greg ,u said that your battery charged its self,his might charge a little more on the days that it starts .

first i would try to push start it ,its worth a shot,if it dose'nt fire,its not the battery,if your headlights are bright u have enough power to push start it.

Well, found the problem.  It was a bad spark plug, the very last thing I took seriously.  I run NGK Iridium and when I first pulled  the plug(only about 1,200 miles on it) it visually appeared fine - electrodes okay and no cracked insulator. However, when I pulled it a second time and replaced it with the old Iridium, the bike fired right up and runs perfectly, except for a flat rear tire.

Thanks for all the advice; I have become quite farmiliar with the electrics on this bike.

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I am sure. Before changing the plug I tried starting the bike twice. It would crank, but would not fire. Simply changed the plug, hit the start button and it fired right up.

Torque and Reelthing,

I discounted the battery for 2 reasons....

1. He didn't mention an issue that sounded related, like slow cranking, dim lights, weak horn, or blown fuses.

2.  Between our 2 bikes, an '00 and '01 we've had only 1 battery problem since new.  It was a surprise, but about 3 years ago my spouse's '01 suddenly would not restart during a ride when we stopped at an ATM for cash.  

Her bike had been just fine, but would not restart, and I couldn't rig anything to make it run.  No lights, horn, and both fuses okay.  Finally after riding home, pulling my battery and returning with our truck, it started fine.  Her bike drove home fine.

When I checked with a meter I had close to 12 volts, however a charger wouldn't build it up enough, and with a battery tester at the bike shop we found that the amperage was too low.  Bottom line: a freak issue of a broken buss in the cells.  So in this case, we had a battery about 2 years old that just plain broke.  

And in the mean time, my spouse STILL has my old '00 battery running in hers after 5 years, cause it was just easier to just put the new one in mine which was all apart anyway.

As for the low water and dry cells....that was just a bad case of lazy.  After moving out west, and then spending the winter messing with my fender, I just never pulled the battery to inspect.  I used a trickle charger and that was it.  We even drove to Mt. St. Helens to meet Sluggo, and everything seemed fine.  However, on another day it got my attention by slow cranking and it wouldn't start.  Then I had to pull it.  Low and behold, 2 cells were so dry (that little window is a joke) that I had to tilt it to see any liquid.  It had gotten below the plates.

I thought, crap.  I went in the house, got a fresh bottled water and filled it up.  Then it sat while I pulled the spouse's and did the same....and hers needed some too.  When I went back to mine, it started.  What can I say?

So, what does all this mean to me?  That the stock batteries aren't that wimpy.  Until last year I had been diligent about the battery levels, and it bit me on the butt.  However, what we do have is 1 battery that is almost 6 years old, and one that is 3.  So, I'm thinking that if they are cared for, and maintained, they won't fail as often as we might think.

Whew...sorry this was so long