No lights, no starter, no nothing

I have a Honda Rebel for around town and I am having a problem with the battery I think. I tried to start it yesterday and it had lights but would not turn over. So I charged the battery with a Battery Tender, Jr and now I have no lights, no starter, no nothing. All fuses are good. I cleaned all connections. A volt meter shows 12.3 volts on the battery.. However, still no lights or anything. Everything works with a jumper cable. However, when running the volt meter shows only 7.3 volts. Would a bad battery cause such a low reading? Could a battery show 12 volts and still not be good or strong enough to produce any response? I I hadn't seen gotten the 7.3 volts when running, I would have just bought a battery.

 

Sounds more like a wiring problem; but start by making sure it isn't just the battery. Full charge it and take it to the auto parts and have it load tested.

If you're only seeing 7.3V at the battery terminals with the bike running, something's not right.

From looking at the fiche, the bike appears to have a brushless, permanent-magnet type generator with a combined regulator/rectifier.

**Found something else interesting in the fiche** There appears to be a fuse ON the starter relay (solenoid) itself; and a spare carried below it in the little rubber mounting cradle. This is separate from the "fusebox" itself. See: http://www.hondapartshouse.com/oemparts ... 34/battery

 

I hooked another battery to the terminals, started the bike, and got 14+ volts. Turned out that the battery had a short in it and I guess that's what caused it to read 7+ volts while running. I had never seen that before--a shorted battery reading 12 volts but only 7 volts when running. Live and learn.

Thanks for the reply.