I was out on nice long charity ride yesterday. This morning I went out to check the mileage on the trip odometer and the bike was just dead. Maybe I left the key on? Hard to do with the head lights on in the garage. I checked the voltage in the battery. It says 2.1volts. I tried to charge the battery and the charger behaves as though it is not connected to the battery.
So, here is my plan.
1. Get a new battery.
2. Charge the replacement.
3. Read the voltage on the battery.
4. Instal the battery.
5. Start the bike, read the voltage at the battery to make sure it indicates the battery is charging (higher than step 3 voltage). If I don't a get a warm fuzzy feeling about the alternator, take it to the dealer and have them test it.
6. Chalk it up to crappy original equipment part.
Wow oem Yuasas are usually the best batteries you can but. Even replacement Yuasas are not as good in my experience. When I order replacement batteries for my bike I insist they order by oem part number from mfg and not get them from an outside supplier.
Anyhow these new gel batteries have a distressing habit of just giving up totally without warning. Happened to me on my ST 1300 and to my son on his Fz-1. One day they are good, one day they got nothing. Fortunately both batteries died in our garages too instead of out on the road. many these days that tour just replace their batts every two years to avoid a battery break down on the road. Not me ( too frugal) and it will probably bite me in the butt someday. I tender mine whenever I am not riding and generally get 5 years out of a oem battery.
Btw I believe the oem battery has a one year ( maybe a 2 year) warranty. Check with your dealer.
Probably has a bad cell or two. Just a bad battery. I'm sure your charging system is fine, just check the output with the new battery should be above 14 at 5000RPM's.
Tendering a battery all winter will also dry up (fry) cells and cause this problem.
oops.. ignore this post, I just read more carefully that your external charger can't charge the battery. (I can't delete my post for some reason).
Another possibility is that the reg/rectifier has stopped working.. Check or have checked the voltage at the battery terminal when the engine is running and rev-ed. (My blackbird is sitting in the garage with a bad reg/rectifier.. ran the battery nearly flat before I caught it, luckily I found out at home and not on the road)
(08-24-2014, 01:24 AM)CIP57_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Probably has a bad cell or two. Just a bad battery. I'm sure your charging system is fine, just check the output with the new battery should be above 14 at 5000RPM's.
Tendering a battery all winter will also dry up (fry) cells and cause this problem.
Not trying to start anything, but I disagree with this statement. My bikes are tendered not only all winter, but all year round. Every single day. When I climb off my bike after a ride, I plug it in before I even take my helmet off. Our 09 Majesty still has the original battery it's over 6 years old. My ST battery that died was over 5 years old when it died, had been tendered it's whole life. It's replacement has been tendered every day since new. My son's FZ-1 battery was 7 years old when it died and had been tendered every day. Both of my brothers bikes and his Miata are on tenders every day.
I think on the old juice batteries, the lead acid kind, if someone didn't watch the fluid levels in the cells and let one dry up, they would sulfate and that cell would die ruining the battery.
(08-24-2014, 02:02 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: [ -> ] (08-24-2014, 01:24 AM)CIP57_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Probably has a bad cell or two. Just a bad battery. I'm sure your charging system is fine, just check the output with the new battery should be above 14 at 5000RPM's.
Tendering a battery all winter will also dry up (fry) cells and cause this problem.
Not trying to start anything, but I disagree with this statement. My bikes are tendered not only all winter, but all year round. Every single day. When I climb off my bike after a ride, I plug it in before I even take my helmet off. Our 09 Majesty still has the original battery it's over 6 years old. My ST battery that died was over 5 years old when it died, had been tendered it's whole life. It's replacement has been tendered every day since new. My son's FZ-1 battery was 7 years old when it died and had been tendered every day. Both of my brothers bikes and his Miata are on tenders every day.
I think on the old juice batteries, the lead acid kind, if someone didn't watch the fluid levels in the cells and let one dry up, they would sulfate and that cell would die ruining the battery.
Not trying to start anything, but I disagree with this statement. My bikes are tendered not only all winter, but all year round. Every single day. When I climb off my bike after a ride, I plug it in before I even take my helmet off. Our 09 Majesty still has the original battery it's over 6 years old. My ST battery that died was over 5 years old when it died, had been tendered it's whole life. It's replacement has been tendered every day since new. My son's FZ-1 battery was 7 years old when it died and had been tendered every day. Both of my brothers bikes and his Miata are on tenders every day.
I think on the old juice batteries, the lead acid kind, if someone didn't watch the fluid levels in the cells and let one dry up, they would sulfate and that cell would die ruining the battery.
Thats OK Mickey, i everyone though the same it would be a boring world
That's true
Micky is correct, I leave my tender on for very long periods and get 5-6 years out of my batteries..
The latest technology battery tenders are made to keep a battery charged without cooking them dry - for months at a time.
With all the electronic gadgetry, clocks, computer, etc, on a bike these days, plugging in if it's going to sit for a number of days or weeks is never a bad idea.
Longest (so far) that I've had a battery last has been eight years in my Goldwing and it was still good when I sold the bike.
OK, you got my curiosity up ferret....what leads do you leave permanently attached to your battery to allow you to connect so easily and what charger do you use? Do you have the leads discretely tucked away somewhere and is it specially made for your charger or do you use alligator clips?