short battery life?

[Guest]

I bought a '83 GS1100G 3 months ago and the owner said he had just put in a new battery. Everything was fine for 2 months until one morning the battery died quickly one morning while trying to start the bike. Connections looked good with no corrosion and proceeded to pull out the battery to put a charge on it. I found 1 cell completely dry but no signs of cracks or leaking. Figuring that the previous owner failed to put acid in initially and not wanting to use plain water and not having any acid on hand, I syphoned some off the other 5 cells to bring the dry cell up to the fill mark while the other 5 were still up to the fill mark. Then I charged it overnight. Bike ran fine for a month until same thing happened- battery died quickly while starting the bike after work. I pushed started and jumped it in 2nd gear to get home but it died a mile down the road in traffic. Pushed it off the road and luckily a co-worker stopped to help. Not having a charger and 35 miles from home I pulled the battery, fluid level ok but we went to the VIP parts store around the corner and bought a new battery. Had to give up the old battery to avoid the $10 core charge. Put the new acid in and push started the bike since I couldn't charge it as you would normally do for a new battery and made it the 35 miles home trough traffic and rain. I put a charge on it when I got home and will see what happens. QUESTION IS would the dry cell for 2 months shorten the life of a battery to 3 months and just 1000 miles or is my charging system failing??? Any easy way to check charging system? thanks and sorry for the long winded message.

[Nessism]

Go to the GSR home page and look up the link for the "Stator Papers". My guess is that your regulator/rectifier (R/R) has failed which allows the stator to over charge the battery and boil out the battery acid.

Batteries do not like this type of treatment and will expire as a result. Hopefully you can catch the problem fast enough to save the second battery.

Good luck.

[Dave8338]

Your R/R is not doing it's job. Before you go out and do a conversion or buy a replacement from Fleabay, do yourself a favor and go through ALL...ALL of you connectors. I use copper pipe flux/cleaner, wipe them down good with carb cleaner on a rag or blast it into the multi plugs and treat them to a dab of dielectric grease (a must, unless you like playing with connectors). Then pay special attention the the ground wire from the R/R. It is the Black wire with the white stripe. This is a likely culprit!
Some suggest running a wire directly from this lead to the Neg. post on the battery. This will insure the best possible ground. I just relocated it to the mount for the starter solenoid (making sure that the paint on the frame was scraped clean, and it cured my charging woes, instantly.

After you've done the above mentionede, start the bike and with your multi testor, check the voltage on the battery posts. You should see 12V or right at 12V- static. Then start the bike and run it up to 3000-4000RPMs. Recheck the voltage...it should show 14.4+- Mine shows 14.7V at 4400RPMs. If you see readings below 14V you have a stator issue. Above 14.7+ your R/R is most likely toast. Let us know.

[Nessism]

Your R/R is not doing it's job. Before you go out and do a conversion or buy a replacement from Fleabay, do yourself a favor and go through ALL...ALL of you connectors. I use copper pipe flux/cleaner, wipe them down good with carb cleaner on a rag or blast it into the multi plugs and treat them to a dab of dielectric grease (a must, unless you like playing with connectors). Then pay special attention the the ground wire from the R/R. It is the Black wire with the white stripe. This is a likely culprit!
Some suggest running a wire directly from this lead to the Neg. post on the battery. This will insure the best possible ground. I just relocated it to the mount for the starter solenoid (making sure that the paint on the frame was scraped clean, and it cured my charging woes, instantly.

After you've done the above mentionede, start the bike and with your multi testor, check the voltage on the battery posts. You should see 12V or right at 12V- static. Then start the bike and run it up to 3000-4000RPMs. Recheck the voltage...it should show 14.4+- Mine shows 14.7V at 4400RPMs. If you see readings below 14V you have a stator issue. Above 14.7+ your R/R is most likely toast. Let us know.

Good advice here! \\/ One small comment, my factory manual calls for as much as 15.5V output to the battery (with headlight disconnected). Some people have reported voltages higher than 14.7V with the headlamp on - with a properly running system. Splitting hairs I suppose but keep this in mind if you are not sure.

[lurch12_2000]

Ok I looked through the Stator Papers and it was good reading except I don't have a manual an am trying to locate some of these parts(regulator,rectifier, stator...) to pull the connectors and clean.

[Dave8338]

The R/R will be located below and between the battery and the air box. The best way I found to get at it is to remove the battery and go at it from the left hand side of the bike. The stator is located behind the engine cover on the lower left hand side of engine, in front of the gear shifter.

[hwb120240]

Just my $.02
A battery hates a dead cell. Once a cell dies it stays that way. Back in the early 80's I worked in the Battery Shop for Nuclear Submarines. Many things can hurt a battery including over or under charging, loose connections, heat and sediment in the bottom of a cell.
Just replaced my battery: Started and rode to work as usual and when I went to go home nothing. When I tested the battery with a hydrometer I had two cells reading low. Figured I try anyway. Refilled battery and charged. Never more than 10V... after 6 hrs charge. new battery $39.00 @ Interstate

[lurch12_2000]

I picked up a multimeter tester(on sale at Sears for $11) and have to admit I'm not sure if I tested correctly. With bike off I put black lead on neg and red lead on pos of the battery and it showed 11.56v(fluctuated a little but never reached 12v) then I started the bike and ran at 4-5k rpm but still get the same reading at battery posts. Am I supposed to be checking elsewhere or should voltage climb on revving at the battery? Remember this is a brand new charged battery I'm now testing. Maybe I should find a good manual on using a multitester.

[hwb120240]

lurch12 you did it right. Have you checked you connectors yet? You are getting no charging output to your battery. Could be stator (you siad it read good) or R/R.
Have you read the stator papers as suggested? Has an excellent T/S flow chart.

[lurch12_2000]

I spent a while re-reading the Stator papers and pulling battery, R/R, and other connectors off and cleaning them. Just to confirm that the R/R is a black, heat sink(approx 2"x3") looking unit next to the battery box and cleaned the black/white ground cable to the side of the metal frame they all sit in. When I checked the battery again with the multitester I do get a 12v(+/- .05) reading when bike is off but not 13v as the Stator paper says. I drop a little when the key is turned on(11.56v) I assume because the headlight goes on, again not being able to turn the headlight off as the Stator paper says to do. When the bike is started it stays the same again and when revved to 4k it still stays the same(not 14v+ as the Stator paper says it should. Before trying to locate and troubleshoot the stator I decided to throw my 2 amp charger on to see if the voltage changes but again no significant difference(12.25v). I'm no eletrical genius and am not getting anywhere in my troubleshooting to want to replace anything. I suppose I can wait it out a few weeks and see what happens to the new battery to see if I really have any problems or I'm chasing phantoms because the previous owner didn't know how to fill a new battery!

[Nessism]

Don't ride the bike that way since it's not charging the battery. You need to do the detailed checks in the Stator Papers. My guess is that your Stator is history and maybe also the R/R. Number one problem is the R/R go out which takes out the stator there after. You can convert a Honda R/R for cheap for use on your bike but stators are not cheap.

Good luck.