Motorcycle Repair: 1960s Honda, vdc battery, volt battery

Question

I have a 1960's Honda C200 90 Motorcycle. I think the year is 1964. As long as I have a charged battery on it, it will run fine, but it will run the battery down fairly quickly. It does'nt seem to be keeping charge. The only thing that was done that may cause harm was the previous owner was using a 12 volt battery and I am sure that this bike uses a 6 volt. Any suggestions on this problem? Could the 12 volt battery damaged anything? Thank you for your time.  

Answer
Hi Tim,

The 12 VDC battery may have stressed the charging system (generator).

The battery should be a 6 VDC. Yuasa model: 6N6-1D

Check the charging system output voltage. Check charging coil winding for continutiy and leaks to ground.



Here's a couple of resources:

http://www.vjmc.org/photos/vintage_photos/index.htm

http://www.vf750fd.com/vf750f/vin_1.html

Respectfully,
Mark Shively