cause on the ride out that it died on (pre-wreck) that ride was only like 14-15 miles but I was riding it pretty hard on the freeway on the way there too.

 

update:just pulled the rectifier plug out (had to use a clamp haha) but I pulled it out, no fried pins, (they're a little brown but it's an old rectifier so no big), next I'll check the battery with a voltmeter and see what's up.

 

It definitely sounds like your R/R is toast, but make sure you check the stator first to rule that out. If your stator is good, then I STRONGLY recommend getting one with cooling fins on it or you'll end up having the same problem again and again. You can get ones on ebay that bolt right into your existing holes, or retrofit one off of a GSX-R (or other make of bike) that has 5 wires coming off of it. I found an R/R off of a '99 GSX-R and it's twice as big my OEM one was! Here's what it ended up looking like mounted on the the bike before I ziptied and taped it all up.



I had to drill new mounting holes, get longer bolts, and move my ground wire, but I've had zero battery problems since. Good luck, whichever way you choose.

 

Thanks for the support eweppley, I'll hopefully be able to check the voltage today.