Hmm. Still not sure whether to blame battery or rectifier (surely one of the two?).
Bought a meter, check battery; a bit low (11.5-12V, can't remember exactly). Charged battery overnight, checked in morning, 13V no probs. Fitted to bike, fired up OK. Checked rectified output, 14.2V no prob. Rode it to work for a couple of days, then it wouldn't start Wed am. Checked battery: 12V, not quite enough to turn it over, obviously. Didn't have time to put battery on charge again. but grabbed car and headed for work. Didn't get home until tonight, re-checked battery prior to re-charging, and 9.5V only!
Now I'd thought before that the prob was one of two things: either an intermittent fault with the rect (starts off giving 14.2V, but breaks down when hot), or the battery (it's the "gel" type) failing to hold charge.
I thought before that the first solution was by far the most likely, bearing in mind that both battery and rect are nearly new.
But having seen the reading across the battery tonight, I'm wondering if I've traduced the rect unfairly: could it be a duff battery after all? I kinda hope it is, of only because a battery's cheaper than a rectifier, not to mention more available "off the shelf".
By the way, I removed the battery tray, and examined the yellow wires and connections: all looked fine. I even took the rect unit off the heat-sink, to look for any signs of cracks/distortion in the back of the casing that could indicate a failure (I've seen this before). All was fine.
My current thinking (DYSWIDT?
) is to charge it overnight Friday, and ride out to get a replacement battery on Sat am.
Any comments welcomed.
[Edited on 30-9-2004 by moto748]