Clean and spray wd40 on it and I guess keep it that way. White powder = sulphation - possibly over charging.
Rust = lazy owner.
Cool.
Srinath.

It's mainly a white powder.

How can it overcharge?

OK your battery may be not able to take the charge its getting from the motor, or you have too much AC in your DC circuit (rectifier) - whatever - I'd make sure battery has enough water and try and check and see if you got right voltage etc. Then see what it does.
Starwalt can probably teach you more about this than any one on the planet. So wait his input.
Cool.
Srinath.

Thankz

STUPID ME !&^*!&^@!*&!*&@*#*@$(*_$_)*


I took the battery out and cleaned the negative terminal REAL well.  even the little loose metal piece was "fused" in there.  I had a hell of a time getting it out.

After I cleaned everything and put it back together, she purred right away.

problem solved:  stupid owner.

Quote from: annguyen1981 on November 24, 2006, 10:33:08 AM...problem solved:  stupid owner.

Don't be so hard on yourself. You were just looking in the wrong place for the problem.

A fellow that once worked for our company had a saying "Always assume the installers are idiots."  His job was to travel anywhere - globally if needed -- and troubleshoot MRI systems that were in trouble. If the local guy and then his specialist gave up, it was time for the Birdman to come in. We called him the "Birdman" because his last name is Cardinal. He had written "The Cardinal Rules" of which the first you already know.

When he got to the site, he started at the wall breaker and checked everything. No stone was left unturned. Invariably it usually was an installation/service mistake. Often just bad connections that were hidden from the normal visual inspection.

Now you know and are a little more experienced.

You found the one problem...the engine knock is something else. 

The engine only knocks when the battery seemed to have half of a charge.  No knock when the battery seemed completely dead.

Of course, the battery was completely fine...  it was the connection TO the battery.  I'm all fine now.  no unusual noises...

except the lawmower sounds coming from the bike.