Generator dieing, or battery drain

[Guest]

I havent ran the bike since Saturday, went out hit the Start button, got a slow crank then nothing. Battery tested 12.8 but 85 CCA, so im wondering if the battery isnt being fully charged or a possible drain somewhere.
I do plan on upgrading the whole ignition system just not really trying to do it just yet
I havent done any tests yet, but I have noticed previously as I revved the rear light got brighter then dimmed out back to idle
Ideas?

[Nessism]

Ideas? Yes! Do some troubleshooting. At the top of this forum are instructions contained in the sticky (Quick Test).

[Redman]

..... I revved the rear light got brighter then dimmed out back to idle
Ideas?

hum, that seems like is charging some, anyway.

Intersting that you report the battery voltage and the CCA. So you must have a volt meter and some battery tester.

WHat you want to check is the "quick checks" (and report here) that you can do with a volt meter, and then you probably want the Stator Papers that can be found back on GSR Homepage for more detailed diagnosis.

.

[Brendan W]

In addition to checking out the starter circuit you might want to check that fuel isn't dribbling into a cylinder and locking it up. Was the bike on prime for a while ?

[qcktvr]

I havent ran the bike since Saturday, went out hit the Start button, got a slow crank then nothing. Battery tested 12.8 but 85 CCA, so im wondering if the battery isnt being fully charged or a possible drain somewhere.
I do plan on upgrading the whole ignition system just not really trying to do it just yet
I havent done any tests yet, but I have noticed previously as I revved the rear light got brighter then dimmed out back to idle
Ideas?

Hi,
Does not sound like a charging problem to me, if my battery was at 12.8v from the last ride it would start just fine, I would be checking those big connections, battery, main ground to frame/engine and solenoid.
You might want to consider mounting a volt meter to the bike, I like riding and seeing mine sitting on a solid 14v (equals 14.2 at battery with a better vom), it does drop down at idle some, so lights would brighten when revs go up. Most auto stuff is designed to run at 14volts, not 12v as often thought...
Your 85cca may be low for a new battery, but should still let a motor make over 1HP (746W)
Also when things are "marginal" you could pull the headlight fuse to let all the juice go to the starter.
I have just had a 1 year old car battery replaced under warranty, looked good but had no reserve capacity and died if the car sat for a few days.. or did not fire up quickly..
Those quick tests include one for the battery voltage decay with time..
Good luck