Why is my battery not charging

Hey, I haven't driven my bike much this year, but I have a problem and it's bugging the heck out of me. I bought a brand new battery this year, and i am having troubles starting.

Today I boosted the battery and it started fine. I ran it for about 5 min in hopes that the battery would charge. I then went to drive it into my backyard where I stalled it (not a surprise there) I went to re-start it after I stalled it and it would just chug, but not enough juice to fully start the bike again...right after it had been running.

I think that's the longest I've had it running this year, so I was wondering if the starts will drain the battery and my not running it long doesn't give it time to charge again, or is the 5 min I did today substantial time for a new battery to charge which would mean there is some other charging problem.

This surely isn't the first time this season that I've had to boost it. It then runs fine until next time I go to start it.

 

Pull the Battery.
Inspect the Fluid Level.

Over-charging will cause the Battery Fluid to boil away.

Check that you are getting Charging Voltage at the battery supplied from the Bikes Charging System.
You need 14.2 ~ 14.5 Volts Charging current at 23-Hundred rpm and above.
If your Charging Current is LOW.

Check the Alternator Brush Lengths.
10mm Minimum.

Look at the Quick Connection Plugging-in the Voltage Regulator to the Wiring Harness.
Signs of Overheating indicate the Regulator may have sustained damage.

 

What RPM was it running at? The system will not charge unless the bike is running above 2,000RPMs. Starting it for just a few minutes doesn't get everything warmed up properly and could actually cause more problems than not running it for a month.

Charge the battery fully and have it tested. I know it's new, but have it tested anyways. I have had customers buy a battery and come back the next day and the battery tests junk.

If the battery is good then try to start again. It should fix your problems, if it doesn't then we have to start going through the checklist of electrical gremlins.

 

hmmmmmmm, it was running around 1000rpm with the choke off. After a bit with the choke off it would almost die until i'd put the choke on, but that is a problem for a different thread likely.

As far as just sitting there though, it would idle about 1000. So from what you are saying i may have started my bike a number of times, and none of the times it would have charged minus the 500m each way to and from my mechanic. Aside from that it's just sat there while idling

 

That is correct. I'd let the battery charge for 6-8 hours on 1.5 or 2 amps. The tender/charger I use has an automatic cut off so I can just leave it plugged in for days with no worries.

Your battery is probably just fine, but keep in mind, if you are just letting it idle you are running the battery down, and these batteries won't take a lot of full-drain and re-charge before they become useless.

 

ya I just boosted it again, and it started fine. After a bit of running it bogged down and died. I guess this means dirty carb/carb cleaning as a possible solution?

 

No, it means you have to pay attention to what Rick said and have a look at the alternator/brushes and wiring.

Dirty carbs won't keep the battery from charging.

 

True, I guess I am mixing two problems into one. I was kinda looking to solve the second problem, while in this battery thread.

 

check the wire coming out of the stator I had this same problem and found that the engine had either melted,shifted or pinched the wire coming out of it so it was no longer charging. The spot is very close to the stator itself so you have to remove the cover to see if its worn. There are ways to check the charging system with a multimeter but someone else needs to cover that one. Good luck!!

 

sweet...I will give that a look.

ps-I miss southern Ontario