I've been going through a battery every riding season it seems. I bought a new battery this year in May. I kept it on a trickle charger in August for 2 weeks while I was away on business (Battery Tender Jr. 12V). I got back and now the thing has barely enough juice to start the bike once. When I ride the headlight keeps dimming then going back to normal. I put it back on the trickle charger and that thing says the battery is almost fully charged. I tried another trickle charger and it says the same thing.

Like I said this problem happens every year until I put a new battery in and I'm good to go for 1 riding season. Is my bike killing batteries or am I using the wrong trickle charger? It's a Harley battery and I'm using the 12V Battery Tender. And I cleaned the terminals and contact points and same deal.

Any info is greatly appreciated!

 

Odds are your regulator or stator is bad.

If the stator is going the first sign is a foul smell in the primary oil. It will smell like a transformer melted down. When the stator is damaged it will not produce a good recharge voltage and the bike will be running almost completely off battery. The bad stator can ruin a new battery.

The regulator takes the AC voltage from the stator and converts it to DC at around 12 - 13 volts. When bad it can allow AC (yes, the stator produces AC voltage) to pass through it and this will fry your battery over and over.

At an idle, having the lights go dim tell you that the system is not charging correctly. Having them go dim while on the road can mean shorting is occurring, or again a lack of recharge voltage being generated.

You need to get a service manual and run through the testing.

BTW a low voltage will keep the bike from starting, or if you do get it to run odds are it's running bad on low voltage. Even if it cranks it may not have the minimum voltage to make make the ignition fire correctly.

If your are lucky it's a bad or corroded connector somewhere along the wiring.

 

wow, thanks a lot that was a damn good response!

 

Happy to lend a hand!

 

if that is the problem would my bike throw a code or a light come on?

 

It should show a code.

But I ride a vintage bike so no computer, no knowledge of what it's able to show, and not show.