PMA Charging issue - kick only, small battery

Kickflippin

XS650 Enthusiast
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I have a piecemeal PMA system (banshee, Hugh's mix) that I installed almost a year ago on my '78 with no charging problems and a .08ah battery. Running kick only with a Pamco ignition. I have a toggle switch for lights which i flip after i've kicked the bike over.

After the cheap LED headlight I bought broke apart, I installed a spare light with an H4 bulb. Bike still kicks and idles fine but itermittently starts to bog and sputter with load, almost thought it was a clogged jet somewhere but when I kill the lights in mid throttle, BOOM it all smooths out and revvs perfect through all gears.

The timing is fine, I have NOT yet put a meter on the battery to check the charge but I'm guessing something in my charging system can't keep up with the draw from the new light. I know others run halogen bulbs on their pma systems so I'm hoping for some insight before I tear in too deep. Thanks!
 
Kickflippin,

It sounds like the tiny battery has seen better days and it no longer acts to smooth out the voltage from the PMA. The load from the headlight just makes it worse, so it gets better when you turn off the headlight.
 
Like pete said, those small batteries don't last very long. I run a sparx capacitor with my HHB pma with Pamco and it works great!
 
Like pete said, those small batteries don't last very long. I run a sparx capacitor with my HHB pma with Pamco and it works great!

Glad to hear it may be as simple as a worn battery. I actually had a Sparx capacitor originally, but after the top domed and sounded like a boiling hydrogen bomb ready to explode I pulled it and have been terrified to try it again.

FWIW I put the meter on the battery today and it read around 11.6v off, 14v at high idle and slightly higher in the revs.
 
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