To check to see if your battery is alive and well you are going to need a multi meter. Cantire has these on sale every once and awhile and they are worth the $20 or so your going to spend.
~ First thing is find where your battery is located
~ Make sure that both the terminals are free of corrosion and that the wires are tight
~ Check to see if the electrolyte levels are good. Should be lines on the side of the battery that give you your upper and lower levels. If they are low top up with DISTILLED water, NOT tap water. If you have a maintenance free battery skip this step.
~Turn the multi meter on to read DC current in the 10's of volts
~ With the bike off check the voltage across the battery. Red probe to the positive terminal, black probe to the negative terminal. It should read around 12.5V. If it doesn't your battery is not fully charged. Electric starters NEED a fully charged battery to turn over. If your doing this because your bikes not starting then this is a reason.
~ Start the bike up and then check the voltage across the battery. Red probe to the positive terminal, black probe to the negative terminal. It should read around 14.0V. If its not reading higher by a volt or two then your charging system is not doing its job. Could be because of all those extra lights, or because your regulator is on its last legs.
