1995 Buell S2 Battery will not start the bike after a 45 mile ride. Start out with a fully charged battery, at end of ride, park bike over not and will not restart. Battery need a recharge. I finally got to checking things out. The bike bike has been sitting in garage for 8 weeks, since last 45 mile ride, was on battery charger for one week when first parked. Yesterday checked battery voltage at 12.7 Volts, and it started the bike. I had the volt meter attached to the battery and at idle the voltage meter showed over 13 volts at idle. The lights were on also. I'm confused as to where my problem is. What else should I look for? Many thanks, **** @ mickycohgmail.com. I have owned this bike since 1996.
Sounds like the battery is not holding a charge, if you connect a volt meter just after charging you will get a good reading, each cell of a battery is 2.2 volts so you should have a reading of 13 volts. Battery may have a faulty cell, which will drag the other cells down, is the electolite covering the plates in all the cells, this will affect the battery's ability to hold a charge. My Suzuki did this earlier on this year, nearly bought a new battery, checked and topped up the electolite first and its been fine since
SOURCE: After leaving the last gas
Ok, let's check the charging system. The battery is easy. Take the battery out of the bike and take it to an automotive parts store. Ask them to load test the battery for you. If the battery is over two years old, it could need replacing.
Once you're sure the battery is good and it is FULLY CHARGED, we can test the rest of the system. You'll need a DVOM (digital volt ohm meter) to check the system. With the battery back in the bike, connect the DVOM across the battery. Red meter lead to the positive terminal of the battery, black meter lead to the negative. Put the meter's function selector switch in DC VOLTS, 20 VOLTS or greater. Start the bike and bring it to a high idle. The meter should read 14.5 - 15.0 volts.
Now, to test the stator, follow the wires from your regulator down to where it goes into the engine cases. Disconnect the connector and look into the engine side of it. You'll see two metal contacts down in there. Set you meter's function selector to AC VOLTS, 50 VOLTS or greater. Start the engine and bring it to a high idle. Touch each one of the metal contacts down in the engine side of the connector with a meter probe. It makes not difference since we're measuring AC voltage at this point. The meter should read at least 30 volts.
Now, if the alternator (stator test) does not put out at least thirty volts, the stator is bad and needs to be replaced. If the alternator does check good but not enough voltage at the battery, your regulator may be the culprit. Make sure all connections are clean and tight and that the body of the regulator is grounded good. Recheck the test at the battery. If it still fails, replace the regulator.
Now, I've seen may problems such as your's that are intermittant. In other words, the problem is here on minute and gone the next. I fought that on one bike for over a year until we finally replaced the entire charging system and fixed it. If your bike proves to be doing that, you may wish to consider that option. Fix the thing and be done with it. I wouldn't buy the rotor, just the stator and the regulator.
Good Luck
Steve
Testimonial: "right on with the test procedure. Battery didn't show it was charging. While the stator test showed 30vac, an ohm test showed it was grounded. Thanks "
sounds like the regulator is acting up and not always charging while you are riding
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