DRZ CHARGING ISSUE OR DUFF BATTERY

[rubberscrubber]

story so far,
once upon a time went for a blast on the DRZ, had a 5 minute stop and the then the battrey is flat and will not turn over the engine

get the bike bumped off and get home, charge battery over night, start the bike and then after 5 minutes running the battery is again flat

charge battery again, this time I just run the starter motor and inhibit the bike from firing up, the battery lasts a good minute or 2 of constant cranking (so I presume the battery is good)

I have done all the test from the clymer manual and all seems OK, I have connected an ammeter in series with the battery to monitor current flow either to or from the battery. With the engine running and no lights etc on, the battery is taking approx 0.5 Amps charge, as soon as I put on the lights the current flow is reversed and the battery is being drained

Also I did the same test with my car battery connect in parallel (as though doing a jump start) and then the 2 batteries together where taking 2.5 amps charge.

So to me it seems that the charging system is working and that maybe the battery is not so well after all.

any ideas, will probably just get another battery and see what happens, cheapest option

 

[John Armstrong]

Just a thought and would be a final nail in the batteries coffin, thought about using the car battery without the bikes in place, and seeing what happens?

 

[rubberscrubber]

good point, I might just try that.
But I dont want to have to get my lorry out to bump the car off

 

[John Armstrong]

good point, I might just try that.
But I dont want to have to get my lorry out to bump the car off

That would be a faff indeed

When the battery fails to start the DRZ, have you measured its voltage?

 

[rubberscrubber]

indeedy, its a good 12v when turning it over,obviously the voltage drops right off eventually and fails. With it running I get about 13.5v max.

just tried it with the car battery only connected and a good 2.5-3 amps was going into the battery, so I guess my battery seems to have some strange fault

 

[rubberscrubber]

Duff battery

thx for the input people

 

[DollyRocket]

Identical fault with mine. Took a full recharge with two chargers on in parallel to get the starter to spin fast enough to make the compression (bike had sat in the garage since october). It is only a 6Ah battery which is probably now only a 2Ah - Enough to start it when it is warm.

This is the second DRZ I have had with the same battery fault (capacity loss), I think the batteries supplied are a bit marginal in their capacity for UK winters. There is a supplier on the internet for a new one for £30 + delivery, I might see if I can fit a higher cranking capacity one in (bigger plates).

Mike

 

[y2blade]

sorry i didnt see this earlyer!!!

same issue as mine...the std batterys seem to last about 12months then just give up the ghost

i replaced mine with a Yuasa gel one a good while ago and still going strong

also keep it on an optimate as for some reason the DRZ's clock drains the battery like you wouldnt believe when the bike is not in use

hth

 

[Greg Masters]

If the battery can crank the engine for a couple of minutes, it's NOT the battery.

My DR-Z failed when the generator windings went west. It appears to be a bit of a DR-Z weakness.

There is a test that you can do which (from memory) is something like:

• Disconnect the three-pin connector from the generator to the loom (it connects just under the seat next to the vertical frame tube)
• with the engine running, check the output voltage between each pair of the three terminals - should be around 90v
• With the engine off, check the resistance between each pair of the same terminals. I forget what the reading should be, but each pair should be the same.

If any of the above doesn't stack up, it's the generator.

There are companies that make/sell repro replacements.

Greg