If the charging system is out then will the bike still run?

[mwa423]

Hey folks,

GS650G and now it has:

When I start the bike it'll run and if I keep it revved up then it will keep running but as soon as it idles low it stalls out. Now, the battery dies pretty quickly and when I jump start the bike off of another battery it'll stay running as long as the second battery is connected but about a minute after I disconnect the jump battery the bike dies. I thought that once the bike was running it didn't need the electrical system?

Or, is my charging system dying? I'm going over the stator papers now and seeing if I can get any insights from that.

Thanks

[tomm]

Not enough info . . . could be a number of things . . . but first impression is that your battery has a cell that has shorted.
Your bike should run for quite a while on just the battery. It isn't clear from your description, but it sounds like you don't disconnect the first battery when you jump from the second one. Did you try disconnecting the first one and just running off the second one?
What is the voltage at the battery?

[mwa423]

What happened is I connected the second battery to the main battery with jumper cables and then when the bike was running removed the jumper cables. I just checked the voltage on the bike battery and it was 9.85v. (Well below what it should be...) Will a dead battery stop the bike from running?

[marvinsc]

YES! When the Charging system Quits charging, the Bike will run on the Battery until it's Dead, then You are Done! When My stator Crapped out Two weeks ago in Cincinnati, I rode from Cincy to Indy (where Bwringer hooked Me up with a Replacement Stator) On a Fully charged battery (about 90 Minutes) with the Headlight unplugged.I am Running a 2 Year Old Sealed battery and it was My Stator, the RR was ok.

[fgh]

Hey folks,

GS650G and now it has:

When I start the bike it'll run and if I keep it revved up then it will keep running but as soon as it idles low it stalls out. Now, the battery dies pretty quickly and when I jump start the bike off of another battery it'll stay running as long as the second battery is connected but about a minute after I disconnect the jump battery the bike dies. I thought that once the bike was running it didn't need the electrical system?

Or, is my charging system dying? I'm going over the stator papers now and seeing if I can get any insights from that.

Thanks

Awnser to your question is Maybe but probably not. GS's and almost every other bike too have charging systems that don't put out enough current at idle to run the bike. If you disable the headlight and don't use anything esle electrical it might idle. Since the bike will stay running when the RPM's are up the charging system might be OK. Get the bike running and then check the current at the battery at 5000 RPMs. If it 13.5 or more the charging system is probably OK. If its less then you need to run the tests in the stator papers and repair as required. Also recharge the battery. It should then start the bike and allow it to run at idle. If it doesn't then the battery is probably bad.

[mwa423]

Well, good(?) news, I took the battery and got it checked at autozone and the battery is fried. So now I just need to track down a new battery and hopefully I'll be back up and running!

Thanks for all your responses, further input always appreciated

[Nessism]

After installing the new battery check the voltage accross the terminals with the engine reving to 5000 rpm. You should see 14.5 volts or so. If you are getting more than 15.5 volts, your R/R is toast. If you are getting less than 14.5 you are going to have to do some tests to find out what is wrong (check the Stator Papers link in the Garage section of the GSR homepage).

Good luck.