newb question

[stride007]

Picked up an '81 this past week. Been riding it the past few days, noticing battery seemed low on power - relied on kickstart but was running fine once started. Last night while on a ride the bike died completely at a stop sign and wouldnt start no matter how hard i tried (battery too dead to run.)

Got a pair of jumper cables and it started up with a few cycles of kick/ electric start. It idled for a few minutes without the cables attached, then would stall, repeat, hook up cables- start- undue cables- suite up- stall- repeat. Clearly the battery is shot.

I plan on testing the charging system which i have researched already in a few posts. but my question is IF there is a charging issue would the bike still start & run if i keep the batter fully charged in between rides?

 

[GreasyC]

For a very short ride, yes, but you'll without a doubt get stranded figuring out how short is short. Also charging then killing the battery over and over isn't very good for it so try to solve your issue sooner rather than later or you'll be buyin a battery all over again.

 

[nj1639]

HA! Sounds familiar.
A trickle charger hooked up overnite may give you enough juice to do 40 miles or so with the blinkers beginning to fade as the mileage increases.

Do yourself a favor and find the failure....mo's likely the rotor is shot. If you find that's the case there are a lot of options open for you. I'm a fan of stock TCI. You're also learning the importance of a healthy charging system. Consider getting a voltmeter to monitor the nervous system of your ride so you don't get stuck out in the middle of Wharton State Forest some night and be the toy of some Pineys......