Start-up Problem

[Gz Rider]

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[alantf]

Originally Posted by Gz Rider

I agree. Since but if we know the battery is bad why not start with replacing that and see if that solves the curcuit problem?

I concur. Looks like the battery's not holding a charge.

[mrlmd1]

11.8 V = DEAD battery. It will never start with battery voltage that low before you hit the start button.
And all you are doing when you connect a good battery directly to the starter is energizing the starter with 12V, you are not supplying any juice to any other circuit needed to start the bike, like to the ignition system. There is no other circuit problem anywhere.

Your problem is a dead battery or a bad battery -very simple, and until you correct that, stop looking for other more exotic causes.

If you are new to this bike and you have charged up the battery before, you may be inadvertently turning the key past the Off position to the Park position (all the way to the right if I remember), and leaving on the rear parking lights which you may not notice when you are leaving the bike. This will discharge the battery in a few hours and you will not be able to start it again.

To repeat this again -- Put the battery on a 2 amp charger overnight, measure the voltage 1/2 hour or more after you charge it fully. It should be at 12.6V. It should still read that or real close the next day. The bike should start with the battery at full charge, and use the choke as intended. Do not let the bike sit running to recharge the battery. There is no significant charge output at idle and you will use up more "juice" in starting it then you will be replacing. If you need to charge the battery, either put it on the charger or go for at least a half hour ride. Air cooled bikes do not like to idle or sit running for long periods of time - they need to be ridden to cool properly.

The best way to check the battery to see if it's any good is to get it load tested - after you FULLY charge it - and any garage, auto store or battery place will do this for free.
If you get sucked in by some place that tells you your battery is "shot" and you have to buy a new one, and you get an AGM motorcycle battery - be warned. These MUST BE CHARGED TO FULL CAPACITY BEFORE FIRST USE or they will NEVER hold a full charge. Do not listen to the advice of the guy in the store who tells you take the battery home, install it and it is good to go. Unless you yourself take the time to charge it up fully, you will be back in the store in a few weeks trying to get a new replacement battery because the other one you just bought has failed or won't hold a full charge.

His bike may not have started with his car battery jumped to his bike battery because the car battery may just be discharging into that severely depleted dead battery and no juice is really flowing to the bike's components. I bet if he just hooked the car battery to the battery cables on the bike and took the bike's battery out or disconnected it from the circuit, the bike would start fine.

[blaine]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

If you are new to this bike and you have charged up the battery before, you may be inadvertently turning the key past the Off position to the Park position (all the way to the right if I remember), and leaving on the rear parking lights which you may not notice when you are leaving the bike. This will discharge the battery in a few hours and you will not be able to start it again.

:plus1: Key to the left is off,park,and fork lock.

[bjrscj]

I appreciate the advice. The reason I've been looking for more "exotic" causes is because I had my battery load tested a few months ago (and haven't ridden it all that much since then) when I was having other issues, and they said it was fine. Also, I have been charging my battery on a battery charger that is supposed to have an indicator light flash if the battery won't hold a charge - and the light has not flashed at all. That being said, I trust the community's knowledge of this, as I know these other routes may prove to be faulty, or I have misunderstood their application.

I do have a few questions that may help me understand this a little more. From my understanding, the battery is a 12v battery, so when I read 11.8 v, that didn't seem too bad to me. I have heard that batteries lose charge, particularly in the winter months when it's cold, which is why some guys have their batteries hooked up over the winter (so I'm told). Is the .2v that big of a deal? Also, why isn't my battery charger light reliable? I got a 1.5 amp (I think) charger, so it's small, but it's supposed to do the job.

[Edit] Now that I think of it, right before I sat my bike, I tried some hand warmers hooked up to the battery, and after about a mile of riding, it killed the lights on and off, and made the bike sputter. I suppose this could have depleted the battery beyond holding a charge, but that still doesn't explain my lack of replacement light on my charger.

[Gz Rider]

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[alantf]

Originally Posted by bjrscj

From my understanding, the battery is a 12v battery, so when I read 11.8 v, that didn't seem too bad to me.

Actually, 12v should read "Nominal 12v". This is just a way of differentiating between, say, 6v, 12v, 110v, 240v etc. None of these voltages would measure exactly what they are called. Remember, power (wattage) is volts X amps, so the lower the voltage the higher the current needs to be for any given wattage. This means that for any given wattage, if the voltage drops (12.6v - 11.8v) 0.8v, that is 6.6% of the nominal voltage, so the current needs to rise by 6.6% of whatever current is needed to turn the starter plus provide a spark, When we're talking about such low (12v) voltages, & such high starting current (80A?) you can see that it makes a great difference. :2tup:

[mrlmd1]

FYI- a fully charged lead acid battery should read 12.6-12.8V., that's 2.1V / cell.
For an SLA battery VRLA battery
12.66 V 100%charge 12.85 V
12.45 V 75% 12.65 V
12.24 V 50% 12.35 V
12,06 V 25% 12.00 V
11.80 V 0% 11.80 V


If you are using a 1.5 amp charger you will need to leave that hooked up for maybe 12 hours to get your battery back to full charge. And the charging capacity of these bikes is minimal and you probably depleted the battery with those handwarmers. You have a dead battery as your problem. Just charge it up for at least 12 hours or more.

[Gz Rider]

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[bjrscj]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

FYI- a fully charged lead acid battery should read 12.6-12.8V., that's 2.1V / cell.
For an SLA battery VRLA battery
12.66 V 100%charge 12.85 V
12.45 V 75% 12.65 V
12.24 V 50% 12.35 V
12,06 V 25% 12.00 V
11.80 V 0% 11.80 V


If you are using a 1.5 amp charger you will need to leave that hooked up for maybe 12 hours to get your battery back to full charge. And the charging capacity of these bikes is minimal and you probably depleted the battery with those handwarmers. You have a dead battery as your problem. Just charge it up for at least 12 hours or more.

I ride the bike rather frequently, but due to the cold, I haven't ridden it much recently. As far as the handwarmers, I have charged my battery two or three times since then, for much more than 12 hours. I'll try charging it again and then read it after taking it off the charger.

Assuming it is the battery, would you have any recommendations for a specific type?