Battery Issue.

So I have a 97 750. The other day I rode my bike at night and when I woke up the next day to go home I tried to start and the starter sounded weak as if the battery was low. So after about 4 tries I was able to push start it. I drove it about a mile and it shuts off on me. Won't even push start.

My friend comes along and helps me jump start and with the cables on the starter sounds fine. Starts right up no problem. Take the cables off and after a few minutes it dies.

So basically he had to jump start me around 10 times and I was able to drive for maybe a mile each time, just to get the damn thing home.

I know I need to get a new battery now. But my concern is why wouldn't the bike stay running after being jump started? I'm not that familiar with bikes.. Does it have an alternator like a car? Or what can I check with a multimeter to see what could be causing a problem?

Not enough power in the battery means the bike will only run for a while before dying. You need some power to manage the bike and keep things firing. Try a new battery and test to see that it is charging with you multimeter. If it's not charging the battery when running then it could be an issue with the stator or regulator/rectifier. Hopefully, it's just your battery, but the latter is quite common with VFRs - I've had it happen with mine.

What he said!!

Could just be a duff battery, but given this is a VFR of a certain vintage, you should suspect that the reg/rec may have failed.  Test/replace the battery before buying anything else...unless you enjoy buying parts, that is.

The charging system is like a car's alternator, but it is in two parts: the stator attaches to the LHS crankshaft side of the engine and generates AC, and the regulator/rectifier is a separate device that changes the AC into DC and keeps that voltage within a certain range.

Your battery could be fine, but if the reg/rec or the stator is not supplying electricity to the battery, the bike won't run.

Ciao,

An easy thing to check visually is the connector (for the 3 yellow wires) that goes from the stator to the regulator. If it's toasty or a melted blob that could be your problem.

Thanks for all the input! I'll grab a new battery tomorrow and go from there.