dry battery???

My 76 900.... About a mouth ago I was riding my bike everyday without the first problem.... had a cold snap for a couple weeks and she sat in the garage.... well it warmed up again, so I went to riding it again... then all of a sudden day before yesterday she wouldn't start with the starter button... but would fire up and run great on the first kick.....

I finally got to check her out today and found the battery dry as a bone.... I filled it back up with water, and charged it back up, and everything is fine now... keep in mind the battery is about three to four months old tops....

How could a battery lose all its water that fast?? There aren't any holes in it, nor are there any wear places that could hide a hole... I don't believe it's getting hot and boiling out either.... I'm stumped :huh:

Same thing happend to me last year. Battery was bone dry when I FINALLY got around to checking it. It charges normally, but I guess the water can boil off and out the plastic tube over time. I have a feeling that the lower the level gets, the faster it evaporates. Now I check the level every once in a while.

Yeah... I reckon I'm gonna start checking mine every now and then also.....

i suspect if the regulator isnt doing its job it might be boiling the battery out. keep a close eye on it...steve

Check the charging voltage with the biking running at fast idle, about 4000 RPM. The voltage at the battery terminals should not exceed 14.5 V. If it's too high, the electrolyte will be boiled out.

On long trips on my KZ1000 I had to check and fill the battery every single day. Go 2 days and it would be dry.

Now that is interesting. I am going to check mine now!

Kawasaki's are sort of known for doing that. Some later models have an electrolyte sensor in the battery for just that reason.

I wonder what happens with those maintenance-free batteries. Do they last longer than vented batteries? Enough so the extra cost is worth it?

Post edited by: loudhvx, at: 2007/05/02 02:29

yes the new sealed gel cell batteries are worth the few extra dollars. you can pick one up for about 75 bucks around here.

a aslo agree with what has been said about the acid could be boiling out. it is something that needs to bo looked into.

gel cells are not totaly sealed, all batterys have to vent the gas when they are charging, the differance is the acid is mixed with a gel to suspend it, I know they were working on gels for bikes a few years back and they were having problems with reliability, maybe they have that solved

The 1st time I found my battery dry I just filled it up and went on my way. Then light bulbs started going out, rapidly. When I pulled the bulbs out I saw they had popped like flash bulbs. When I checked my charging system I found 18v's at the battery! The regulator had gone bad in a big way. If you have the original regulator you should contact Jeff at Z1 and get a new electronic replacement. You should still check your battery fluid level,(as well as all the fluids),before each ride but you shouldn't have any problems.
Gel cell batteries are great,(expensive though!).As for viberation,they use them in every car,truck, and buggy I have seen in the Baja races and nothing gets pounded like they do.