charging system/ battery question

[jrom3897]

I bought a 77 xs650 the previous owner told me the battery would die about once a week, I suspected a charging problem but when i checked it out with a multi meter, I got a reading of 14.3 at around 3000 meaning that the system is charging. I also notice that the headlight gets brighter as I rev the bike. The PO put in a ytx14ahl-bs a sealed battery that is 12ah.

Is the battery on it two small and that is the reason for my problem? can someone please explain how battery size impacts the bike and what a stock battery should be for this bike?

any help appreciated, thanks.

 

[xjwmx]

If the charging system is holding over 14v but your battery is dying, the battery is bad, regardless. I would take the battery to a store that tests them, or just get a new one.

 

[trance]

You probably also have bad connections - IE: the alternator is making power, but not all of it's getting to the system. Clean all your connections and apply lots of dialectric grease to all of them. Check continuity. Double check your ground connections.

 

[XSLeo]

On a battery the amp/hour rating is one way to electrically size a battery. The amp/hour rating is how long a fully charged battery can sustain a current draw beore it is dead. 12 a/h means the battery can deliver 12 amps of current for one hour. Or 1 amp for 12 hours.
Another is the cranking amps. That battery may have 180 cold cranking amps, or cca's.That means it can deliver 180 amps of current for 30 seconds at 32 degrees.
Even with everything being right the battery can still go dead in a short time because of riding habits.
The starter uses massive amounts of battery power to start the engine. This needs to be restored by the charging system. It takes about 30 minutes or so of running at above 2500 rpms to fully recover from starting. If the PO inly run it ten minutes at a time or did a lot of stopping and starting with no long run times between the battery won't get fully charged. After awhile of this the battery goes dead.
I would reccomend getting a low current battery charger, 1.5 amps is good. One designed for motorcycle or other small batteries is best.
Higher charge rates are bad fort small batteries.
Use it to fully charge your battery. Now ride the bike for long periods of time. After 1/2 to 1 hour return home and check battery voltage. If it is still up to what it was after charging you are ok. If you do a lot of short rides, less than 15 minutes, put your charger on it to keep the battery up.
I also reccommend the elecrical system be gone over and checked for weak connections as trance suggested. Start at one end of the bike and check everything as you work you way to the other end. Cleaning and tightening all the connections as you go.
Leo