Best replacement battery?

[GregoXB]

well then break out the multi-meter and check for a parasitic drain. very uncommon with buells BUT 92% of the time if you have one it's the VR heading south.

What lunatic said..... if the VR checks out, then test the stator.

 

[Mesozoic]

I've had the VR crap out on me before. You can look up the threads on Badweb from many years ago, but the sure fire fix for it was to replace the OE VR with a Compufire 55150.

 

[HolyMoley]

Ok thanks. What does VR stand for?

 

[Mesozoic]

Ok thanks. What does VR stand for?

Voltage regulator

 

[Tbone]

Ok thanks. What does VR stand for?

That would be a Voltage Regulator to old schoolers like me. Virtual Reality seems to be the latest craze.

 

[user_deleted]

Ok thanks. What does VR stand for?

have the distinct impression this thread like most of the others on here is going to get out of hand very quickly. note that i did NOT say that your VR is bad. i SAID that in many instances a parasitic drain in either XB or 1125 applications can typically be traced back to a VR headed to the graveyard. you do NOT need a youtube vid or instruction manual to test same. print out my simple instructions below, follow them precisely, and you'll find it.
1-MOST IMPORTANT----the battery must be fully charged....NOT with a crap tender. 6 amps for 20 minutes typically does the job. if the battery is suspect you cannot accurately perform the test.
2-with a fully charged battery turn everything off on the bike and remove the key from the ignition.
3-you can use either battery terminal but i strongly recommend using the NEGATIVE TERMINAL!
4-remove the negative cable from the negative terminal
5-set your multi-meter to DC AMPS....NOT dc volts....DC AMPS. make sure that is the setting you're working with.
6-now connect in series the meter to the cable and battery. place the red cable end onto the batt termimal and the other cable end onto the actual cable.
7-now check your meter. a typical buell draws between 100 and 200 milliamps when sitting. anything over that is suspect.
8-now go to the most common source as i previously mentioned....the VR. remove the battery fuse from the fuse box and look at the meter. significant change in the meter reading? confirm it's the VR by replacing the fuse and unplugging the VR. same reading as with the fuse removed? it's a bad VR.
9-step 8 reveals no change? start by removing each fuse in the fuse box individually and watch the meter. a significant change just showed you the guilty circuit. refer to service manual or ASK ME what's on that circuit and i'll tell you.

 

[GregoXB]

Idk man, if he doesn't know what VR stands for, my advice would be for him to take his motorcycle to someone that knows what they are doing. Many "Buell problems" are actually caused by incompetent owners playing mechanic. I wish there was a statistic that showed how many problems were actually caused by owners tinkering around where they should not be. I bet that stat would be high.

 

[Mesozoic]

Idk man, if he doesn't know what VR stands for, my advice would be for him to take his motorcycle to someone that knows what they are doing. Many "Buell problems" are actually caused by incompetent owners playing mechanic. I wish there was a statistic that showed how many problems were actually caused by owners tinkering around where they should not be. I bet that stat would be high.

LOL, it's true that if someone is not familiar with what a VR is, said person could create more problems for themselves. Best to have a knowledgeable friend help diagnose in that case. However, HolyMoley do you own a multimeter? Preferrably the digital variety?

 

[Tbone]

I say nothing wrong with someone working on their bike, I actually think it is Great! Just like this forum has a high experience and skill level of some members, that are willing to share such as lunatic's response above. It is a beautiful thing.

 

[Silverrider]

I say nothing wrong with someone working on their bike, I actually think it is Great! Just like this forum has a high experience and skill level of some members, that are willing to share such as lunatic's response above. It is a beautiful thing.

He is AKA The Buell Whisper. (lunatic)

 

[Outlaw]

I have learned a lot by just reading lunatics posts. Thank you for your vast knowledge of the product.

 

[user_deleted]

I have learned a lot by just reading lunatics posts. Thank you for your vast knowledge of the product.

thanks much for that josh...thanks silver.:eagerness:

 

[GregoXB]

Lunatic clearly has the knowledge and the skills. However, the person asking for help on the forum, myself included, can have some serious knowledge deficits/experience that cannot be overcome even with the most Lunaticesque instruction set. Case and point, we tell this guy check your VR with multi-meter for parasitic draw, etc., etc., and Lunatic goes on merrily explaining away and the guy comes back with, "What's a VR?" :black_eyed:

A little less recently there was a guy who was having problems with his spark plugs, and he got walked through via the forum. He comes back with a post, I fixed everything super good, just like you guys told me and I made sure to red loctite the spark plugs in place so it won't happen again. :eagerness: meanwhile we are like :sorrow:

 

[Cooter]

Ya, that one was a little :upset:

 

[njloco]

Well,, let's face it, a little common sense ( like read the recommendations ) goes a long way.

 

[Outlaw]

Yes to this ^^^^^^

 

[Tbone]

If there is one thing I love most about motorcycles or cycling in general is how awed and surprised I am by the people who share the same passion. I was riding with a group who have ridden in Arkansas for over 20 years and sometimes several times a year. They know every road, route, stop imaginable and I would consider a few of them highly skilled expert street riders. We were heading up to Push mountain as it was being re-paved and stopped for lunch. As we were sitting their talking over lunch there was an old man with a driftwood cane/walking stick who started talking with us about how he loves to ride motorcycles and things he did when he was younger. Some of his stories seemed a little tall. As we were finishing up our BBQ lunch he asked us if he could ride with us? We seemed to think he was joking at first then we were a little hesitant as the old man leaned on his cane to stand up and walk, but we eventually agreed he could ride with us. As we were walking out of the restaurant and getting on our bikes, I did not believe this Old guy was really going to ride with us to Push mountain. Well low and behold we see this old man sitting with his walking stick bungie corded down on the back of the seat of his yellow BMW 1200, he also had handicapped plates. He then asked if he can lead the ride and he knew some really good roads. School was then in session, this old man rode circles around us and the fastest bikes/riders in our group were on an SVT 1000, Non Stock RS 1100, and the rest were on Tiger 1200's, and a 1050. He dropped us like a big dog several times and he waited for us to catch up. The best riders in our group said that they were afraid to catch up to him because he might even go faster. Well this man with a cane was named Bill and he had over 140K miles on his bike. This reminds me of this post, don't confuse knowledge with skills or judge someone, as you just may be proven wrong. If you are ever in Ark. and see this Old guy he just might ask you to go riding?