Battery Question

A quick and easy one, at that. I hope. Rode home from work yesterday
evening, no problems.
This morning, not enough battery juice to trun the motor over. I've
had the bike 18 months, never done anything to the battery, being as
it's a sealed for life job.
Do batteries reaaly die that quickly? Or is there likely to be
something wroing with the charging system?

 

Yes and no, how old is the bike, or more to the point the battery. A
life span of about 5 years is average.

A quick check of the charging system is by measuring the voltage across
the battery, a good battery should be 12-13v. Now with the engine
running, about 2000 rpm, the voltage across the battery should be 13.5v -
14.5v. Either way it should be more (by about 1 - 1.5v) than just the
battery.

HTH

 

Too late :-(

On the off-chance this has been a complete waste of dosh, how do I
check charge rate?
I mean, what sort of instrument do I scrounge off the medical physics
dept?
--
PacMan
COFF#21 two#43 VFR 750
"If there is anything the nonconformist hates worse than a conformist,
it's another nonconformist who doesn't conform to the prevailing
standard of nonconformity" - Bill Vaughan

 

Although it doesn't measure charge rate directly (which would require
an inline ammeter) a voltmeter across the battery will give a very
good idea of whether the battery is being charged or not.

Check this URL out:

http://www.yuasabatteries.com/literature.asp

 

*sigh*
amateurs )

 

Oi! Amateurs is people that does something for the love of it. I
think. I'm not an amateur, I'm just incompetent.
--
PacMan
COFF#21 two#43 VFR 750
"I was going to buy a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking,
and then I thought: What the hell good would that do?"
- Ronnie Shakes

 

A useful link, TYVM. On Monday I can discover whether or not I've
wasted my dosh before the suspense-filled moment of seeing whether I'm
going to get home ;-)