Battery problem with Africa twin
 

Recentally got a new battery for my africa twin xrv750 but it goes flat in a heart beat.... I charged it for 11 hours and got the ok on the charger, packed my bike for the ferry left the bike overnight went out the next morning to start it and it wouldn't even turn over, I threw the old battery back in and luckily it started but on the way to the ferry it kept cutting out at the lights etc is it the battery or a loose connection or a wiring problem ?? I'm on the ferry now have 3 hours to figure it out or push the bike off at the far end !! Not a great start to the weekend bike trip, any advice would be great thanks

This is likely two seperate issues. one of them bein your charging system isnt doing its job, the other being you also have two bad batteries. each is easy to check. any auto parts store can load test batteries

The charging system you can test with a volt meter esaily. when your bike is off, the battery should be at 12V, motor running, usually around 2500-4k or so rpm, you should see 13.5-14V at the battery terminals. if you see 12v or less while running, you have a problem in the stator or voltage regulator/rectifier.

honda regulators have a bad reputation, if the diodes pack up, they can cause all kinds of problems. you need to check the charging voltage with/without the headlights on, and check the battery isn't discharging back into the bike when switched off. (use the mm in current mode, with the meter in line with the battery cable, obviously dont press any buttons when doing that)

Not to derail the thread, but yeah. Hondas DO have a reputation for bad voltage regulators. guess they needed t make it SOMEWHAT vulnerable to failure, considering how tough the rest o hte bike is.

my fix would be to simply find a replacement VR off someting like a GSXR, much as I hate those lumps, they're good for parts.

Battery Problem with Africa Twin
 

Yes you were all right, the battery was not charging while I was driving or it was charging but at 11 volts so i got a bit of driving out of it but had to charge it when i stopped at a camp site etc...i charged it on the ferry going over to the uk it got me to welshpool where it stopped dead...had to push it back to a camp site in 20 degree heat, found out just how heavy the bike can be when loaded up with camping gear etc, charged it over night there and the next morning went into a honda dealer in shrewsbury where he stuck a meter on it and showed me what was wrong....simple when u know how....took off the cover to look at the rectifier and it was off a different model a cbr or something it only had the one connection the guy in the dealership said the africa twin one has two, he had none in stock but gave me one off a cbr or another honda, stuck it on and tested the battery and it was charging at 13 when idle and 12.8 when at 5k revs, he said that it should be the other way round but it was at least above 12 so it would get me home...after all that I said feck it and was going to head home early for the ferry to allow time for any more breakdowns but since I had come that far we went on to ripley to the HU Meeting which was great and I soon forgot about the battery which didnt give any more trouble....any ideas why the battery is charging at 13 when idle and 12.8 when at 5k revs, want to figure this out before my next small trip....

Hey mate the odd charging makes no sence to me but it could mean that your stator is on the way out as well. The first thing i would do is get a new RR.

I can fully recommend the RR58 unit (regulator rectifier Yamaha TDM 850 Honda CB1 CB400 CB500 CBR250R CB400RR CBR600F CBR900RR NR750 NTV650 NX250 PC800 RVF400R TRX450EX Electrex World manufacturer of electrical parts for motorcycles.) NOT THE STANDARD ONE (the RR83), we have been in incredible heat and the wires have caught fire 2 times. the REG/REC still works perfectly. If you do order it from the uk get them to make up the wiring loom (they say they can/wont ) but they do: they did it for me at no extra cost.

I have been carrying a spare but so far have not even looked at it. good luck
cheers all
Xander

RD04 ‘92

Also been down the road of fried rectifier, left stranded on the side of the road – anyway I replaced it and brought a second as a spare. Fits perfectly under the seat when the white air ‘thing’ is removed.

Now almost paranoid of it going again I decided to “help” it the best I could. Seeing it gets so hot and sits above the exhaust covered by a plastic fairing, this all seemed bloody stupid. I drilled holes in the top of the side panel to help air escape, fitted a heavy earth cable from the rectifier to the chassis and in a moment of madness cut down a copper finned computer graphics card, cooler; this is attached to the back with computer cooling paste.

I then fitted a battery charge condition LED, as used on microlights. Simple LED which changes colour depending on the voltage, I don’t remember the full range, but its something like red -11 volts, green 11-14 and yellow over 14v. The light is fitted to the dash and is a very simple way to see what’s going on.

So 9000 kms later, including the dead sea at 45°+ its all working fine, which part helped I don’t know but as a package it keeps me happy on the road (maybe it’s the idea of having a spare !! )

Cheers
Matt