Its alive...kind of.

[flip4eva83]

I finally got my 75 CL 360 on the road, and when it runs it runs well. On my way to class today, my bike slowly starts to sputter then die. I let it sit for a few and it starts right back up. A few more miles down the road and it slowly starts to die, kind of like running out of gas but in a prolonged process, slowly the bike started dropping in rpm until it died. Now I noticed the lights werent on. I figured its the battery, shouldnt I still be able to kick it over? the bike has a new agm battery from the local parts store, and now I can see acid dripping out of it, no cracks though, the battery also swells when im riding, whats the deal? Im sure I can ride it daily if I put it on the tender when im not riding. But now with it leaking, not sure I want too.

 

[session101]

i would start the bike and put it on a multimeter to find out what you're cranking and see if your charging system is putting out what it should or maybe its putting out more and just killing your battery

 

[SeanGSUK]

Sounds like a bad earth causing the battery problems to me, check inside the headlight bowl, look at the indicators' wiring they could have frayed and be rubbing together or against the frame. Check for any exposed wiring which could potentially rub on the frame. Check the output from the dynamo, may have high volts/amps, should be 14v, put a multi meter on the battery terminals with the engine running. The regulator will be getting hot if there is a bad earth/over charging issue. The overcharging/positive earthing will cause problems within the regulator/rectifier affecting the output to the coils.
Also, check the carb floats, could also be contibuting to the starting/running issues. Had a similar problem; when the float chambers were full it ran fine, but would use up fuel in the floats and then splutter and stall, if stood for a short while, floats would fill and it would run again. Once I checked the float heights and balanced the carbs, ran smooth as treacle. This was on a ZXR400 which had a fuel pump but that shouldn't make any difference.

 

[Civil Disobedience]

My best guess is a bad regulator. Sometimes they're sporadic, and when they get hot they'll stop working. You could be getting too much voltage which is causing your battery to heat up, swell, and boil over. Over charging kills batteries as fast as not charging at all. Also, the bike won't run without a battery to excite the necessary fields. If you have a multimeter you can check voltage at the battery terminals while it's running at a decent rpm to determine if it's charging/over charging. Good luck!

Edit: just realized those guys beat me to it ^

 

[flip4eva83]

thanks for the info fellas, I just got the bike home and put it on the charger, it read 75% full as soon as I connected the terminals to the charger, pulled my seat to check out the fuses and the head and tail fuses were blown. I think yall are on the right track. overcharging and what not.

 

[flip4eva83]

checked out my regulator, its looks like its leaking something. guessing its toasted. Whats a good upgrade that doesnt cost too much? Something like this work. http://www.amazon.com/Rectifier-Regulator-Deere-Kohler-Engine/dp/B005KJOMIW/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1339113102&sr=8-1-fkmr0

 

[Civil Disobedience]

Not sure about that one. I know you can get a reg/rect from a modern bike and make it work but some people are opposed to that (something to do with the cycling the charging system does.) I would scour eBay and find a good oem one to swap out. If you check over on the SOHC forum there's probably someone who will know more on which ones work for your model. Hell, I know some people even use regs off of old fords on their Hondas.