battery problems...
Would really appreciate any input and suggestions on how to diagnose what's causing the problems as well as how to fix them. Below is the synopsis:
This saturday I was participating in a group ride with my '01 R6. During this ride I experienced an issue w/ battery power. Upon stopping for lunch after 1.5hrs of riding and some rain, my bike wouldn't turn over. My voltmeter indicated a low charge. I thought it peculiar as I'd been riding for a good 1hr at least. After doing a rolling start I was able to travel another 20mi, as I slowed to make another stop I noticed my speedometer was blanked out. The bike wouldn't start again, I noticed the headlights were dim and the guy trailing me said he noticed my brakelights were flickering as I approached the stop. One more rolling start and I was off and moving…400ft later the speedo blanked out, I had the throttle cracked wide open but I was getting no acceleration. The bike just went dead on me.
Upon returning home I charged up my battery to 12V, stuck it back in the bike and it started. I watched the voltmeter as the battery was off, 12V, with engine one, 12.2V, then I started revving the engine to about 3k and the voltmeter showed that the battery was taking a charge. WTF!?!?!?!??!!?
Some theories I have: 1) before the ride I had disconnected my after mkt alarm. I don't know how it works or what cables I really should disconnect but I was remembering how some car alarms will prevent you from starting the engine if you don't have the right wires removed/connected. 2) rain shorted something out or caused some connection issues therefore affecting the battery power. 3) battery is old 4) alternator/regulator/restrictor needs replacing.
Mostly I'm afraid that the alternator/regulator/etc needs replacing. It's not something any of the shops here can get done for me to be ready for Pocono this w/e. I want to say this isn't the cause mainly due to the fact the voltmeter is showing that I'm taking a charge when I revved the engine. I bought a brand new battery yest, found a shop in CT 1hr away that's open on SUNDAYS. The other possibility is that the hackjob done w/ this after mkt alarm is somehow, somewhere affecting power supply. What do you think? Pls help.
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