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drrod · 07-03-2009, 1:20 PM

OK, here is the situation:
- bought the bike 7 months ago (no idea how old the battery is)
- I always have it on a battery tender
- bike has always started fine with "normal" use
- took a riding school yesterday
- after about 10 start/stop cycles (with riding about 30-50 secs between cycles) the bike would not start (barely turned over and then nothing)
- bump started easily
- left it idling from then on and it worked fine although after idling for about 1-2 mins. the low fuel light would start to flicker and once in a while the tach would drop to zero when the brake light was put on. Raising the rpm to about 2,000 "cured" this.
- left the bike sit for 1/2 hr over lunch and it started fine
- came home and put it on the battery tender over night
- in the morning the battery showed 13.3 v
- started bike and it showed 14.8 at 1500 rpm
- RR connections show no sign of heating
- RR is a large finned type

My conclusion is that the charging system is OK. It is the battery that is on its way out.

Agree/Disagree?

Thanks for your thoughts.

Rod

shewie · 07-03-2009, 1:32 PM

I agree. Replace the battery.

Growler67 · 07-03-2009, 2:16 PM

That and the short runs between starts didn't give the charging system to put back what it took out leaving you with a deficit that drained the battery below the point which it could start the bike. The bump start proved that to be the case as the battery completed the circuit and all was well after a proper charging. The battery is probably fine, but abuse like this will significantly shorten any existing life span.

If this is going to be typical, I would suggest a small solar charging panel to augment the bikes charging system as the short runs take more than they are capable of giving back. Either that or plan your stops better and do so closer to more "hilly" terrain to facilitate compression starting.

smurf211 · 07-03-2009, 10:36 PM

OK, here is the situation:
- bought the bike 7 months ago (no idea how old the battery is)

New battery --- Take a gray sharpie and write the date on it. that is the first thing I did when I bought my bike. with the battery tender I had a Yuasa last over 5 years on my Harley. .2c

drrod · 07-03-2009, 11:01 PM

I took the battery into a shop and had them test it. They said it was OK when they load tested it but they couldn't rule out some kind of intermittent problem. Their thoughts were similar to Growler's which makes sense except that mine was the only bike out of 40 or so that had issues. If it was just the short cycling that was the problem, then logic dictates that more bikes should have been having issues.
Long story short.....I bought a new batter just to be on the safe side. Hopefully problem solved.
Thanks for the input.
Rod

Skapan · 07-04-2009, 7:13 AM

I agree - new battery. What a lot of people forget is that a bad battery can kill your R/R and/or stator, as they will throw all sorts of power at it trying to get the charge up. Good choice.

TheDuck · 07-05-2009, 2:08 AM

Quote:

left it idling from then on and it worked fine although after idling for about 1-2 mins

careful with this, at tickover the charging rate is so low that you can use more than you generate!
Something you appear to have found out

Quote:

Raising the rpm to about 2,000 "cured" this

As a sidenote

Quote:

I always have it on a battery tender

in the UK the Optimate III has been killing batteries for a couple of years if left on for extended periods.

07-03-2009, 1:32 PM	#2
shewie Resident Eh?hole. Join Date: Oct 26 2008 Location: Ontario, Canada Age: 43 Posts: 5,713	Re: ? for Battery/charging gurus I agree. Replace the battery. __________________ If you don't like the way I ride then stay off the sidewalk.

07-03-2009, 2:16 PM	#3
Growler67 Join Date: May 01 2008 Location: S. Puget Sound, WA Age: 44 Posts: 300	Re: ? for Battery/charging gurus That and the short runs between starts didn't give the charging system to put back what it took out leaving you with a deficit that drained the battery below the point which it could start the bike. The bump start proved that to be the case as the battery completed the circuit and all was well after a proper charging. The battery is probably fine, but abuse like this will significantly shorten any existing life span. If this is going to be typical, I would suggest a small solar charging panel to augment the bikes charging system as the short runs take more than they are capable of giving back. Either that or plan your stops better and do so closer to more "hilly" terrain to facilitate compression starting. __________________ "Just leave me some ammo, a little water...........and some chips if you have 'em" "Actually it's a buck and a quarter quarter-staff, but I'm not telling *HIM* that...........YOIKS and Away!!!!"

07-03-2009, 10:36 PM	#4
smurf211 Join Date: Oct 18 2008 Location: 575, GA Posts: 1,068	Re: ? for Battery/charging gurus OK, here is the situation: - bought the bike 7 months ago (no idea how old the battery is) New battery --- Take a gray sharpie and write the date on it. that is the first thing I did when I bought my bike. with the battery tender I had a Yuasa last over 5 years on my Harley. .2c

07-03-2009, 11:01 PM	#5
drrod Join Date: Nov 01 2008 Location: Calgary, Alberta Posts: 80	Re: ? for Battery/charging gurus I took the battery into a shop and had them test it. They said it was OK when they load tested it but they couldn't rule out some kind of intermittent problem. Their thoughts were similar to Growler's which makes sense except that mine was the only bike out of 40 or so that had issues. If it was just the short cycling that was the problem, then logic dictates that more bikes should have been having issues. Long story short.....I bought a new batter just to be on the safe side. Hopefully problem solved. Thanks for the input. Rod

07-04-2009, 7:13 AM	#6
Skapan Join Date: Apr 05 2009 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Posts: 91	Re: ? for Battery/charging gurus I agree - new battery. What a lot of people forget is that a bad battery can kill your R/R and/or stator, as they will throw all sorts of power at it trying to get the charge up. Good choice.