electrical diagnosis!

[R P Corse]

guys, was riding along home from work, it was night time so lights were ON - bike started to judder at about 5k rpm, wouldn't accelerate, headlights went dim, idiot lights went dim, indicators didnt work either, battery is fresh (2 weeks old reading 13.5v) now the battery is reading 11.4v, jump start the bike and it reads 12.1v - 12.3v - it has lost its charge completely, if i turn on the high beam it cuts the bike out completely.

the battery is a Bosch (bought from halfords... have a feeling it may have been the wrong one but it said ZXR400 on the side of the box?)

i dont have a multimeter to hand - a road side mechanic pulled up and helped me who luckily lived about a mile away from my house - what are the chances! - he followed me home as didnt have a trailer, he was my lights so to speak.

i've checked fuses, all are fine, the bike only wants to start with a bump start... but i can't figure out whether it would be my reg/rec or alternator?

[masterofinsanity]

sounds like the reg/rec has gone, get a multimeter you can pick em up for a few quid nowadays.charge the battery and run the bike with no lights on, check the voltage of the battery when you turn the lights on see if the voltage drops.

[RedexRobB]

Does sound like the reg/rec, you should be seeing about 14.4v at 4000rpm iirc. If not then you ned to look at the reg/rec.

[parby81]

happened to me when i first bought an l5, reg/rect wasn't putting out enough with lights loading the system. Bike worked fine till battery gets below a certain level. get a new one fella