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Megan Black · 07-20-2005, 02:45 PM

Hi all, newbie here with some very newbie battery questions for you, please let me know if I'm posting in the wrong spot.

I've been doing research and searching around for info. because I know nothing of bikes and even less of electrical systems, but I killed the bike the other day (left the key on) and jumped it from a car, and yes, I did the one thing you're not supposed to do while jumping a motorcycle from a car, started it.

Anyway, that didn't work well, and I figured I'd completely drained the battery so I took it to a shop to have them recharge it. The bike started fine but after having done what I did, I wanted to make sure I didn't hurt anything. Took it to another shop that testing the charge and said battery wasn't holding a charge like it should. I have no money and want to figure this out on my own so here's some questions:

....but before I ask them, I'd like to say that I realize I could have fried something in the regulator/rectifier or stator but I can't test that until I know absolutely that my battery isn't the problem...

Battery testing: Anyone have experience using a multimeter? my bf has one, so I hooked it up to the battery and it read around 11.8 (I have a 12V battery) and this is just after having les schwab charge it. I called some battery place that said it should be 13 or 14, but now I'm not sure if I tested it right. I read somewhere that when you test the battery, you need to unload that initial charge on the battery. Well, I just tested the battery out of the bike, but the multimeter says "load test" so I didn't know if I still had to do that. Ugh, I'm so confused about the whole testing thing. Do I need the battery on the bike to test it w/ a multimeter? Does anyone know what it should read?

Also, I read somewhere that once you've drained your battery completely, it won't hold a charge to full capacity anymore, could that be one reason why the battery isn't holding a charge like it should?

Thanks for your patience w/ my newbiness!

07-20-2005, 02:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
Megan Black Newbie Joined: Jul 2005 Bike: my boyfriend's TL1000R Location: Vancouver, WA Posts: 7	friggin' newb here! Hi all, newbie here with some very newbie battery questions for you, please let me know if I'm posting in the wrong spot. I've been doing research and searching around for info. because I know nothing of bikes and even less of electrical systems, but I killed the bike the other day (left the key on) and jumped it from a car, and yes, I did the one thing you're not supposed to do while jumping a motorcycle from a car, started it. Anyway, that didn't work well, and I figured I'd completely drained the battery so I took it to a shop to have them recharge it. The bike started fine but after having done what I did, I wanted to make sure I didn't hurt anything. Took it to another shop that testing the charge and said battery wasn't holding a charge like it should. I have no money and want to figure this out on my own so here's some questions: ....but before I ask them, I'd like to say that I realize I could have fried something in the regulator/rectifier or stator but I can't test that until I know absolutely that my battery isn't the problem... Battery testing: Anyone have experience using a multimeter? my bf has one, so I hooked it up to the battery and it read around 11.8 (I have a 12V battery) and this is just after having les schwab charge it. I called some battery place that said it should be 13 or 14, but now I'm not sure if I tested it right. I read somewhere that when you test the battery, you need to unload that initial charge on the battery. Well, I just tested the battery out of the bike, but the multimeter says "load test" so I didn't know if I still had to do that. Ugh, I'm so confused about the whole testing thing. Do I need the battery on the bike to test it w/ a multimeter? Does anyone know what it should read? Also, I read somewhere that once you've drained your battery completely, it won't hold a charge to full capacity anymore, could that be one reason why the battery isn't holding a charge like it should? Thanks for your patience w/ my newbiness!