Elecrical issue

Hi folks - hope someone can shine some light on this issue for me would like to ride the bike for more than 5 10 minutes without having to call someone out with jump leads or push it 2 miles home.
 
New to me bike (VS800GL 1992)  Previous owner had issues and changed stator.

Since I've had it, I put a new battery in as it would start the bike ok, but if you stalled or the engine cut out it would not restart (flat battery). When I got the old battery out there was hardly any fluid in it it was as good as dry in a couple of cells. Not sure how it managed to start it at all.

After fitting new battery....When I got back form a ride I was checking the connections were ok and noticed a bubbling sound from the battery- which carried on for some time after I had stopped the engine. Just like a charging battery sounds.

I put a voltage meter on the battery positive terminal and the other on couple of ground points. At about 5000RPM it was reading 16.9V flicking between 16.9v to 17v...Should I get a reading that high???
Is it the rectifier cooking the battery?

Aslo went for a ride and the main circuit breaker tripped on me (I was just coming off a motorway so revs were higher than main road use) - was fine after I reset it and I haven't been able to find a short circuit anywhere???

Looking at new rectifier which says fits VS52B 1992 -  My Frame/VIN starts  VS52A what's the difference?

Hello there, as you may have noticed from the next post down I too am having some charging issues! I get the feeling that there are no gurus in this department on this site. I'll tell you what I've learned so far. The Clymer manual says charging rate should be no more than 15v and not less than 14v.  My bike is a 1993 and the reg/rec is situated just above the left hand silencer, it is a long thin thing, I guess yours will be the same, check if it gets hot but be careful you don't wreck tour new battery! The wiring on bikes of this age can get a bit iffy so you will need to check through the connections. The loom from the reg/rec on mine joins the main loom under the riders seat and when I disconnected it the earth wires (black and white) on the 6 pin plug, were badly corroded! I think this may be the reason my reg/rec is Donald ducked so check there first. I used the meter on it and its shorted out so I've ordered one from China (ebay) for £20, always a risk and it will  be at least 2 weeks but that's where I'm at. Hope this helps. Cheers Jim,

What is being described is an overcharging issue, which will very quickly wreck the new battery if not rectified. I've not needed to do any electrical work on my bike so don't know whether the regulator is built into the alternator or is a separate unit. If separate, replace the regulator, if part of the alternator, take it to an auto electrical specialist to have it fixed.

edit: Reading the other post, maybe is doesn't actually have an alternator as such. As I said I've never needed to even look at my bike's electrics system as I've had no problems in the five years I've had it other than replacing the battery last winter. The important thing is it's down to a faulty regulator, whatever type that may be. Overcharging will result in exactly the symptons described.

UPDATE...
It was the rectifier/regulator. Changed it and all seems fine now????
So the previous owner was rectifying the symptoms by replacing the stator and ICU unit etc. but not getting to the root of the problem. 
New battery seems to have survived the 2 short trips gtting 17V and so has the new stator I believe.... Had some great rides last 2 weeks, so all is good!

Good to see you got it sorted