I found some thick black liquid on the ground, traced it up to the battery which had it on the sides and top, clearly leaking. It is a sealed gel battery, and was supposed to be new when I bought the bike. I have read that batteries can leak if they are being overcharged, but I can't see how this could be the case. I replaced the battery, but don't want it to happen again, is there something else I can check? Battery reads 12v with bike off and 14v running. There's only about 3000 miles on the bike, it has started and run fine.

 

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Stock HD volt meter showing 14v max with bike running is normal & not over charging.

To be safe i'd verify the stock volt meter is readin properly by removing the seat and checking voltage at battery using a voltmeter with motor warmed up & at approx 2k-2,200rpm which should show 14V.

I'd consider anything much over 14v @ 2k-2,200rpm overcharging.

Scott

 

If its the battery that came with the bike I would have the dealer initiate a R.O. to look at the battery case for leakage. Should be under some kind of warranty.

 

My volt meter on my RG reads 14.5 volts when running. The dash gages are not accurate enough to really be able to tell exactly what the out put of the voltage regulator is.
If the melted battery bike was on a tender or charger, that's what I would check first. If not on a tender/charger, then check both the voltage regulator and stator.

 

You can get a rough idea of the batterys state of charge by measuring its voltage at rest.
12.73V - 100% charge
12.62V - 90% charge
12.50V - 80% charge
12.37V - 70% charge
12.24V - 60% charge
12.10V - 50% charge
11.96V - 40% charge
11.81V - 30% charge
11.66V - 20% charge
11.51V - 10% charge

The regulator, when working properly, has an output of between 14.2 - 14.5V. It could be a bit one way or the other but no lower than 14 and no higher than 15. Check it at the battery with a digital volt meter at at least 2000 rpm. The volt meters on the dash are notorious for bei g inaccurate.

The stuff that leaked out, I hope you cleaned and rinsed it really well. That stuff is really rough on paint.

 

I use an Optimate charger/tender, have used it on previous three bikes and never had a problem. Can't see how it would be that, wonder if with my luck I just got a dud battery.

 

Is the charger designed to work with a gel battery?
Something could have gone bad in the charger.

 

Use a DMM and check your battery at rest and running. I also have an optima charger they don't get much better. If you think about, that's not a $300.00 gauge on the dash and the difference between 100% and **** is 1/4.

 

Let's step back for a moment! Using a multimeter measure the voltage at your battery with the engine running and steadily increase engine speed. The voltmeter should not go any higher than around 14.6volts. If it continues to climb higher than that, as engine speed increases, then your battery is being overcharged.

In any event if you have a warranty and a leaking battery you should be talking to your dealer!

 

I took another look, my optimate is 16 years old, doesn't say anything about charging gel batteries, wonder if that is the issue: