Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech HELP 2 days left and a Bad battery I think

Two days before I am leaving on my trip to Idaho I have a problem. For the last 3 days I have had to charge the battery everytime I want to go for a ride. All the lights come on and everything but the starter does turn over. It does not even click.
Well I decided I had a wiring fault. Hooked the charger up and pulled the seat. Humm now I get a click. Charged the battery and everything started working again. All day long I rode and started and rode. Well parked it and figured I just left the key on. So I made sure this time I took the key in the house with me. Same thing the next day. All the same steps. Works fine but I half to charge the battery every morning. I think it is a bad battery but I needed to ask if it might be anything else. I only have two more days

It could be a bad battery but I would put a current meter on the Battery with everything off to see if there is a current draw. You may have a high resistance short that's draining the battery.
If you do see a current draw:
1.start taking covers off and inspecting your wire harness for a pinched wire.
2. look for oxidation in the fuse box
3. try to isolate different electric circuits; Ignition, staring circuit, lights, etc.
4. wiggle wires and switches to see if current draw changes

Good luck

Hi VL,

Chances are you have the original battery in your ride? Here in Florida, we are lucky to get three years use from one. Were I you, I would buy a new one and install it ASAP.

Greybeard had mentioned that a battery at rest should read about 12 1/2 volts, anything less and you can say "AHA!" because you've found the problem.

Another suggestion made by Greybeard was:

"You can give the charging system a quick check with a voltmeter. With no load, the battery should put out about 12.5 volts when fully charged. With the engine running at around 2K RPM, the voltage should be at least 13.5, but not higher than 14.7 volts.
There is another test you can make with some voltmeters. With the engine not running, switch the meter to AC volts and measure the battery. It the meter jumps to 12 and then sinks to zero, you have one that will make this test. See what the AC voltage across the battery is with the engine running at about 2K. If it is more than maybe 3 - 4 volts, you could have a bad diode in the rectifier. "

Now get yourself a voltmeter and use it per Greybeard's suggestion. FYI, I am on my second battery. I didn't wait for the first one to go bad. I walked away from it at the two year mark.

Have fun on your Idaho Invasion ride! I’m jealous!

Thanks. I am going to try all these steps tonight! I hope it is just the battery, that is an easy enough fix.!

bet it's the battery. had to replace mine after 6 months under warranty. no problem since.

cat

I got a similar problem. Replaced the battery. Got the problem back again.

It happened that the screw securing the plus and minus cable to the battery were not tied enough, so the battery did not charge properly.

Hope this helps as it is a cheap fix

Ben

OK here is the deal. I bought a new battery. Went home and did some of my cheep wrench work. I am a computer guy not a bike fixer.! Well all the lights came on. Head light was nice and strong. Looked all good. I forgot my volt meater at work so I could not check that part. So I just changed the battery out. VVVVRRRRROOOOOOOMMMMMMMM Nice and even on the first try. Well let it sit over night fixed the problem!!!

Thanks guys.

Very Cool! See you Tomorrow!

Soren

Evanman,
Wish I could join ya'll. I still have my original battery.
Thought it was going bad last summer, but I just cleaned the terminals and it's fine.
Have A Safe, Fun Trip,
Dennis
p.s. Give everyone a hug for me.