I finally have my fuel routing and did the normal maintenance (oiland filter, air filter, plugs) and the bike has been running great.
When I first got the bike it would start but crank very slowly and got to where it would not start at all, I could jump the battery and it would run fine until I had to start it again. In light of getting stranded @ work a couple of times, I went out and bought a new Yauss (sp?) battery. Anyway, this new battery fired up the bike and I had no problems with it for the first 3 weeks or so and then one day coming home, the bike started popping and just died. I was able to get the bike home and once I did, it wouldn't crank at all.
On the recommendation of the place I bought the battery and through reviewing the forums, I had also purchased a battery tender, but never opened it (new battery, who knew?). So I started using the Battery tender over the weekends with the new battery and every seemed great until yesterday. I was coming home from working and it popped and died. No crank or anything. Had the wife bring the cables down and it still would not start from a jump.
Ran home, grabbed the old battery, put it in the bike, jumped it and rode it home.
Do I have a bad (new) battery?
Why will my old battery run the bike, but not start it?
I have the old battery in the bike now and on the tender to see if it will start the bike after showing a charge. If it does and doesn't leave me stranded should I simply return the new battery as bad?
Any input on this would be appreciated. I like the bike, but I'm starting to get frustrated. Also, thanks to all who have helped on my other posts, all of the information has been very helpful.
A faulty battery wont provide enough charge to power the starter motor and start the bike, but may be able to provide enough current to power the ignition system of a bike thats already running following a jumpstart until it goes flat completely. At the same time a fully charged battery will start and run a bike with a faulty charging system but will only run it until the battery goes flat. You need to determine if your problem is down to the battery or the charging system.
To assess the condition of your batteries take it them to an auto-electrician, ask them to perform a load-test on them and check the specific-gravity of the electrolyte, which should be 1.28 (@ 20degC). If this proves the batteries are toast the answer to your problem has been found, if the batteries are deemed serviceable, fully charge one, fit it to the bike and place a voltmeter across the battery. With the engine running at 5000rpm the voltage reading should be between 13.5 and 15.5v.........anything outside these figures indicates a problem with the charging system.
Well, a bit of an update. Had the "old" battery charging overnight and through Lunch today. Went hom pulle the charger of and she fired right up...
Thanks for the info, I'll definitely take them to be tested.
If all else fails, guess I'll throw the charger on every night and live with it, this won't hurt the battery anymore than it already is will it?
Quote from: rblevins on June 12, 2008, 10:07:44 AM
Well, a bit of an update. Had the "old" battery charging overnight and through Lunch today. Went hom pulle the charger of and she fired right up...
Thanks for the info, I'll definitely take them to be tested.
As a side note, local shops that sell motorcycle batteries often perform this test for free. OF course, they are hoping to sell you a new battery if yours fails.
Quote
If all else fails, guess I'll throw the charger on every night and live with it, this won't hurt the battery anymore than it already is will it?
Although it is fine to use a battery tender every night, you should be sure you are not ignoring a bigger problem with your charging system that could cause you more grief later on. If you have a multimeter, you can follow these steps to do some basic testing yourself:
http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=38480.0
Just so you know,the charging system doesn't start charging until the engine gets up around 3500 rpm +/-.So if you're idling in traffic or lopping around town the bike is running on the battery only and it doesn't take much to kill a weak battery.
Yeah, to go to work I actually run about 40-45mph down the hill 1.5 Miles and try to keep it @ 4500-5000RPMs and then about 2.8Miles is 45-50mph and I try to keep it right @ 5500RPMs. Up the hill about another 1.5 Miles, I'm running about 7k RPMs until I get to the entrance of work. This is about all I ride through the week,I'll take it out once in a while on the weekend, but it's just a knowckk the dust off ride, no highway, not comfortable enough with the bike for that yet.
Thanks to all for the info...