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From: Ted Mittelstaedt on 6 Jul 2006 04:50

"Ig" <elrogigor(a)gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1152035010.868078.277330(a)m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
> Thanks for the advice on changing the points. you're right, but I'm
> actually upgrading the capacitator because the battery isn;t
> sufficiently charging while I operate the bike. I tested the current
> and was hardly getting 12 volts when I'd rev the engine.
>

voltage measurements at the battery terminals don't tell you
much about whether the bike is charging the battery properly or
not.

The first question you need to ask is, is the battery taking a charge
at all?

If you go out and start the bike, ride it for a couple hours, then
shut it off for a couple hours, then start it again from the battery, then
the battery is taking a charge.

The next question to ask is, is the battery holding charge?

If you go out and do all this and it works, but then you leave it
set overnight with a battery cable disconnected, and in the morning
you reconnect the cable and the battery won't start the bike,
then the battery isn't holding a charge.

If the battery is taking but not holding a charge, then it's bad and
needs replacement.

If the battery is not taking a charge then you need to put a current
ammeter in series with a battery lead. If the bike starts, then
supplies any amount of charging current to the battery, then the
bike charging circuit is probably OK. In that case you need to
take the battery out, charge it with a battery charger, then put it back
in, if it will not start the bike, the battery is bad.

If you can charge a battery with a charger, and it sits for a week and
still starts the bike, however once the bike is running over time the
battery gets discharged, only then should you start questioning the
bike's charging circuit.

A bad battery can make the bike charging circuit look like it's
not working.

A bike's electrical system isn't designed to recharge a good battery
that has been drained down to zero.

If the charging system in your bike is working properly it will
supply anywhere from 1.4 to 4.2 amps to a good fresh battery
that has been drawn down after starting the bike. When a good
fresh battery is _fully_charged_ in your bike it will not draw more
than about 20-30 milliamps of charge current.

Ted


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