battery doesnt seem to hold a charge

[1979cafexs]

So after figuring out that the reason that the motor was running rough, which was only my exhaust valves not having enough clearance and after i adjusted all the valves she was running fantastic. when i was on a long ride with here making sure that the adjustments were all it needed the motor started to misfire an absurd amount and then soon died on me. i took the battery out and went home, recharged it, put it back in the bike and it ran fine and i took it home. this problem keeps happening though, ill charge the battery(which is only a month old) over night then put it back in, ride all day then the battery seems to loose its charge again. from what the previous owner told me when i bought the bike is that the stator had been replaced about 2 months before i bought it. I assume my problem has something to to with the charging system but im not really sure were to start, any advice or if someone has had a similar problem with a solution would be a huge help to me, thank you

-julius

 

[retiredgentleman]

So after figuring out that the reason that the motor was running rough, which was only my exhaust valves not having enough clearance and after i adjusted all the valves she was running fantastic. when i was on a long ride with here making sure that the adjustments were all it needed the motor started to misfire an absurd amount and then soon died on me. i took the battery out and went home, recharged it, put it back in the bike and it ran fine and i took it home. this problem keeps happening though, ill charge the battery(which is only a month old) over night then put it back in, ride all day then the battery seems to loose its charge again. from what the previous owner told me when i bought the bike is that the stator had been replaced about 2 months before i bought it. I assume my problem has something to to with the charging system but im not really sure were to start, any advice or if someone has had a similar problem with a solution would be a huge help to me, thank you

-julius

You are correct. Your charging system is not working.

First thing is to remove and measure the brushes. If they are 3/8" or shorter, buy new ones. While the brushes are removed, use an ohmmeter to measure the resistance from one slip ring to the other slip ring....................should be about 5 ohms. Also measure from either slip ring to the alternator frame.................should be very high resistance (infinity).

Your charging system needs to produce 14.1 volts when the engine is reved up to 3000 rpm.

 

[Dennis]

look here
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10561

 

[XSLeo]

Your battery seems to be doing well. It has a 14 amp/hour rating. This means it will supply a current of 14 amps for one hour. Or a 1.4 amp for 10 hours. Your bike draws a bout 3 amps to run the ignition, about 4 amps for lighting. Without the alternator working it wont draw another 3 aqmps. So 3 for thr iggy+ 4 for the lights is 7. 14 divided by 7 is two hours of run time. If you are running the bike that long then the battery is ok. If it's running longer then the charging system is working a tiny bit.
Doing the test procedures in Curly's charging guide will tell you just whats wrong and how to fix.
Leo