TOPIC:

Bike is an '83 KZ550. Bought a new battery when I bought the bike in June. The battery died once about a month ago because apparently using the triple lock drains the battery (no idea why, old bike problems). I recharged the battery using an appropriate charger and it was fine ever since. Last week I rode from Milwaukee to Colorado. The bike was fine on the way there, but the battery lost charge when parked at my friend's house overnight. Put it on the charger, rode it around the next day, but the battery once again lost its charge when sitting the next night. I'm back home now, and pulled the battery to find that a couple of the cells were dry! I'm trying to figure out what caused this, so here are a couple questions:

1. How quickly do the cells normally dry up? I'll admit I haven't checked the battery electrolyte levels since June, since pulling the battery is a PITA. Is it normal for them to dry up like that after just a couple months?

2. Could my bike be overcharging the battery, causing the cells to dry? Could the sustained high RPM interstate riding have "cooked" my battery? I didn't have any other electrical problems this summer, but the bike was used mostly for city riding at low cruising RPMs.

Bonus pic of us on Pike's Peak:

What brand of battery is it, did it come with the separate electrolyte solution that you have to add before charging at a triickle charge ? & if so, did you check the fluid level after it had been charged ?
Pete

If it is overcharging it will cook the battery. Try distilled water. If your lucky, you didn't damage the cells.
Steve

pete greek1 wrote: What brand of battery is it, did it come with the separate electrolyte solution that you have to add before charging at a triickle charge ? & if so, did you check the fluid level after it had been charged ?
Pete

Parts Unlimited. The cycle shop added the acid for me. I don't remember if I checked the level after the first trickle charge.

swest wrote: If it is overcharging it will cook the battery. Try distilled water. If your lucky, you didn't damage the cells.
Steve

I added distilled water, but it doesn't seem to be seeping into the cell that was completely dry. The water is just sitting at the top of the battery near the fill lines.

apparently using the triple lock drains the battery

Triple lock? what is this sorcery, not heard of that?

How quickly do the cells normally dry up?


You might top up a little every few months, if that, Sounds like an overcharging fault...have you checked your charging voltage? Losing charge will correspond with lack of water in a couple of cells, so your lack of charge is likely and overcharging fault.

Nice pic, 'us' make a good couple

Tyrell Corp wrote: Triple lock? what is this sorcery, not heard of that?

Sorry, is the correct term handlebar lock? Triple tree lock? Whatever it is that locks your steering when you're parked

have you checked your charging voltage?

No, but I will when this battery is recharged and the bike's running. Any guides on how to do that? I'll see if my manual has a section on troubleshooting.

Nice pic, 'us' make a good couple

Hamaya wrote:

swest wrote: If it is overcharging it will cook the battery. Try distilled water. If your lucky, you didn't damage the cells.
Steve

I added distilled water, but it doesn't seem to be seeping into the cell that was completely dry. The water is just sitting at the top of the battery near the fill lines.

Put it on the charger at 2 AMPS. Watch it and add more if you can. You may have fried a cell. Check your charging system after you put the battery back in.
Steve

Let's say I check the charging system and find out that it's overcharging my battery. I have a mosfet SHINDENGEN FH020AA regulator that I have lying around from my old FZR600. Would this regulator work on the KZ550?

Pic? It might.
Steve

Update: My electrical woes continue!

Even with the cells filled with water, the old battery isn't holding a charge, so I bought an AGM battery. The new AGM battery is good, with 12V across the terminals.

I installed the AGM battery, then I emailed the vender of my mosfet regulator/rectifier to see if it would work with my bike, and he confirmed that it would! I took off the old rectifier as I was curious about mounting the mosfet unit, but the mosfet unit is too big to fit anywhere. No big deal. I then turned the key to the "on" position before remembering that I had the regulator disconnected. The bike had no electrical power, and I discovered that the 20A ignition fuse was blown.

After reinstalling the old regulator and making sure all the connections are tight, I now cannot even connect the battery without blowing the 20A ignition fuse.

I have no idea why this is happening. The bike did not do this before I took the voltage regulator off and replaced the battery, so my tinkering must have messed something up. I've gone over all the connections and can't find anything wrong with them.

Help!

Holy shit! I have the battery connections reversed!

The terminals on the AGM battery are opposite those of the old battery, and Kawasaki doesn't color code their cables going to the battery black or red, so I accidentally hooked it up backwards!

Damn it, I hope I didn't fuck anything up.

Edit: This is why I hate dealing with salespersons at stores. The worker at Batteries Plus grabbed my old battery, handed me a new one off the shelf, and told me I was good to go. What do you know, he gave me the wrong one.

I'd have raither stood there for 10 minutes trying to figure out for myself which battery I would need, rather than trusting one of the "experts." Now I need to go back and try to get a refund.