Battery Charge

[cleats]

My battery died on me this morning which is not good. I started to notice the battery getting fatigued after my headlight unit and tachometer quit working about a week ago. Could these all be interrelated to a bad connection somewhere in the wiring. What other things would be worth checking? Thanks for the advice guys.

[Mike Hart]

When you put a new battery in, put a voltmeter on it, start the bike. Notice the voltage at idle, then rev the motor up to 2500rpm, you should see the voltage rise. If you do, fine.

If not, you have other problems. Kirk Koehler went through this at the Big Island 2002 rally, found his rectifier/regulator was bad, his alternator field coil bad, and his reserve lighting unit as well

Good luck!

[MartyA]

FYI cleats:

I just checked my battery on my 78E. At idle, 13.8 volts, at 2500 RPM 14.2 volts.

Marty
78E

[Ken Talbot]

If you have not already done it (not mentioned in your post) start with the basics like checking the fluid level, battery cable connections, and fuses. Sometimes its the little things that cause the biggest problems...

[sixtysix]

The tach runs off the rect/reg unit, you either have a bad one or a bad alternator (either the field or stator is bad). Time to get out the book and check these out, also check all connections.

[Bob]

When you check & clean all the connections, don't forget to check BOTH ground straps. I had a similar problem as yours, but mine was intermittent. The guys here are very helpful. My problem turned out to be a bad reg/rec, but I know all my connections are clean! My tach has worked perfectly ever since & I have not had to kick-start once. Like they said...check the basic stuff first. It's cheaper that way.

[Dennyz]

On the last day for the BIDuece, I got on the freeway for home and noticed my tach was dead. I reached over the head light to see if it was on and it was. A minute later, my tach started working again.

Yesterday I went out for a ride and noticed my tach was not working again and my head light was off. I turned the bike on and off a couple of time with not change.

After what Kirk K. went through I figured I had last my charging system. As the bike sat idling (no head light or tach) I pulled the head light fuse and the tach came up. Reinstalled the fuse and the head light came on. Has bee working fine ever since.

I think my problem is in the reg/tec and is heat sensitive. The last time had something like this happen was in Yakima (105 deg F.).