Disappointing Birthday Present

[flynrider]

On April 5th, 2013 I swung my leg over my CB1100 and put the first mile on the odometer.

Today I was running errands around town and stopped at the post office to mail a letter. When I came out I hit the starter button, the engine slowly made about a half turn and stopped. Further attempts got similar results. I could tell voltage was low because when I let go of the button, the tach and speedo would go through their full sweep (as if I had just turned the key on). This had all the earmarks of a dead battery.

To make a long story short, lots of huffing and puffing ensued while I attempted to push start the bike with the side stand down (Doh!). I eventually figured out my goof and the bike started up nicely in second gear with the side stand up.

When I got home, I did some diagnostics and now I'm thoroughly stumped. I let the bike sit for about 1/2 hour (longer than I'd been in the post office). When I went back out I attached a multimeter to the battery and it showed 12.6V, so I turned on the key. The headlight was bright, so I hit the starter and she fired right up. I checked the charging system and it was showing a healthy 14.0 - 14.1 volts at 5,000 rpm. Battery connections were tight. Basically, everything looked good. I'm stumped.

Because of the extreme heat here, lead acid batteries typically last around 3 years on my bikes. I had higher hopes for the stock sealed battery, but maybe not. I suppose the next step will be a load test on the battery (when I get my load tester back from my neighbor). Any other ideas?

[the Ferret]

Well everything points to the battery. I would charge it up and do a load test. I've heard that heat in AZ does terrible things to batteries. Some guys say 1 1/2 to 2 years for a car battery?

[Pterodactyl_imp]

At the post office did you use the kill switch and leave the ignition (and lights) ON? It's been done before (once by me, for instance). A push start and twelve months down the track my four year old battery is still good.

Cheers

[Elipten_imp]

Heat kills batteries, not cold. You got some hot wired accessory, you might have left on draining the battery. I hate that side stand switch. On my old BMW when you pull the clutch it retracts the side stand I the rider has not previously done so.


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[flynrider]

At the post office did you use the kill switch and leave the ignition (and lights) ON? It's been done before (once by me, for instance). A push start and twelve months down the track my four year old battery is still good.

Cheers

Nope. Haven't ever used the kill switch and verified it was on. The key was in my pocket, so the bike definitely wasn't on for the few minutes. I spent in the post office.

Heat kills batteries, not cold. You got some hot wired accessory, you might have left on draining the battery. I hate that side stand switch. On my old BMW when you pull the clutch it retracts the side stand I the rider has not previously done so.


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No electrical accessories have been added. Electrically, it's stock.

I'm going to let it sit overnight and see what happens in the morning.

[Cormanus]

Heat kills batteries, not cold. You got some hot wired accessory, you might have left on draining the battery. I hate that side stand switch. On my old BMW when you pull the clutch it retracts the side stand I the rider has not previously done so.


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So, if one were to wander along pulling in the clutches of parked Beemers, they'd drop off the side stand?

[Pterodactyl_imp]

Didn't think you would have, but the old saying that the obvious is often the solution is a start in diagnostics.

When you hit the starter was the bike in gear with the side stand up? If so maybe a sticky, or dirty, side stand switch (intermittent).

Cheers

[rboe]

I suspect the battery too. Now it has been brought to my attention that new batteries are given a short initial charge then sent on it's way. But they need a good over night full charge or they don't last. Not sure if a proper charge would help now. But hey. Seems to have worked on my old Griso battery (but I already picked up a replacement so...... ).

Then there are new Lithium batteries that are very light, and um, expensive. Seem to be much less affected by the heat though.

[emptysea]

I don't think the engine would crank at all if it was a kill switch or side stand issue. I think doing a load test would be the right next step as I think it's a battery issue. So the only advice I really have is not to lend tools to neighbors. LOL

Report back and what you find.

[flynrider]

Didn't think you would have, but the old saying that the obvious is often the solution is a start in diagnostics.

When you hit the starter was the bike in gear with the side stand up? If so maybe a sticky, or dirty, side stand switch (intermittent).

Cheers

Exactly. I'm trolling for the obvious idea that I may have overlooked. I'm suspicious for two reasons. 1) This sealed battery seems to have failed much earlier than most of the cheapo lead/acid batteries I've had. 2) Once I got home, everything seemed perfectly normal.

I used my normal starting procedure. Bike in neutral, side stand up. Since the engine actually attempted to turn over, that would seem to rule out the side stand switch. The sweep of the gauges when the button was released would seem to indicate a lack of voltage while the button was depressed.