was riding my bike when all of a sudden the engine cut out. tried to start it again but sounds like a flat battery. had to call recovery. started it with jump lead, but when turn the engine off, cant start it up again.

recovery man then open up the maintenance free (MF) seal battery, had a look inside and said it was dry, and therefore added distilled water into all the battery cells.

jump started the bike again, and it seems to hold it's charge this time. got the bike going and headed home but just 100 meter from home, the engine cut out again and i cant start it up. same problem, sounds like a flat battery. i checked the headlights and it was dim, so must be a flat battery.

so the questions - does maintenance free battery get dry and can you just add distilled water into them? is it just a faulty battery or other faulty components on the bike (alternator)? i dont wanna get a new battery and have the same problem again.

 

With the battery cells being empty, it's most likely the regulator on your alternator is faulty causing overcharging which 'boils' the cells and all the acid vents out. Using a multimeter, get the bike started and measure the voltage accross the terminals. If it is much above 14.2 - 14.4 volts (or 7.1 - 7.2 volts for a 6 volt bike), you've got an alternator problem, but you're still going to need a new battery anyway.

Regards,

Max