My buddies bike has has some problems recently and I got a few of them solved over the weekend. One was that it was not recharging the battery when he would ride. I traced this back to a corroded wire tucked in behind his frame way out of site. While I would like to feel like a genius for figuring it out, it was just taking the time to actually trace the problem.

Now however, he has another problem. It seems his battery will not charge up all the way. He will only get about 11.50 Volts and then the battery will stop charging from there. We checked the water in the battery, and it is about half way full. Would adding more water to the battery help solve this problem? Also, as RPMs go up on the bike the charging system is putting about 13 Volts back into the battery.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Try some distilled water if the plates aren't buggered/sulfated, better still a new battery. maybe a maintenance free sealed gel type like we have for the VTR.

Battery Basics

Check the manual for his bike for what it should be charging at, but 13v should keep it topped up on the move.

http://www.electrexworld.co.uk/pdfs/...P-PMG-&-RR.pdf

 

Yeah I would say new battery BUT have you removed it from the bike & left it overnight on a trickle charger? You CANT rely on a bike to recharge a battery. It was designed to keep it alive but NOT revive it.

I have done many experiments on battery revitalizing but my conclusion is do the overnight then get a new one & move on with your life

 

New battery is the way to go. However, if your stubborn kinda guy, and want to save the poor batteries life, then yes distilled water is the only thing to put in it. Then be sure to get yourself a good battery charger that also desulfates batteries. If you chose this path, much more expensive and lengthy (I've seen batteries take 30hrs before being good),
but this will make you a greener person..