Poor battery ground?

When I stop at a stop light I notice a few things. First off, after sitting at the stoplight for about 20seconds or so the bike will start to idle lower and lower until I get nervous and rev the engine a bit to bring it back (I don't have a starter right now, I have to push start it if it dies in the intersection! Another starter should be here in a few days.) If I don't hold the brakes this time is increased, and in fact it may never start to idle down. If I have the turn signal on the signal will stop flashing unless I rev the engine a bit.

The flashers are the real interesting part for me, as from what I understand of the mechanics of the flasher unit it is current that causes it to flash. That would mean that not enough current is getting through the flasher. They won't flash at all if the bike isn't running, and flash great when moving or idle is high.

It seems to me that either my battery is bad (less than a month old) or I may have a poor ground. I haven't tried charging the battery, but I was on the road for ~2 hours this past weekend, that should have charged the battery enough. I recently replaced brushes in my altenator, and am getting about 14.4v when at 2.5k rpm, so I doubt the charging system is bad.

Thoughts?

 

I wouldnt read too much into the brightness of the flashers. As the bike runs lower and lower, the alternator turns at lower and lower speeds, which causes it to create less electrical power. When the resistance of the circuit is low enough (power is being consumed) that the alternator cannot drive enough current to maintain the voltage, the voltage drops to the point where the alternator can. (7.5 years of college as an EE and this is the best way I can explain it? I blame it on public school)

If the bike is not running, but the ignition is in the run position, the flashers should flash from battery power. If they do not, then you have a problem. The batteries on these bikes are small enough and of dubious quality. Most of them are good from the store shelf, some of them are duds. The first check would be the battery itself. A charged battery should be 13.5-13.6 volts. It sounds like you already checked your charging system. The battery ground is a good second place to start looking. Also check the wiring harnesses under the tank, in the fuse tray, and in the headlight. A can of electronics cleaner from the auto-parts store is always a good idea.

Also, one thing that causes a battery to die quickly is being completely discharged. In the month you have had it, have you run off just the battery for a period of time?

Good luck. Electrical problems are called gremlins for a reason.

 

check the voltage at the headlight with the light on then check it at the battery
running or not, don't matter
the difference is getting lost in the connectors switches relays and wires
there's a few threads here about cleaning connectors