XTZ660 Tenere Battery Charging
 

Hi all
I have a 1997 XTZ660 Tenere that is slow to start. I have been having trouble with starting & draining the battery. I bought a new Gel battery & put it in. The first couple of starts were ok. Then whenever i hit the start button it seems to have a nearly dead battery. Slow to turn over a couple of turns, then starts or just dies. After a start on the weekend I rode it for over an hour, at speeds up to 100klm. It started good after stopping for 45 mins. Then after about a 20min ride, slow to start again.
How can I check the system? is there any known issues that I could look for?
Thanks in advance.

You have a multimeter? If not, get one. Very useful things anyway and vital to help diagnosis. 1st reading, leave bike overnight, check dc volts of battery, 2nd start the bike watching volt meter, 3rd note idle charging voltage, 4th rev up slowly to 5000rpm and watch what the volts do (warm the bike up 1st). That will give you an idea whats happening, post up the results and we'll plan from there. You may want to google electrosport diagram/chart. I dont have a link here but its a good foundation for examining the charging system.

same old same old lol

Yes, do as Gawain said..
and check ALL your wiring connections including earths!
Disconnect, clean and reconnect all plugs!

It's most likely your regulator/rectifier has gone KAPUT but yes, go ahead with all the other checkups first!

Vando :innocent:

Also have a look at my charging issue? thread. Was convinced it was the rec/reg, all readings were to spec but it was throttling the charge early. Turns out the wires are a little small/old so Iv removed the charging wires from the main loom and replaced with direct leads from the reg/rec to the battery.