my rather ugly but normally gorgeous virago is playing up again, have had problems with the battery connections for some time...have had new 'ends' put on cables as old ones had gone all soft, but still the positive connection keeps 'furring up' and wont start up.....had battery out...checked levels etc...and battery is new(ish) made sure connections are cleaned and secure...and even smothered in vasaline after(the connections, not me) ;) and still it furs up and has greeny/white frothy topping...why?? any suggestions?                                                                                                                                                                             

sounds to me that the battery may be cracked,give it a wash off with hot water from kettle to get rid of furring,it may reveal a crack, if you can't see a problem try copper slip instead of vasaline,hope this is of some help. Benny                                                                                                                                                                             

is the breather pipe fitted ? to battery could be over charging from alternator or rectifier fault too !                                                                                                                                                                             

Sounds like a rectifier/regulater fault...my old VFR did it.   Also I would replace the entire battery cable, cheap enough and gets rid of the possibility that one has fractured along its length.   Borrow a volt meter if you can and measure the voltage across the battery terminals. It should be no more than about 12.7v when not running and no more than about 14.7v running.   Anything higher than about 15v when running shows it is overcharging....which leads neatly back to the regulator/rectifier.   Hope you get it sorted soon                                                                                                                                                                             

thanks for sugestions guys....will try the volt meter on it....and reckon i'll change the cable and see if that does the job....                                                                                                                                                                             

do you have the battery on a oxford maximiser/optimiser as i had a faulty charger which completely dried the battery out as it was constantly charging without cutting out,also check your earth cable as it could be arcing out somewhere