3 - 60
CHK
ADJ
CHECKING AND CHARGING THE BATTERY
5. Charge:
• battery
(refer to the appropriate charging method
illustration)
WARNING
_
Do not quick charge a battery.
CAUTION:
_
• Never remove the MF battery sealing
caps.
• Do not use a high-rate battery charger
since it forces a high-amperage current
into the battery quickly and can cause
battery overheating and battery plate
damage.
• If it is impossible to regulate the charging
current on the battery charger, be careful
not to overcharge the battery.
• When charging a battery, be sure to
remove it from the motorcycle. (If charg-
ing has to be done with the battery
mounted on the motorcycle, disconnect
the negative battery lead from the battery
terminal.)
• To reduce the chance of sparks, do not
plug in the battery charger until the bat-
tery charger leads are connected to the
battery.
• Before removing the battery charger lead
clips from the battery terminals, be sure
to turn off the battery charger.
• Make sure the battery charger lead clips
are in full contact with the battery termi-
nal and that they are not shorted. A cor-
roded battery charger lead clip may
generate heat in the contact area and a
weak clip spring may cause sparks.
• If the battery becomes hot to the touch at
any time during the charging process,
disconnect the battery charger and let the
battery cool before reconnecting it. Hot
batteries can explode!
• As shown in the following illustration, the
open-circuit voltage of an MF battery stabi-
lizes about 30 minutes after charging has
been completed. Therefore, wait 30 min-
utes after charging is completed before
measuring the open-circuit voltage.
Open-circuit voltage (V)
Ambient temperature 20 °C
Charging
Time (minutes)
Check the open-circuit
voltage.