my bike doesnt retain its charge very well.l drive in daylight without my lights on to conserve batery power but a friends tells me that putting the lights on park or low will charge the battery more.Is this true?

l do not know about the charging, but l do not want you to get CHARGED with breaking the law - l believe in most states motorcycles must run with lights on, day and night.

its true my friend is sitting beside me and has heard the same thing, he tried it and said it works but its not that great for seeing.

Why not get your charging/battery fault fixed. You will be more likely to live long enough to pay for the repair using your dipped lights in the day.

Get the battery checked out, then get the charging system checked out as well, it should be kicking out 13.5v-14v(ish) at tickover without the lights on, not mainaining a charge could be down to a battery thats on its last legs, u have a fault in the wiring, or the charging system is on the blink.
alarms can have funny effects on the vehicle they r fitted to from time to time aswell.
It is always a good idea to ride with ur lights on dipped beam during the day, it help is to give the cage drivers a better chance of seeing you.

The jury is still out on the '' will my battery charge quicker with the lights on or off'' thing, some people swear by it others say not to do it, me l would have thought that any charge made by the alternator would be better off going into the battery than a light bulb, or just get a trickle charger & leave it pluged into the national grid at night, keeps ur battery in top condition & is always fully charged.

You say your bike does not retain it is charge very well. It is not your bike it is your battery! Fit a decent battery. One with better amp hours than the original and you will live longer. Stats show that motorists just do not see bikes at junctions. It is the greatest cause of biker death on the roads, so why take the chance?

l think this is true in most parts of the United States ( l do not know where u live) but the head light is required during day driving.

Remember, ur morotcycle has an alternator, so it charges the battery & the electrical system actually runs off of the alternator. Turning the light on perhaps gets enough current running through the electrical system to charge the battery. Strange, but l guess it is all in design.

You should definately get the battery or alternator checked out. Should be easy fixes/replacements.

Get a battery conditioner to check the status of your battery. If this shows up as bad you will need to replace it. If it shows up as good then you know you have an alternator which is not charging the battery and this will need to be replaced. By doing this you will sort out your problem once and for all.

the old suzuki is used to but l do not think it works on the other stuff now never made any difference to me, check acid levels & give the battery a good charge, if u still have problems buy a new battery.
if u want to ride with lights off or on its up to you,
over 35 years riding without lights on most of the time, more people cut me up with the lights on than with them off same route every day,some months with out lights on not one near miss, with lights on 5 in a week, turn ur lights on get some one to sit on ur bike what do u see a light with Very little of the bike or rider showing,now turn light off what do u see a bigger image,

If ur battery is considerably discharged, running with the lights off will help get the battery charged back up quicker than with it on. That is because the light is using current that could be sent to the battery, charging it up.

Otherwise, as long as ur charging system is up to par & the battery is not extremely discharged, it is not going to make a bit of difference. The voltage regulator is going to sense how much current is being used at the time & the state of discharge of the battery & will adjust the alternator is output accordingly.

To answer ur question more succinctly, having the lights on will cause the alternator to produce more electricity, but it wo not make it charge the battery up any faster.

Just remember there r plenty of people who have just enough knowledge to be dangerous.

l dont know about charging the battery. but on the safety aspect, a Police Motorcyclist told me lights off is safer because with lights on you take it for granted you will be seen, and think your invincible so use less caution. With lights off you are inclined to watch for your own safety and drive accordingly.

Some bike charging circuits r designed to add extra charge when the lights r on. This is to compensate for the extra drain caused by the lights. Depending on the design of the particular charging system there may be extra capacity to charge the battery.

However, if ur battery is not holding charge then u need to check the battery, & check the charging system.

You may want to consider getting a Haynes manual for ur bike. This will help u do a range of maintenance tasks, & will save u a fortune.