another electrical problem

[Anonymous]

My 85' gs 1150efe died on me today, luckily I was at the dealer looking around at aftermarket pipes.
I got them to start the bike with their charger and I was on my way.
About half way home when I stopped at a red light she died again. So I pushed her onto a side street with a small hill and jump started it, it was my first and so then I was happy but as soon as I got down around 1500 rpm, she stalled again and this time she didn't like the old jump starting at all I held the revs around 5000 all the way home and began to check the battery...
Fluid levels looked ok but I topped them up anyways and borrowed a charger from a friend, according to the charger the battery was at 70% power. So I'm leaving it on a trickle charge tonight and hoping that with 100% power things will be back to normal.
But after doing some poking around I found out the battery that I'm using is not the right battery for an 1150. Is this a big problem?
The proper battery is supposed to have a seperate hole for the sensor thing, my sensor was in place of one of the filler caps and my battery light was always on, but I assumed it was a wiring problem, because this was the battery that was in the bike when I bought it and she always started like a champ, then today... dead.
What gives?
Please help-
thx

[Anonymous]

I'm not an electrical specialist (others on this site are) but it looks to me that, if the bike dies while running, the battery can hardly be the problem. You mentioned the battery was 70% after having gone for a ride. Based on that my first impression is this has to be a charging problem instead of being battery related.

[argonsagas]

First, you should check your fluid levels in the battery. Be sure every cell is properly filled. If not, fill it with WATER.

Charge it overnight. If the problem still persists, get thee a volt-ohmmeter and print out the stator papers.

Take the print-out to the bike and do a full check on your system...then you will know if you have a problem AND what it is.


Also note...the indicator light was thought up by a vindictive SOB to deceive every one. I've seen them glowing strongly on 12 volt car batteries that did not have enough power to drive a dome light.

[wrench]

Ron meant to say DISTILLED WATER, right Ron
Wrench.

[Anonymous]

ron wrote:

Charge it overnight. If the problem still persists, get thee a volt-ohmmeter and print out the stator papers.
Well I bought a multitester from canadian tire tonight and started her up and tried to test the battery when the bike was running to see if it was getting a charge from the generator, but I'm obviously electronically impaired because I couldn't even get the damn tester neeedle to flicker!
Crap! I soooo dont want to take it to the shop.
Any more imput especially about having the wrong battery in there would be appreciated-
THX

[Anonymous]

DOH!
I messed up with the quote button

[argonsagas]

Not to worry about the quote button.


Wrench was right....use of distilled water is preferable to tap water. Reason is the impurities and/or additives in tap water. They may not be good for your battery. In any event, the key is NEVER put acid in them. Just fill with water and charge it.


You mised the next point. You need to charge the battery slowly. A quick charge will not undo all the sulphates on the cell plates. That is why a slow charge is called a "deep" charge...it activates more of the plates.

Charge it overnight.


Once on charge, go the Forum main page, choose the Title TECHNICAL....then go to The Stator Papers. Print them. Read them.

Take a multimeter and the print-out to your bike, then start at step one and follow the instructions step-by-step.

There are NO short-cuts.

[Anonymous]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh the stator papers.
I love it!!!!!!
This forum rulz!
Thx for the info.

[Anonymous]

Make you have a lot of paper in your printer before you print out the stator papers. It uses a lot of sheets to print it.

[Anonymous]

The stator papers are crazy helpful- thx