battery dieing

[sk125]

I have a DT125B that runs great but the battery keeps dieing and it wont run,If I put it on the charger it starts up.Also it has electric start but only clicks.s fires up on first kick though.Any help would be great Thanks Sean

[Madison Motorsport]

Firstly, charge your battery.

Then connect only the positive terminal. You will need a multimeter, set on current measurement (an auto ranging meter is easiest or you will need to start at the highest setting and work your way down until you get a reading). Hook up the meter to the negative battery lead and the negative battery terminal.

With the bike off (and any accessories), make a note of the current draw. Unless you have an immobiliser and/or alarm, there should, theoretically, be no drain at all. It is not unusual, however, to see a small drain of around 5mA.

If you have any sizeable drain, locate your fuses and pull one at a time until the drain stops. This will indicate on which circuit you have a problem, making it easier to trace.

If you have a decent drain, I would say you could be looking at either a bad earth or a short somewhere along the circuit.

If you don't get a sizeable drain, connect the battery fully and note the battery voltage with the multimeter (set on DC volts of course). Start the bike, without any accessories and lights switched on if possible. The voltage of the battery should increase to around 14v (presuming you are running a 12vDC system) while the bike is running if the charging system is working correctly. The voltage may not increase immediately, so let the bike run for a couple of minutes and then take your reading.

If you don't get a voltage increase, your charging system is at fault. If you do, then go over every Earth connection on the bike and check that there is no corrosion or any loose wires.

Best of luck

[sk125]

Thanks so much I will do as you say and let you know how I made out .Sean