If I charge the battery up and put it on the bike the bike will start and run perfectly happily. However most times (but not every time) after about 1/2 hour the battery will be flat but the motor will still run as long as I don't stop it (then it must be bump started).
I charged the battery up, put it on the bike but then got distracted. The next day the battery was dead.
Recharged battery tried a little fault finding, got nowhere, got distracted, put the bike away with the battery connected but the stator disconnected (triple white wires block dis-connected, the double wire connector still connected). A few days later the battery was still charged, so re connected the stator and did a few other little jobs (oil chain, cables etc) which took about 1/2 hour by which time the battery was dead. Ha, ha, it must be discharging through the stator. But as I had fiddled with other things I tried a little test.
1 night battery connected, stator dis-connected - battery stayed charged.
1 night battery connected, stator connected - battery still charged so perhaps not discharging through stator.
So multimeter out;
Checked connectivity to ground - none for all three white wires (measured at the connector block under tank).
Measured resistance between each pairing of the three white wires, very low but not zero.
Checked output and the pairs (with engine revved) put out between 6 and 9 volts.
Conclusion - stator is fubared.
Problems with conclusion - if the stator output is so low how can the engine still run perfectly happily? Can the battery discharge through the stator as surely the diodes in the reg/ret would stop flow in that direction? Why does connecting the stator sometimes (usually) flatten the battery in 30 mins but other times not flatten said battery?
Other assorted info:
Measured battery voltage engine off ( 13.something volts), started engine (and rev it) no increase in voltage at battery.
Can not see any damage to white wires from stator but as they are still in their plastic sleaving I can't be 100% sure they are ok.
If battery not on bike it will hold it's charge for weeks.
The only suggestion I could make is to strip all the bodywork off, headlamp cover, tank, side pods, etc., and systematically go through every connector and check.
Pull them apart, dowse with WD40, clean them, Vaseline and re-connect.
The symptoms point to a dodgy junction/connection somewhere, in my view.
I used to own a Kombi Years ago and it started getting flat batteries all the time, finally traced the problem to the battery leaking to ground as it was getting damp all the time and was creating a circuit and just draining flat so I isolated the battery in a plastic box, problem fixed.
Anyway you may have a connector just touching somewhere and creating a circuit as you said when disconected it was OK for weeks
__________________
2004 TTR250 - Highway Dirtbike Hand Guards, 38mm Bar Risers, D606 Front & Rear, Opened up Airbox with Twin Air Filter, Re-jetted Carby, B+B Bash Plate & Frame Guards, DIY 3mm Alloy Tail Tidy, 14/47 Gearing.
