ok...so, I bought this '96 Heritage for the wife... Last night was her third ride so far on it...we rode about 10 miles....stopped for a soda....went to get back on the road...and the battery was too low to start the bike....after a few attempts...it was dead enough it wouldn't even turn on the lights...

So..here is some background.

The battery is new....I installed it right after we got the bike in January...just to be sure I knew it was "good".

When I installed...I didn't clean off the cables or posts by scraping down to copper/lead (shame on me).

I had to call my buddy to bring some tools and jumper cables to get seat off and the like.

He instructed me to clean the cables then reattach....still no juice. He said..."well, after we jump it and it fires...when we unhook the cables we will know if the charging system works"

We unhooked...and bike was running. So the wife hopped on and we took a highway back home....to ramp up the RPM'S a little to charge better. We made it home...however the head lights were dimmer than usual.

as soon as she shut it down...we tried a restart...the battery didnt charge at all.

I called my buddy who helped us out (he is also an electrical eng.) He told me that the regulator, I think thats what he said, needs to see 10VDC+ from the battery or so for it to "work" and let the battery charge...since the battery was dead, he said the bike was in "survival mode" and utilizing all power to run..

so....I put the battery on charge last night...It is taking charge, this morn it was measuring 13VDC+ while on the charger.

He said it should be ok since the terminals have been cleaned and start with a freshly charged battery.

What do you guys think??

thanks

 

You need to check out your charging system, do a quick search, lots of threads on 'how to' diagnose. Starting with a fully charged battery is the first step, but you have other problems, stator/regulator, or a simple bad connection.

 

You said you only drove about 10 miles. Are most of your rides real short like this? If so you have probably drained the battery down from not running it long enough to build up the charge. Do you have a 2 amp slow charger? I would put it on the slow charge to see if it will get a deep charge and then use a battery tender after you go on short rides to keep it charged.

 

You can somewhat test the charging system (stator) by checking the output voltage while the bike is running. You can also test the windings with an ohm meter without having to remove the stator.

 

i ment when we unhooked the jumper cables...not the battery lead

 

A short ride like that is not enough to charge a dead battery. Trust me. Been there, done that. Like your buddy said, give it a good charge and you might be ok. If not, it's time to start trouble shooting. Double check all you connections, then on to the charging system. Not sure about the older bikes, but I know when I blew my regulator and stator this year, my check engine light and battery light was my first sign that things weren't right...

 

Not sure i get it, i live 8 miles from work and my truck and bike charge fine. ???? maybe important lucky

 

I meant im lucky. Damn phone

 

update....got home today after a night of 2amp charging. battery re ad 13.10 vdc. checked the stator output with bike on idle....about 23-25 vac. with bike started and eveything hooked up....idle volts at battery around 12.5.....ramped up to 13-14....i assume thats normal? also....battery is holding voltage at rest...doesnt seem to be a draw from a short.....

i dont get how short rides wouldnt charge battery either??

 

ramped up because of higher rpm's