would a bad cell in battery cause it to slowly drain and not charge when bike is running,and if battery is dead would stator produce enough charge to keep bike runnig, thanx

 

I have run my 85 Honda TRX250 with no battery and it runs fine, just have to kick start it.

Once it's running, the stator provides enough juice to run the lights with no problem. This is an older bike without much electrical needs though.

Disconnect the battery and remove from your bike. Pull or kick start it and see if everything works - headlight should work - mine has a little bit of flicker to it with no battery. If that works, your stator and electrical system are probably in OK shape.

Try putting your battery on a charger, preferably a 'smart' charger that can tell you if it's taking a charge....

 

As Mark874 said, most quads have a separate higher voltage AC powered ignition system which has nothing to do with running the lights and charging the battery. On these quads the only purpose of the battery is to turn the starter motor.

However there are some quads that now have CDI's that run off the 12 volt battery voltage. On these quads if the battery runs down the engine stops (and won't start, of course) until the battery is charged back up. These 12 volt ignition systems are more commonly seen on newer model quads.

To see if your stator/regulator system is working: Measure the voltage on the battery terminals while the engine is running at a moderately fast idle with the headlights off. The voltage should be above 13.5 volts or higher. If your battery is not charged you may have to wait a while for the voltage to come up.

If it is not above 13.5 volts then you've got charging problems.

 

thanx for all your help people,got lookn this morning and i had a blown fuse from regulator to battery,charging fine now . take a load off my mind thanks again and keep in touch,happyhunter.