Hi all i only have a max voltage of 13.5v going across the terminals of my battery When the bike is running up to temp, and being revved to about 4k. This seems a little low compared to what i have read about on here... Does this point to reg/rec on the way out?.... Cheers. Steve.
How old is your battery ? Older bit still fit for purpose , may show only 13v~ my lithium battery only shows 13•7v and bike alternator and regulator are fine.
I have tried it with the battery that came with the bike of unknown age lead acid, and a new lithium battery I bought the other week. Voltage same across both...
what year is the bike Steve? if a 955I of 02-04 vintage it could be the old wiring harness problem. have a look at your fuse box for signs of over heating on the charging circuit fuse., that would be a worse case scenario. I know the Daytona suffered but not sure about the SP model
It would be! The voltage you are reading is the output from the regulator/rectifier moderated alternator. It is not too shabby...... some give a little more but a fully charged battery is 12.7v so it is getting topped up.
It's an 08 bike, with only 15k on it. I'm hoping to get some garage time next week to fit new pads and discs. So I'll have to man up and learn how to do an electrical check on it!!
Most generators on bikes will output up to 14.5 v at max, there should be figures for voltage at a range of revs in a workshop manual. or tellus the model and someone will chime in with the values but at 4k I would expect nearer 14v but proof of pudding is does the battery start the bike ok?
This is one of the quirky things... The lead battery starts the bike fine, the the lithium battery struggles unless the bike is warm... I took the 1st lithium battery back, thinking it was a dud, but the replacement is just the same. Very strange.
Could be the way Lithim batteries deliver current, it has lower crank amps but can deliver a higher percentage on demand and for longer. So lithium manufacturers have a calc they do to show their cold crank amps as higher and some overegg the figure? I have put a Lithium in my T120 nd it starts it fine which is good going for a big twin. What make of Lithium did you get? Mine was a JMT Did you ever charge the Lithiums? other peculiarity is they need woke up apparently so second stab should be stronger!!
Lithium batteries really REALLY hate the cold Mine can drop 0.5 volts over night if chilly. So in leave the lights on which activates/wakes up the battery and after trying to start a couple of times it will start up. One upgrade I did (thicker wires) is to the wire from battery to solenoid to starter motor, and from stator to rectifier and then direct to battery (not through ECU) and the charge is higher 14.3v, the starter is stronger, all with less stress in the stator Edited 16th 14:00
Mines a shido battery. Have one on the Kwak and it starts no problem. 4 smaller pistons may help there thou... As for the temp, I think you are correct. Lithium battery seems to like it warmer. I run a Nissan leaf to commute with and that looses about 10 miles of range in the winter.
I've had two lithium batteries and neither would start the bike on cold days. Now I use lead/acid over winter.
Battery voltage depends on several things. One: The level of charge. Is it fully charged ? Or maybe down a bit. Two: The cutout voltage of the regulator This is part of it's built in specification. It varies a bit from one mfg. to another. Three: In a lead/acid battery what is the specific gravity of the battery acid. The higher the specific gravity, the higher voltage is possible [only to a point]. Low specific gravity [too much water] and the battery is not able to achieve a higher voltage reading, even if the charging system is capable of more, when the system shuts down, the voltage will settle at what ever point the specific gravity of the solution will allow. ...J.D.
Have a look on the Electrix website they have a good flow chart to help you isolate what is your problem. They also do a heavy duty rectifier/regulater
