Battery kees going out and gets hot

[Buck Stalker]

2009 RSV

Bought it this spring.Was told the battery was a year old.Driving home the radio went out and the bike made it 2 more miles died .Took battery out and it was very warm. Went to Wally World and bought a cheap battery. Bike started right up and ran great for 1 month.Then had the same problem, radio goes out and bike goes 2 more miles.dead battery

Battery seams warm.New battery, bike runs great . ?? Voltage Regulator ??Rectifier?? someone said now days they are both in one??? Not a electrical wizard HELP

[djh3]

Yep, thats my thoughts charging system. Will need to do some fact finding. Alternators on these have been known to go out, have fried connectors due to high charging rate, and the rectifiers go bad also. Depending on how skilled you are it is fairly easy to trouble shoot. It has been gone over in several threads. Ricks Motorsports Electric is where I got an alt for my Kawaski and for that model it was actually an upgraded piece.

[M61A1MECH]

2009 RSV

Bought it this spring.Was told the battery was a year old.Driving home the radio went out and the bike made it 2 more miles died .Took battery out and it was very warm. Went to Wally World and bought a cheap battery. Bike started right up and ran great for 1 month.Then had the same problem, radio goes out and bike goes 2 more miles.dead battery

Battery seams warm.New battery, bike runs great . ?? Voltage Regulator ??Rectifier?? someone said now days they are both in one??? Not a electrical wizard HELP

 

I would first suspect the voltage regulator, using a volt/ohm meter check for voltage at the battery with the bike idling and then increase the rpms , should be somewhere around 13 to 14 volts, if it goes higher then the regulator is not regulating. Had the regulator go on my 2007 Venture, it cooked the battery to the point it nearly exploded. Dion is correct the stators do go bad also, but the regulators are more often the issue.

[baylensman]

In the words of many an older man keep it simple S##$%head. LOL. start with cable connections both, bolt to frame and cable to solenoid and check for corrosion inside the crimped cable ends.I chased every component but the cable on a 96 RSTD actually melted a terminal at one point. turned out the cable to the colenoid was corroded inside the crimp! New end and the bike never had an electrical hiccough again.

[Marcarl]

Heat will kill a battery, not really the heat from a motor or engine compartment, but self generated heat from the battery itself, so somehow heat is being generated by the electrical system. Overcharging is not unheard of but it would be a rare thing in our bikes. I lean toward a poor connection as mentioned. Best to check things out as has been mentioned, for a hot battery can explode and cause all kinds of fun, especially if it gets on your person.

If it were overcharging then you would most likely have some lights burn out. I would run the bike for a while at high idle, maybe 15-20 minutes and keep an eye on the battery posts for temperature. They should not significantly increase in degrees.