This morning I took the bike out of the garage and went to start her up.  All the lights came on, but I got the repeated solenoid click of a weak battery.  "No problem," I thought.  "I'll be riding plenty long enough to charge the battery a bit; I'll just push start it."  I did so and was on my way.  It did leave me wondering why it would be low, though.  The last time I had ridden my bike was Monday, and that was 200 mile ride.

I rode for about 6 miles, making sure to keep the RPM's up to help with charging.  I stop, pay my rent, and go to be off on my way when CLICKCLICKCLICKCLICKCLICK.  OK...  I was going to get the bike inspected today, but I guess I'll just ride her back home and look into it there.  I push start it, and I make it about 3 miles before it starts to bog down during acceleration.  I pull over and let it idle.  Any acceleration from there, and the bike would bog.  I killed it, and as soon as the engine died, so did the all of the lights.  

Long story short, I get it home, take the battery out, and put it on my trickle/float charger.  (At this time, I'll mention that I have an AGM mini battery installed rated at 6AH and 130CC that's had no problem over the past year.)  After that, I took the battery to Batteries+ to have it load tested, where they confirmed it was fine.  So I reinstall the battery and decide to check out my charging system just in case.

THIS IS WHERE I THINK IT'S WEIRD:  So I try the load test suggested by the Clymer's.  I let the bike run until she's nice and warm, and I hook my multi-meter up to the battery's pigtail.  Flip on the high beam, and approximate 5K+ RPM by ear.  The book says indicated battery voltage should be between 14.0V - 15.5V.  With RPM's up it wouldn't get above 13.6, but when RPM's were back down, it would show 14.08.  This got me confused.  My next step was to do the no-load test, but I was quickly distracted by this:



I guess you could say I'm environmentally irresponsible.  When I put on my cone filter, I just routed the crankcase vent hose down under the engine.  Still, why would SO MUCH oil come out?  I was only running like this for... 1, maybe 2 minutes?  I'd estimate it was about 3/4 throttle.

So to summarize my questions:  Why did so much oil come out?  And Why was my batter already dead?  Should I still do my no-load test?

LOL Lavis I like the "sense of urgency" in the picture with your hand there      Reroute the vent hose and get a breather when you get a chance, +1 to Serow don't sweat it till you get the electrical gremlins hunted down  

Word!    This is what I was hoping for, but that seemed like a lot of blowby to me for just a minute or two.  Dave, I had her running for about half an hour before I started, and I don't mean just sitting there idling by herself.  FWIW, I was just adding my hand to give a general size reference.

Anybody have any ideas on why the voltage would display that way during the load test?  I'm fairly good about following procedures in the book, but I haven't troubleshot a bike charging system before.  I'll try to get to the no-load test today, but I have plans with the wife today.  Those were supposed to happen yesterday, until I got stuck 4 miles from home with a dead battery.

HondaLavis wrote on 06/02/13 at 07:28:58:

This is odd,... but I'm having the same problem,.. doubled...
I have one bike in storage that wasn't charging, so I replaced the stator,(AC output was in single digits on all three taps)... but, when I fixed it, DC voltage at the battery would still read 14+ at idle, then drop to the 12's as rpm went up...
Now,... my regular bike has a dead battery... it was 11.6v, so I charged it for 4 hrs and got 12.4v but it still barely cranked the engine and dropped to 11.4v under stater load instantly... (new battery on order)...
I jumped it, and checked ouput... it reads 14v+ at idle and drops as rpm increases.. same as the other bike...

I was thinking that that reduction was a function of the rectifier... reducing the voltage as the amperage increased...(what do I know)...
That's what I'm hoping... or else I may need two rectumfriers...

Man,.. I hate electrics... ...

Can anyone give an example of a good working charging system?... Voltage at the battery at idle, and as rpm raises?....

Justin, NO, I don't wear them WHILE I'm wrenching.  I'm an aviation mechanic, and I've seen too many stories and pictures of guys "de-gloving" their fingers climbing up or down on aircraft.  When I took this picture, I had decided I was done for the time being. I put my tools away, put on my watch and ring to account for them, and took the picture.  Then I just cleaned up the oil and rolled her inside - taking care to avoid the wet spot.

Serow - from what I've seen before I would think your regulator or rectifier to be at fault.  I'm just at a loss on mine because my voltage doesn't DROP as RPM's increase.  It goes up, levels off below 14 as I hold steady throttle for several seconds, and when I release the throttle voltage peaks at 14.08 or so, then returns to normal idle voltage.

I might play with it tonight, but tomorrow morning I leave for a 2 week exercise out in the desert of Fort Bliss.  Yeah, flying in the heat...    I'll be on once in a while, but I might not be troubleshooting for a while.

EDIT:

Reading my original post, I see I wasn't perfectly clear about my voltage output.  At Idle, it's right around 13.  Increase RPM's and V increases, but not to 14.  Decrease RPM's, and as it approaches idle reading will peak above 14.  Then it will return to normal idle RPM's.  Now, when I hooked up my multi-meter, I used alligator clips to connect the leads to the pigtail I installed for the charger.  I don't think this would change the reading...  would it?  I may check resistance across those later to see if it's enough to affect the outcome...