Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Dead battery when I used my heated jacket/gloves

It was a beautiful sunny but freezin day but I rode my bike in 30o weather and used my jacket to keep warm. After about 1/2 hour I stopped to get coffee and turned it off. When I came back out it wouldn't start. Luckily I was parked on a hill so I rolled down and she started in 3rd. I went back home and after turning it off it wouldnt start.

But now I m wondering if it is a bad battery, alternator or just too much for the stock battery/alternator to handle? Is there a better alternator or battery for our bikes? I have a 2004 TBA.

This is what I have on the bike:
Lightbar and all halogen bulbs (about 180 watts)
Tail light and running rear turn signal lights. (I dont know wattage for these. Just the stock lamps)
The heated jacket and gloves use 99 Watts.

The shop manual says our alternator puts out 27A. That would be 324 Watts (12*27)

Any ideas?

Thanks

I killed my bike one snowy winter day last year. Had the gloves, pants liner, and jacket liner going in stop-and-go traffic until the bike died. The battery wasn't dead, but didn't have enough to start or keep the bike going. I've since gotten a couple of voltmeters wired in and found that anything below about 2500 rpm produces just over 12 volts. Not enough to run all the heated gear, light bar and high beam (I ride hi beam during the day and lite bar all the time). Putting the battery on a charger and keeping the bike at 3k or turning all non-essentials off in town keep things going.
If yours is completely dead, check the connections and look for a bad ground at the battey. It took me about 30-40 minutes to kill the bike, but there was still some left in the battery. If all the connections are good, you may want to look at possibly a bad battery.

yep, i killed my battery idling in a horrific traffic jam last year and all i have extra is the light bar. at idle she will not charge the battery past a headlight and taillight. interesting eh?

I have an ammeter. Where should I hook it up? I want to check if there is some drain. Should I go through the fuse box?