'82 GS550L New battery goes dead - WHY?

[Anonymous]

I have 17,300 miles on my bike and I treat it like it was new. I just put in a new battery because the old one was going dead. Now the new one goes dead too. If I charge up the battery it will start just fine but after I ride a few miles it gets drained and is dead and won't start. Can someone explain what this is and what I need to do to fix this? Thanks a lot! The build date on the frame says Oct. 1981 but the title says 1982, so I guess it's an '82. I'm anxious to get on the road again.

[gsbill]

Sounds like your bike is not charging

[Anonymous]

GS voltage regulator/ rectifiers are basically crap. Go to the home page of GSR, click on Stator papers and use the info to diagnose if your stator or your RR has gone south. Replace whichever is bad with a new Electrex unit and make sure all your bullet connectors are clean of tarnish and crud. Above idle your voltage should be between 13.8 and 14.2 volts.

[Anonymous]

hehe...I'm too slow...I was going to tell you to check out "The Stator Papers" in the Garage section but Mike was quicker on the draw.

[Redman]

Yep from your description, it sounds like its not charging. I also noticed that you didnt mention any voltage readings.
- You will need a volt-ohm meter (I'd suggest with a digital readout) to check anything (see troubleshooting chart "in garage" section) otherwize your only other option is to quess which of a couple $100+ parts to start replacing.
- Maybe first: Find connections between stator and Reg/Rectifyer. If they are all corroded, they were probably getting hot and melting the insulation (and have or are about to cause other problems). Cut the connectors off, and replace with wire nuts as a temperary test. If that improves things, then permanetly solder and tape them. This is probably the only one of several causes of your problem that you can find without a meter. If that doesnt improve things, you will need to take apart the wiring again to measure things with a meter, so dont solder them up yet.
- Otherwize need meter to measure the voltage the entire system is putting out, and then need the meter to measure the ohms ("continuity", "resistance") of various parts of Req/Rectifyr and the stator.