My bike wouldn't start last Saturday, so I took my car instead.

Upon removing the seat / rear fairings I found that one end of the sealing strip that runs across the cells had curled so that the LH cell was completely open and the next cell wasn't far off. I assume that at least the LH will be very dry.

I've ordered a new battery, but does this sound like pure battery failure or something else in the charging system causing battery failure?

Opinions sought, please.

There is no liquid acid in the "no spill sealed" type battery, the acid is absorbed by the battery material. The sealing strip simply keeps foreign matter from entering the battery after the battery is initially filled with acid.

How old is the battery, what voltage do you measure across the battery when the engine is running at 5000 rpm. Should be at least 14 volts and no more than 15 volts.

The battery is two years old, it came in the house over winter and was trickle charged regularly - admittedly with a car charger albeit on the lowest setting. I bought a ctek in February and because the battery always charged fairly quickly once connected, I assumed reasonable health.

It currently won't turn the bike over. I'll connect it to the ctek later, but I fear that I may need the new battery to answer the voltage question.

Do you have the model number for your car battery charger? What battery voltage do you measure when trying to start the bike.

No load battery shows 12.2v, ignition on it shows 8.7v.

Now connected to the Ctek - for what it is worth. The car charger is about twenty years old and Halfords branded, I don't think that the trickle mode put too much into the battery, else it would have died long ago.

stutto wrote:No load battery shows 12.2v, ignition on it shows 8.7v.

Now connected to the Ctek - for what it is worth. The car charger is about twenty years old and Halfords branded, I don't think that the trickle mode put too much into the battery, else it would have died long ago.

That battery is knackered.

Using a car charger wont usually kill a battery right away but it can and will cause deteriation to the plates inside the battery, after some repeated uses the battery life is shortened.

New battery charged and fitted. I am getting 18.5v at 5000rpm!

This and the fact that one of the outer yellow wires in the multiplug has blackened makes me think the most likely culprit is the regulator rectifier.

Is there much point in following the electrosport.com flowchart through tomorrow, or is it pretty much a foregone conclusion?

Appears rect/reg has failed, replace first and then do more charging system checks.

stutto wrote:New battery charged and fitted. I am getting 18.5v at 5000rpm!

This and the fact that one of the outer yellow wires in the multiplug has blackened makes me think the most likely culprit is the regulator rectifier.

Is there much point in following the electrosport.com flowchart through tomorrow, or is it pretty much a foregone conclusion?

Yep thats what has killed your battery. Boiled it away and blown the top off.

Replace the reg/rec first as above and then test the output.

I've ordered an R6 reg rec. I'll report back once fitted.

It does make me wonder how many batteries the reg rec has destroyed over the years. I'd always assumed that I was buying a battery at least every couple of years because I did not use the bike enough, when it could be that using the bike was when the damage was being done.