2002 Honda CB250 wont turn over after new battery

Question

I recently bought a Honda CB250, and did the 30 minute ride home fine. Then a couple of days later I took it out again and pulled over after about 10 minutes of riding and turned it off. After that I couldn't get it to start. At first it would turn over and then it would only make a clicking sound until eventually the lights didn't even come on.

We removed the battery and hooked up to a portable jump start and it starts fine. Took the battery to battery world and they said it was dead. It has now been replaced and I took the bike out for a 30 minute ride again - all fine. Tried to head out again today, once she was warmed up I stalled and now it won't start, and I'm having the same problem as before.

Answer 1

Sounds like your charging system isn't doing it's job. The battery has enough juice to get the bike started, but then it slowly drains over the course of the ride. Turning the starter motor is the highest demand a battery will see, and it doesn't have enough power to start it again.

I would:

1. Grab a multimeter
2. Charge the battery
3. Check the voltage as the bike is running (revving up to 5000RPM)

You should see 13v+ when the engine is revving to 5000 RPM. My guess is you won't. This would indicate the engine isn't charging the battery back up, and it will slowly drain and be incapable of starting the bike a second time.

DON'T just go buy a new battery. I see a lot of people do this. It seems to fix the problem at first, but it doesn't take long for their new battery to drain and they're right back where they start (minus the cost of a battery).