Motorcycles, Snowmobiles, Go-Carts, ATV's and Golf Carts - Honda Rebel CMX250 electrical problems

I have a 2004 Honda Rebel 250 that has not been run since October '05. I went to start it and nothin. no big surprise. What did surprise was the fact that my battery charger caught on fire when I hooked it up. Then I jumped the bike off my car and it ran fine. Not a single problem. I figured the battery would charge at least sum while the bike ran. As soon as I turned it off, All the charge was gone. Not even enough for the little Neutrural light. So, I just bought a new battery, fully charged from the dealer, and still the same problem. I know some about electrical troubleshooting, but would like to know if there is somewhere I should start. I figure it just recycles the charge from the jump because it runs fine once I get it started. Any help would be appreciated because I really miss riding without worrying about stopping and not being able to start again.
-Kevin

If you put a fully charged battery in it, rode it a moderate amount (less than say 2 hours), then shut it off and it was completely dead, I'd say the battery isn't in the circuit. That would be cables, switch, connections, etc.

It sounds like the charging system is OK if ran when you jumped it from the car.

When you jumped it, did you go directly to the starter or off the battery?

Hope this helps,

Bob

I went straight to the battery cables. I ran my electrical meter on it today and got 12.8 volts on the battery so the battery is till charged up. then I started running ohms on all the cables and still didn't find anything conclusive. I got a book on Motorcycle electrical repair so now I'll start going through the componets you mentioned and see if anything else pops up.
-Kevin

I went straight to the battery cables. I ran my electrical meter on it today and got 12.8 volts on the battery so the battery is till charged up. then I started running ohms on all the cables and still didn't find anything conclusive. I got a book on Motorcycle electrical repair so now I'll start going through the componets you mentioned and see if anything else pops up.
-Kevin

Hi kevin. Did you get your problem fixed as yet on your bike? Dose the bike have an electric start or do you kick start it. The battery likely is the only source of power for your spark with a fully charged battery. When it is running do the lights illuminate? and make sure you keep a battey connected when your runing the bike--you could burn out the charging system with no battery connected. If you have an electric start--it may be possible the starter is running all the time too--that would put a heavy load on the battery charger.

Hi I know this is unrelated, but for some reason my computer isn't letting me start any new posts and you all seem to know Rebels.

I'm planning on airbrushing the gas tank on mine but have no idea how to remove the gas tank.

I feel like I should be able to remove it relatively easily but it looks like the back (seat-side) end of it might be tack welded onto the chassis or seat frame.



PS
I'm fairly confident in my welding skills but I would rather not have to use them yet as I'm still not incredibly knowledgeable about bikes (This is my first/it's kinda my "baby" and I'm a little paranoid about ****ing it up at all).

PPS
I know this would all be easier with an empty tank but if there is any way I can remove the tank and THEN the gas that would be ideal.