Honda CG125: Battery problem

[Newbiker0507]

So I'm preparing to do a long journey on my 1998 CG125 and I remove the battery from under the left side cover. I charge the battery using my Oxford charger.
Everything is fine.

I go outside put the battery back in...everything appears fine. However, when I turn the ignition on, it's like the battery is low. I can kickstart the bike, and the battery power seems to perk up, but the horn doesn't work hardly, and I didn't test ride it to see if it charged whilst riding. I brought it inside again to re-check the battery's charged status and it said "Strong" on my charger.

All I know is, now the green neutral light doesn't come on when I turn on the ignition, like the battery is completely dead. I haven't tried to kickstart it again since I re-entered the battery a second time due to it being late at the time and people were asleep.

Any idea what could be wrong?

[MattEMulsion]

My guess would either be a bad connection to the battery or that the battery is just knackered.
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Yamaha YZF-R6

[Newbiker0507]

THe bad connection thing had occurred to me too, seeing as those annoying plastic things that cover the terminal heads make it almost impossible to see if the connection is secure.

Can I cut those off, or are they there for a specific reason?

[samj6]

i had this problem too! The usually useless bike shop down the road said it was because i had charged it for too long and the battery had cooked itself but i persuaded them to give me exchange it for another free of charge but this time trickle charged it for 1 or 2 hours instead of the 5 or 6 first time and now it works fine!

Maybe they were right this time? a by the sound of it u've done the same thing.

Cheers,
Sam

[Newbiker0507]

How do I trickle charge it using an Oxford charger?

[map]

[Newbiker0507]

Sorry I forgot to mention that it is an Oxford charger which does work in stages as you said about the Optimate one.

Basically the bike kickstarts and can tick over, just none of the electrics work very well. The horn is almost non-existent and the light comes on but is very dim. I left the bike ticking over for about 30 mins yesterday expecting it to recharge.

As I said before, there was NO problem with the electrics before I took the battery out and charged it, so I assume all the relevant parts were working normally before e.g. regulator rectifier etc.

Also, the fluid level IS ok I definitely checked that, but the other day, I did notice water on my floor which had leaked from the battery...ould that have something to do with it?

[map]

[Newbiker0507]

Just gone outside and checked...

I turned the ignition and no neutral light comes on, but as soon as I kickstart the neutral light and headlight come on and they do get brighter when I rev. However, the horn and indicators are still working weakly.

[luke27]

I think the battery is only a 12v 2.5 ah capacity.
Thats very low capacity and its maintenance type (so you have to check the levels).

[Newbiker0507]

How long would I need to ride/rev it for for it to charge properly???

Obviously I don't wanna take it too far in case I get stranded...but at the same time I don't wanna sit outside my house revving away as it will piss ppl off.

Cheers

[Thom]

You've got a kick start and if that fails you can bump it, just go for a 5mile ride (not even that really!) and see what the condition of everything is whilst riding.

I think its only 6v electrics and the cg's ive ridden are terrible at idle/low revs so dont worry unless everythings poorly powered whilst riding.
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Current Bike: 1996 Yamaha TRX850 (The Japanese-Ducati One).
Previous Bikes: 1990 Honda NSR125 'Rothmans' (The smoking one), 1990 Suzuki GS500e 'Caf? fighter' (The loud one), 1987 Kawasaki GPX400r (The quick one), 1997 XJ600s Diversion (The reliable one), 2000 Kawasaki ER-5 (The spontaneously combustive one)

[luke27]

I could be wrong but I thought the bike was 12 volt in the 1998 model?

Its got electronic ignition for sure (CDI).

A long time before that the bike was 6 volt for sure.

[Newbiker0507]

[Newbiker0507]

[Adamantis]

This sounds familiar

My '91 CG is having battery "issues" (mind you, she has issues full stop. But she starts and runs and, right now, that'll do!). I'm going to assume that it's a peril of commuting in central London with lights on at all times, and that once I charge the battery properly it'll go back to normal.

But it isn't half disconcerting when indicating and the headlight flashes in opposite time to the indicators. And revving it like a demon to get them to flash in the first place...

Love it!

Laura

*Obviously, if I'm being an utter muppet and the flashy headlight is symptomatic of something more serious, please tell me! I'm assuming that it's because there isn't enough power to do both - if I test the indicators in neutral, the little green neutral light flashes as well. Yay!*

[Newbiker0507]

[MattEMulsion]

You need to do some proper diagnostic kind of work if you want to know what the exact problem is, asking people to give you random advice on the net is not automatically going to solve your problems. You can see your bike, we can't.

It still sounds like a battery or a connection fault to me. And if the headlight works but the horn and indicators don't then it sounds like you have more than one issue, possibly even blown some fuses. The charging system sounds okay from what you have said.

If you don't know what you are doing yourself, why not take it to someone that does or even a proper garage.
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Yamaha YZF-R6

[Newbiker0507]

I spoke to two garages this morning and both of them said it sounds like a blown fuse. I checked the fuse and whaddya know, it's blown.

So I've gotta go and get a new fuse today and see if that does anything.

[map]

[Newbiker0507]

[MattEMulsion]

[Newbiker0507]

[Lhavau]

Hi - I have a 2002 CG125 which is the M1 model I believe, these were spec'd with kickstart and electric, however this bike has been fitted with a replacement engine from an ES4 (2005) model. I have been riding it perfectly well for several weeks, when suddenly one Monday morning it decides not to play. Not so much as a click from the starter, you can't check the lights because they only work when the engine runs. It bump started and I got to work. In the evening I put the battery on my Optimate and it initially rejected it completely. I left it on the charger for a couple of days and when I looked again, it had restored it to working order. In the meantime I had been out and replaced the battery with a new MF sealed one, only £20 so not the end of the world. Now it may have done this before the breakdown, but i'd not noticed it, is that the lights are quite dim at tickover and get very bright on revving. I'm no expert on electronics but note that the regulator unit on the 2002 model is smaller than the 2005 version - would it be a different output from this, or are they the same, or am I talking crap (probably!). I've taken the precaution of spraying all the contacts with WD40 and tightening the terminals. I do note that the battery negative terminal is a very close fit to the petrol tank so I have taken the precaution of tubing some rubber around it just in case it was catching it when falling into one of the many pot holes in the roads (don't get me started on that one!). Thanks,