Just had to get a new battery, my voltage usually showed in the upper 13's but now when it is running it is showing 12.5. Not sure if maybe the battery is a lower voltage than the stocker or if something is going bad. I got my battery from Advanced Discount Auto not an OEM. Is that where I went wrong or is that about what the voltage should read. I did take the battery back in and had them test it to see if it was good and it passed. All I know is the other day I went to ride the bike and the new battery was dead and I hadn't even really ridden the bike much with the new battery yet. Then it seemed sluggish to start after just sitting for one night.
Any advise would be helpful.
Thanks

How old was your last batt. and did you give your new one a full charge before you installed it. Also check the new batt. with a meter across the terminals,it should be very close to 13 volts or more if not charge it and check it again. If it still reads 12.5 or less return the batt. I had the same problem I had to return the first one that I got at autozone also.

* Last updated by: buck20 on 11/16/2010 @ 11:02 PM *

I was thinking it was bad. Well after leaving on trickle charge for a day and a half. I checked the voltage and it was 12.5. I put it in the bike and after one night on the bike it read 10.7 volts. Now I am charging it once again and will disconnect it tonight and leave it off the bike and check the voltage in the morning. If it is low again I will take it in and swap it. Hopefully they won't give me crap about it or I'll have to have a bitch fest with them. Just hope that doesn't happen, I'm a regular there and they know me pretty good. I would think that might help my case.

Oh, my last battery was the oem battery and I have an 06. So it did real good, right at 5 years. That included several accidental full discharges so not too bad.

* Last updated by: Bruiserman on 11/17/2010 @ 6:46 AM *

Bet me they took a dry battery, wet it with the acid-package, [did not charge it], threw it back in the box. You are stuck with an 80% worth of battery [charge rate]> now 20% neglect once that battery hit the box.

What I do is buy OEM dry in a box. I now go home with a sealed battery in a box, no one touched it I am 100% in CHARGE. And after I read the directions that come with the box is oh look! A battery comes with the directions!

I'm going to hand that bat ear we are going to go fist to blows is someone blew the whole damn deal. That is my assumption they did not tell you to come back next day sort of charge rate.

Now we are hitting 12.8v key off and 14.4v tagging the screen [key] on and running. Oh, btw, I just came back from the gear rage and that 2 year old battery that has been out of a bike waiting for a new bike has a 13.5v charge rate, meaning, I prepped the battery was charge it first before I installed it in the bike. All I did was buy OEM and now how old was that battery sitting at the dealer pre-sealed sitting (I brought my own volt meter) to the counter give me the goods or goodbye!

* Last updated by: Hub on 11/17/2010 @ 12:54 PM *

Nice one Hub. That's good info to know when it comes time for a new battery, fo sho.

I wish I was at the counter hearing their tune and then I give them the LAPissing up their rope, and then have enough to pee in their wheateas! Keep it to yourself, mind, you.

I ALWAYS give er a FULL charge....even if it means overnight.Then install.Yours may never fully charge now since you used it at the lower volt amount.I'd take er back if possible and start over.

blue07 wrote :

I ALWAYS give er a FULL charge....even if it means overnight.Then install.Yours may never fully charge now since you used it at the lower volt amount.I'd take er back if possible and start over.

If this is a normal no-maintenance bike battery, it doesn't have what is called memory. So even if it was a little discharged, if it had enough juice to start the bike and then you run the bike long enough, it would come to full charge.

blue07 is right, though, its a good idea to charge it and then install it, for good measure.

Anyway, if it won't charge to show 14.0 volts, or higher, on the ZX14 (08) display after making sure it was good when you purchased it, you need to check the bike's charging system or your connections to the battery.

Look at the battery and move a decimal point think.

I have a 14 amp hour battery.
I am going to do the math: Volts X's Hours.
I now take 14 and say: I need to charge this for exactly 14 hours no more no less but more is better she just stays charged.
I now have my hours needed to charge. Now comes the decimal point at 1.4v.
I have completed setting my charger to 1.4v to charge for 14 hours, see you tomorrow to pick up your battery or here you go, we have a battery charger and the deal is, we trust you to go home and charge the battery for 14 hours or say guess what. YOu can go buy a battery somewhere else so we can guarantee on our end we can pro-rate or exchange your battery we on our end said to show up tomorrow or take your changes; 1 battery, 1 charger = Pay in cash or credit card?

Jo-WEE D'Lapped the crankshaft was a buzz. And may I add, mine might be smoother than the blueskis at full song I couldn't see the road say crank say uncle!

Let me.....ask you guys a question.This may sound REALLY STUPID(I don't care).When sitting.Stopped.No engine running.Key on...like Hub's pic there.That is showing the amount of static charge IN the battery.Yes?Okay...now...when she's runnin...and yer seein,oh,say 13.8...then add throttle....14V's...(very shortly thereafter)...ahem...is the LCD showing ACTUAL battery volts....OR...the voltage going INTO the battery?I know...dumb question.The reason I say this is because....when I run my HID's on HIGH BEAM....and am cruising at around...oh...80ish,90ish,you know...a good cruising clip...mine will display 14.2 consistently..Slowing up,lowering my rpm's..she'll come down to around 13 something.Okay...so....what I'm getting at(and this will also go up and down with the engine/lamp applications...highs,to lows,to highs)..is the voltage that's being displayed at any given time actually is the stator output voltage...not the battery voltage...unless it's showing with engine off.If I'm running at 70...and my volts are showing 14.2.THEN,I stop.Immediately shut bike off.Turn key on...I'm back to 12.8,maybe 13.So my battery is discharging a few volts then in just this short time?If I park my baby in the garage....check volts at shutdown,get 13.2 or so.Go out next day and check...now she's sitting at 12.8...and three days later...12.8,then what's that tell me about my battery?I'm suggesting only that the running voltage is actually indicating a good stator....not actual battery volts.I've NO idea WHY I mentioned this...just an observation I guess.It just seems to me that the voltage"displayed" while running fluctuates with the amount of RPMs I'm pullin.I'm not so sure the display is showing actual battery volts at any given time except key on,no engine running.Dumb,I know.At 14 volts "all day long"....you'd think that shutting the engine off(and lights),then re-keying...you'd show 14 volts.Nope...not mine.Never.ALWAYS...12 something at startup.

Looking back at the OP...the question was "running at 12.5"..I'm gonna say here...the battery's fine.The voltage "indicated" has dropped to 12.5 because the battery is no longer needing a charge from the stator.When it again needs a charge,it will display above that 12.5 number.But it may NEVER get up to 14 something,unless it gets that initial kick of charging?IDK.I've had really good performance from my Non oem battery...Hub made fun of the name a while back ...It's cool...it IS a goofey friggin name...Furakawa or something like that.(well,it's got "Kawa" in it...so it can't be TOO bad,right?)Anyway...I charged er overnight...then rode.I also keep the batterytender hooked up IF she's gonna sit for say,a week or so.It'll be on there now the rest of this season.Riding's over here .

Yes...I think Privateer's on to something there..about the connection OR the charging system.I think it should show a pretty good voltage with a load on there,dropping as the load decreases.If she's stayin at 12.5...it MAY be a bad connection or stator going out...just a coincidence that it occurred at the battery change?IDK

And I also think HUB's got it as well...80% charge(with NO charge at all).10.7? Definitely messed up there!

* Last updated by: blue07 on 11/18/2010 @ 5:06 PM *

Here is the deal, blue. Say we have a D/C source that can hold anywhere from 13.1 to 12.5v in a static battery. This range happens to be well charged and still running after a few years still within range of what the engine wants and old enough to hold volts between the plates inside the battery.

What breaks down the process is the chemical reaction and now the interior of the battery and all that wear/heat/buckle/exposed weather/deteriorate/exposed neglect finally takes a toll on the battery in general. So, with that in mind, we can gauge a battery life in the static sense watching that battery drop from 13.4 to 13.1 to 12.8 to 12.0 and now you more or less have a battery that will be taxed by the voltage regulator.

Here is the deal with the reg box. We have a cut box working and we can call that our voltage regulator. We are built with a gate that bleeds off or sends to ground, any voltage output not to exceed 15v. So, as we ride, we have the volt reg in regulation mode sending anything past 14.4v right down to ground. If we did not do this, we would send more heat into that battery than what the 6 plates times 2 = 12v size battery needs. A .8v is less than 13v, less than 15v and where the battery has to be charged as well as have the output demand that will not drop under 12v say for argument sake.

Lets move to the stator. We have this coil winding unit along with a magnet called a rotor. So once the rotor is moving over a field of say we have that wave in alternating current called house current or AC current. We want to take that one wave and capture it. There is a one way switch in the cut box called a rectifier. This one way switch not only can hold both waves from alternating like, 'for every action there is an opposite" we have that rectifier to have the ability to capture that wave as well. Call it, phasing. If you ever heard of a 3-wave rectifier = 2 in 1 out wave call it.

Say we have a Harley stator that has a rating of 32-Amps. Watthat means is the stator can put out 16 amps out of one wire prong. If you double those two wire ends out the engine case it will take and convert those waves in the box that can rectify-ier both waves = 32 amp rated stator wire housing. You need the regulator after the rectifier. The voltage reg; will blow off any revving the engine does as the stator puts out higher amps as the volt reg grounds everything else. WATT you are left with [using that ohms math to convert] are all your resisters/diodes/condensers/switching junctions/ground box, all this so you see a perfect 14.4v at the pod built like an engine with the exact bore and stroke numbers like all in the matching loop like OTTO swings 360. So does seeing that 14.4v in perfect running condition in an on/off to match OTTO to OHM.

WATThe pod is reading is the volt reg in action. The battery is bleeding off not only 10th's of volts, but more watt demand for all those Tail lights/winks/headlight/dash read/etc./my hand grips/HiD some volt pulling like big time are those 4 condenser boxes to HID the shit out of the candle power drag is draw some current off the demand is say we have a perfect leave me the fuck alone electrical system that is matched with the correct heat rings [resistors] at the motherboard and one way switching diodes that say the battery load/output/cranking capacity of sized battery to-a closed loop system that says stay the fuck out with your hand warmers. Ok, so have a few accessories...

Don't start getting all bent out of shape about watching you current draw the shit out of the closed loopitea do you see the action now? My bike sits a week or more on average. Those short spurts for errands have to be churning some high A/C output in a short span so the battery sees a spike with one headlight running only. Hard braking [less time] or the other option [coasting] so that brake light does not suck it [the weak/week battery] all out. It was that short a run blip. I can't tell you how quick that was. I forgot my wallet and had to return to pay for the bill. The person was still sitting at the same place when I left and then returned. She made comment about me being back so soon. 100mph sweepers help chasing for wallet she just sat down Ha-ha I'm back!

* Last updated by: Hub on 11/19/2010 @ 6:59 PM *

Well alright then...you've cleared it up for me.I understand the deal going on with the volts bleed and such now.Speaking of WALLET....were you following me on my three weeks ago blast through the boonies?80 miles of sweet two lane,country on both sides.Stop in fer gas...F%^$!!!!No Wallet!.Icon jacket pockets REALLY SUCK when it comes to NOT zipping them up,and riding along thinkin everything's just ducky!SOMEWHERE in that80 miles of zx bliss...lies my lonely wallet...out in the cold.Alone.At over a ton,it'll probably be found around the year 2050! F&*^in ICON!

Two weeks before THAT little episode,friggin Icon jacket pocket AGAIN somehow was mysteriously unzipped.Got my Garage Opener on that one!I swear,that "stealth" jacket is livin up to it's name...stealth alright....ditch all my personal shit from me."I shall remain "nameless" as I roll with my zx and trusty Icon!"FU%&!Revenge of the Taiwanese...that's what it is..revenge.

* Last updated by: blue07 on 11/19/2010 @ 7:31 PM *

Got it replaced. I charged it all day and let it sit overnight. Was not hooked up to anything. Voltage dropped from 12.5V to just under 11V. Took it back in without charging and they replaced it without any problems. Then we tested the new battery before leaving to make sure it was good and just to be safe took the advise to charge the battery first before installing. Now voltage reads right around 14v when running, just like it used to. All is right in the universe now.

Yessssss.just one big happy fleet.