DRz400s - battery dead or worse??

[generalisimo muldoon]

Collected my new (04) DRz today. The bike had been in storage for a couple of years and needed a booster to start. Before going for it's nap it had had a new battery fitted. Once running all seems fine apart from the instrument cluster flashing on and off. Back in the shed I stuck it on a normal charger for a few hours so the trickle charger could "see" it. After an hour the charge on the battery went from 0.6V to around 7V but when I connected the trickler it still wouldn't start charging. I started the bike from a booster pack to check the charging system. With the engine running at idle I was seeing 7V on the multimeter but gently increasing the revs saw the volts drop to around 5V. I would have thought the opposite would happen or at least nothing if the charging system wasn't working.

Anyone got any ideas what's happening here. Is it just a duff battery or am I shopping for a generator and or reg/rectifier.

Cheers lads.

[superbadonkey]

Shoulda bought the one I sold
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[My First Suzuki]

I'd say your battery's bollixed anyway. I had similar shenanigans with my GS425 last year & it was the battery. Batteries don't survive long layups.

[generalisimo muldoon]

Originally Posted by superbadonkey

Shoulda bought the one I sold
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Feck off
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[geno955i]

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ya leave a battery in the bike thats in storage for 4 yrs and your suprised its fucked........
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[superbadonkey]

Originally Posted by geno955i

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ya leave a battery in the bike thats in storage for 4 yrs and your suprised its fucked........
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What he said, New battery and it should be sorted, You could throw a new battery into anything and find its shagged after 6 months if you leave it in storage

[generalisimo muldoon]

Thanks lads, I know all about batteries dying from lack of use. I only got the bike today so ya might want to give a me a chance there. What I was hoping was someone who knows what they're on about to venture an opinion as to why the voltage dropped when the engine speed increased.
Ok??

[kneeslide]

Originally Posted by generalisimo muldoon

Thanks lads, I know all about batteries dying from lack of use. I only got the bike today so ya might want to give a me a chance there. What I was hoping was someone who knows what they're on about to venture an opinion as to why the voltage dropped when the engine speed increased.
Ok??

First step in diagnosing bike electrics (eg. with a multimeter) is to fit a "known good" battery.
That basically suggests that for the charging system to function as intended, and give the expected multimeter readings, it needs a healthy battery.
It's possible you saw the volt drop as the genny kicked in because the battery is now behaving like a heavy electrical load, or almost like a short in the circuit.
Dont try too hard with that battery in the bike, or you might be shopping for a genny! the circuit is only designed to work with a healthy battery

[generalisimo muldoon]

Originally Posted by kneeslide

First step in diagnosing bike electrics (eg. with a multimeter) is to fit a "known good" battery.
That basically suggests that for the charging system to function as intended, and give the expected multimeter readings, it needs a healthy battery.
It's possible you saw the volt drop as the genny kicked in because the battery is now behaving like a heavy electrical load, or almost like a short in the circuit.
Dont try too hard with that battery in the bike, or you might be shopping for a genny! the circuit is only designed to work with a healthy battery

Cheers man.
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Gonna get a new battery tomorrow and take it from there. I was just wondering about the voltage drop, but as you say, the battery is probably now acting as a load in the circuit. Didn't think of that.

[kneeslide]

Originally Posted by generalisimo muldoon

Cheers man.
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Gonna get a new battery tomorrow and take it from there. I was just wondering about the voltage drop, but as you say, the battery is probably now acting as a load in the circuit. Didn't think of that.

Another way would be if the battery wasnt "accepting" a charge, so at idle it reads 7V, but when revved (and the generator connected), you're seeing a 5V drop across the battery,
so it's only taking 5V, and the rest gets "thrown back" to the generator.
Might help you understand it a bit better, but I'm afraid I'll end up discussing electrics with Cecil if I say any more
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either way, you can see how a bad battery might affect the readings.

When you fit the new one it'd be a good idea to do the full set of tests from a service manual, including the test for current leak when the key is off.
So you dont be sending a new battery to it's death!
And if you're terribly stuck, I'm not far from Leamlarastan if I can help!
Best of luck with it!

[generalisimo muldoon]

Originally Posted by kneeslide

Another way would be if the battery wasnt "accepting" a charge, so at idle it reads 7V, but when revved (and the generator connected), you're seeing a 5V drop across the battery,
so it's only taking 5V, and the rest gets "thrown back" to the generator.
Might help you understand it a bit better, but I'm afraid I'll end up discussing electrics with Cecil if I say any more
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either way, you can see how a bad battery might affect the readings.

When you fit the new one it'd be a good idea to do the full set of tests from a service manual, including the test for current leak when the key is off.
So you dont be sending a new battery to it's death!
And if you're terribly stuck, I'm not far from Leamlarastan if I can help!
Best of luck with it!

Thanks again.
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[Harrington]

Originally Posted by kneeslide

First step in diagnosing bike electrics (eg. with a multimeter) is to fit a "known good" battery.
That basically suggests that for the charging system to function as intended, and give the expected multimeter readings, it needs a healthy battery.
It's possible you saw the volt drop as the genny kicked in because the battery is now behaving like a heavy electrical load, or almost like a short in the circuit.
Dont try too hard with that battery in the bike, or you might be shopping for a genny! the circuit is only designed to work with a healthy battery

Good post
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[phoenix]

i belive every biker should have an optimate , plug in battery when not in use , batteries get fucked when they go into a complete state of discharge ,i have had batteries up to ten years because i all ways use optimate

[generalisimo muldoon]

Agreed. I got 7 years out of the OE battery on the monster by keeping it on an optimate all the time when not in regular use.