I'm gonna go with a -1 on that. Batteries do whatever they have to do, starting with starting the motorcycle and everything afterward that the charging system doesn't take care of. The same goes for in a car. You ever lose your alternator and battery kept dying??? I'm thinking a few out there have done that very same thing.

Starting a motorcycle takes a lot of juice. However, running lights & coil doesn't take a whole lot, in comparison. Battery had a little left, but not enough to start. OP was probably about to die when he got home. Lucky day!!!

Anybody who disagrees with this logic is free and clear to unplug the stator and ride around the block to prove me right. Don't mind that lit up engine & battery light.

 

What about some freebies first?? Put the battery on a tender and charge it for a day or to and see if it in fact accepts a charge. No charge means get a battery. Charges, means start her up and get out your trusty multimeter. Check your voltage, on DC, and report what you got at idle, at 1500 rpms. American Iron magazine? Free multimeter from har b or freight. Sunday newspaper? Free pack of 1.5 volt aaa or aa batteries for your free multimeter.
Just your time for now.
Good luck,
Tom

 

Glad you made it home.

Could be any one or combo of the three-

Battery
Regulator
Stator

All easy to check for free...no reason to throw money at it, buy only what you need.

btw, I had a similar experience a few months back, but closer to home, it was the stator.

 

If it was the voltage regulator and/or stator whilst the battery was fried would the OP not run out of sparks for the plugs very quickly?

 

You're on the mark with that. If you have a fully charged battery and a dead stator you're good for 60-80 miles. Dead battery and good stator you can run for ever. Had he have gone much further he may have been on the side of the road. Like I said, mine did the same thing. Lights came on and went off after restarting. The stator was probably partially working. I did the same thing by stopping for gas then it wouldnt crank. Put it on a charger at the station for about an hour and then headed out. About 15 minutes or so the lights came on and stayed on. About 70 miles down the road the bike went dark and shut down. It was the stator. The battery was drained. Replaced the stator and all was good. I'm still running the same battery by the way..

 

Should've let the 70-yo gal's jump your battery...they might've taught you a few tricks...

JK, hope you get your electrical gremlins ironed-out...did you get a chance to assess?

 

I would:

1. Measure the voltage across the terminals
1. Jump start it again, disconnect the jumpers.
2. Measure the voltage across the terminals again.



If the voltage is around 13.5 when idle, and rises above 14 when you double the idle, your stator and regulator are working properly.
If the voltage is the same as the first test, your charging system is not working properly.

 

Would a jump get you 60 miles though? I imagine it would only get you the juice to kick the bike over and get the charging system to supplement. Before I had my previous problem, I had a Harley battery that was on its last legs and if I didn't keep it on a tender at night, it wouldn't likely turn over in the am after a day of riding.

 

I would do the easiest and cheapest things first. Make sure the battery connections are clean and tight. Next have your battery load tested. Then buy a new battery if necessary.
Tom

 

Matte, It might. My battery was too low to crank, but still had some left. It sounds to me that Pitbull_dog's was in a similar state. I charged for an hour and it cranked, but very slow. It was nowhere near full charge. I turned off the floods, so the battery was running the main headlight and the ignition. I said I made it 70 miles, but it was just under that..