Complete Electrical Failure

[Ulvetanna_imp]

I mentioned that my battery had been acting up in another thread about that, where a few others had experienced this as well.

It was a low battery/low cranking issue, which was cured with a jump.

I pulled out the battery and charged it fully, reinstalled it, checked the charging system - it was at a nice 14.1V at idle.

I fired the bike up and started to go for a ride and after a couple of hundred yards, it died completely. A few red warning lights flashed and then it went dark. No juice at all.

I was able to get in my car and go get an inexpensive ($99) battery from Cycle Gear and install it within about an hour. That fixed it right up. Plenty of juice.

The caution here being that charging an ailing battery and hoping it'll last one more ride is not going to work for those of us who got faulty batteries.

The only thing that can really cause a total electrical failure is a bad cell in the battery, which in this case means a bad, defective product from Yuasa.

I have two other bikes I bought around the same time as the CB1100, their batteries are going strong and both have at least the same number of miles, if not more.

The battery was frequently charged with a Battery Tender wall-wart unit (0.75A charging rate with float charge). It was never discharged.

If you suspect your battery of problems, replace it if you don't want to be stuck somewhere. I am very thankful this happened right out of the gate and not on the freeway.

P. S. The noisome element here is that I just yesterday paid $210 for a new Shorai LiFe battery. Looks like I have a backup now.

[redbirds_imp]

Glad it didn't happen in an inconvenient place. Same thing happened to a Kawasaki my wife owned a few years ago. Less than 2000 miles and total battery failure. Yuasa battery had a defective cell.

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Glad it didn't happen in an inconvenient place. Same thing happened to a Kawasaki my wife owned a few years ago. Less than 2000 miles and total battery failure. Yuasa battery had a defective cell.

It does happen! Guess I have two batteries now. Good thing I plan on keeping this 2013.

[4 Paws_imp]

Why do some batteries die young and others go forever?

[Ulvetanna_imp]

Why do some batteries die young and others go forever?

I really wonder about that.

I wonder if the level of vibration is excessive where the battery is located?

I was also wondering if my brake light modulator was creating some kind of problem, but that seems very unlikely.

I think it's just a bad run...hard to say.

[mininsx_imp]

I had an odd battery problem once with my '08 Vulcan 900 Custom. I'd just taken it off the Battery Tender and rode maybe a mile away and stopped to get gas. When I went to start it up it barely cranked over, but it started. Turns out that even though it was less than 2 years old it had a bad battery.

[Ulvetanna_imp]

I had an odd battery problem once with my '08 Vulcan 900 Custom. I'd just taken it off the Battery Tender and rode maybe a mile away and stopped to get gas. When I went to start it up it barely cranked over, but it started. Turns out that even though it was less than 2 years old it had a bad battery.

lol, these things do happen. Ironically, my Shorai battery just came to the house, so I guess I'll install it! Electrical problems, very annoying.

I also dropped a 10mm nut when installing the battery yesterday. Of course it fell into the drive train and somehow created three very loud "clunks" before the bike disgorged it. I stopped right way, and found it under the bike. Checked the chain & sprockets and could find no indication of a problem. Removed the left side cosmetic plastic countershaft cover and still found nothing amiss. Seems to operate fine. I think it fell on top of the chain and was thumping between the chain and case. Maybe I'll pull the actual countershaft cover and see if it damaged anything, now that I think about it.

[the Ferret]

where did the 10mm nut come from? (Takes a 14mm wrench?) That's a pretty large nut. Very few of them used on this bike.

[Ulvetanna_imp]

where did the 10mm nut come from? (Takes a 14mm wrench?) That's a pretty large nut. Very few of them used on this bike.

The nut that goes into the battery connection terminal. It decided to fall out just as I pulled the battery out with that nifty little strap. When I say 10mm I refer to the size of wrench, not the size of the threads.

One neat feature of the Shorai, which is new, is that they dispensed with that nut and build the threads directly into the terminals.

That LiFe battery is very, very light, saved me over 6 pounds, the weight of a gallon of gasoline and then some.

The charge on it as shipped was about 13.35 volts. The CB's charging system is ideal for that battery.

The largest nut on my bike is attached to the handlebars, at least when it's moving.

[the Ferret]

Lol I hear ya

Ok that makes sense. Sorry I worked in the industry for 17 years and that confused me. A 6 mm nut uses a 10 mm wrench. A 10 m nut would take a 14 mm wrench.