[jason0364]

I bought my 05 230 used earlier this summer. Bike has sat a lot since New. Maybe has 3 or 4 hours on it. I put a new battery in it and went trail riding last Saturday. After riding for a bit we stopped for a break. I shut my bike off, then guess what? Didn't have enough juice to restart. What is drawing my battery down?? Bad stator??? Or regulator ?? Please help! I just wanna ride.

[gal8x]

I had the same issues with my 230. I think I was just using cheep batteries. As they get old they don’t hold a charge like they should. I would replace my battery and I would not have that problem for a few months, even after I replaced the stator with a better one. So I started keeping the battery on a maintainer. I highly recommend getting a service manual If you don’t already have one.

My next battery will be one of these.

9 A/Hr
http://www.crfsonly.com/catalog/product ... ts_id/4043
8 A/Hr
http://www.crfsonly.com/catalog/product ... ts_id/4631

[jason0364]

No its not the battery. The bike sat overnight after I rode all day and it started right up. Will only not start after bike is running for a while. Something is drawing it down while its running.

[gal8x]

A chemical battery will recover some charge when it is allowed to rest, but not very much. The fact is that batteries simply don’t charge them self’s, so once a battery is down then it stays down. It is possible that you have a bad wire or wire connection. Check your connections for corrosion and wires for continuity.
Old school that I am I remember having to bang on a starter while someone was turning the key because the starter needed help engaging. Do you think that your starter needs to be cool to work? Or is it the starter relay? It sounds like you are describing an issue that only occurs when the bike is hot.

After riding for a bit we stopped for a break. I shut my bike off, then guess what? Didn't have enough juice to restart.

So what happened next? Did you push the bike home? Let it cool then it started? Did you push start it? Does this happen all the time? Do you charge the bike at night?

[jason0364]

When the bike quit and wouldn't start we had to push start it and got it running. Made it back to the cabin and plugged it into my battery tender and after a quick10 minute charge it started again. I dont think its the starter I think its a bad wire, connection, or regulator. But ive been wrong before lol.

[chillyengineer]

Remake the earth connection to the frame

[jason0364]

Huh????

[mgagnon]

Earth is called ground.

[jason0364]

Oh ok sorry didn't realize thats what he was talking about. So u think my ground is bad?

[chillyengineer]

Yep its the very first place to start

[jason0364]

Ok im getting my bike dropped off at home today I will start there. Thanks !

[jason0364]

Where is the ground on these bikes. The stator is charging because I checked it. There is still something drawing the power down. Im lost

[gal8x]

First let me start by convincing you there is nothing on a 230 that draws the battery down. If you have a short then something is going to blow.
The main ground runs from the battery to the motor near the starter. I don’t have a manual so I don’t have a pic.
Do you have a service manual?
Check the ground is tight at the motor and the battery and you have continuity from the battery negative to the bike frame. If all is good then…
1. Start by checking the 7.5 amp fuse located by the starter relay. If it is bad then replace it, ride the bike for an hour and check it again. If it is good then start the bike, pull the fuse, (if the bike dies when you pull the fuse then the battery is running the bike instead of the stator/regulator circuit). Now ground your VOM set to volts DC and carefully check both fuse terminals for 12V, one side is the battery (12V) and the other is the charging voltage from the rectifier (red wire) also 12V.
{a trick here is to install a blown/bad fuse and touch you positive probe from your VOM to the exposed bare metal studs on the top of the fuse}
2. If the main ground is good and the fuse is good and you have 12 volts from the rectifier while the stator is turning then you have a bad battery. Check its water level if it can be.

[jason0364]

Ok I understand the ground from battery goes from the negative down to the starter. Where does it ground to the frame ???

[gal8x]

Ok I understand the ground from battery goes from the negative down to the starter. Where does it ground to the frame ???

Thru the motor.
Do you have a VOM?
Do you have a service manual?