I picked up my Vee back in late 2010, and the OEM battery died the following summer. I picked up a new Yuasa battery and it had been great since then. The PO had neglected the bike and hadn't ridden it regularly for some time. It only had 20k on it after 5 years. Since buying the bike, I ride every weekday, around 40 miles each day, year round, and I've put almost another 20k on the bike since replacing the battery.
Over the last month or so, occasionally I will have trouble getting the bike to start, usually when running errands during my lunch hour. My commute is about 20 miles one way, so the battery should be charging effectively. I generally ride with my brights on, but have since gone back to riding with my low beams when I began getting issues starting the Vee.
I checked the battery today with a multimeter, having not ridden it since yesterday, and it reads 12.7v. Turning the ignition ON, it drops down to about 11.9v, then rises quickly again when turning the ignition OFF back to 12.7v. When starting, the volts drop to 7-8v (the part that worries me), then settles around 14.8v when idling or holding at 5k RPMs. What gives?
Looks like it might be time to get a new battery, but I would have expected the Yuasa battery to last longer on a bike being ridden nearly every day.
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