Look after your battery!

There are 3 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 1,813 times. The latest Post () was by Rice.

1st Official Post
    • Official Post

    Having just bought a new battery for bike in December, i was alarmed to find that it was losing its charge and even more perplexed to find that it had lost almost all of its fluid. Apparently This can be caused by spikes in overcharging or extreme heat, I'm told. Anyway, this very helpful article reminds us how important it is to look after the battery.

    https://www.motorcyclecruiser.…otorcycle-battery-working

    • Official Post

    Well, it turns out that, following a second new battery the bike isn't charging and after a run of say an hour, the bike won't even start - with a brand new battery too.

    So it's either the voltage regulator or the stator, which is the two wheel version of an alternator as you can see from the pictures.

    Stators are known to fail due to heat after about 12,000 miles (20,000kms), particularly in hot countries and my bike has now done around 33,000kms.

    Anyway, my local bike repair shop can't seem to fit me in, I don't know of any other locally that I trust and apart from the expectedly high labour costs I'd be charged, it looks like I'll have to fix the bike myself. It doesn't look that difficult and I've located the spare parts on Mercadolibre anyway at pretty reasonable prices. Oh and it makes sense to replace both parts while I'm at it, especially since the voltage regulator is so important.




    I'll update this thread as I go along.

    • Official Post

    The nominal voltage for a battery in good condition is around 12.65v +/- and mine has been going below 12v, even though it's new. The charging voltage should be between 13.8 and 14.5v and I've been getting only 12.20v charging and less, with the bike running.

    Anyway, I stripped it down except for the stator which is a major task, withdrew the voltage regulator, relay and cut out about 4ft of cables I'd inadvertently left in when I added LED spots and a USB charger. Fixed a fuse box, cleaned terminal connections with WD40 and added some spade connectors where required.

    Oddly enough the bike is now charging normally and starts in a split second. It's a head scratcher and so I'll keep an eye on things for now.