Bucking and sputtering--battery related?

[kongjie]

Came out of work and battery was D - E - D dead. This time I don't think I stupidly left the key on the park position--I'm thinking the battery is old, perhaps the original one that came with the bike. The first and original owner kept it on a tender. I checked the charging with a meter and it seemed to be adequate, but maybe now that the bike is getting daily use the battery has given up the ghost.

I park on the top level of a parking garage and so the one good thing is that I can push start by going down a level. I got it started but it was running REALLY rough, bucking and sputtering. I almost gave up on it but after 5 minutes or so it was back to normal and I was able to ride home.

When I got it home, out of curiosity I tried starting it after turning it off, and it was dead. I plugged in the battery tender and after just a minute or two the red light was one and the green light was flashing, which normally indicates 80% charged. So I think the battery must be so shot that it's not even charging properly.

I'm going to get a new battery, charge it up, install it and then check the charging system. My one question for now is this--was the bucking and sputtering the result of the battery being so low that the bike could barely run? It's my understanding that this bike needs a charged battery to run, so I'm guessing the juice was so low that it was on the verge of stalling, until there was enough charge.

[Water Warrior 2]

If the battery is original it has likely lost it's ability to hold a charge. It would be 7 years old now and that is a long time for a small battery to provide usable power. If it were me I would replace the battery to make sure I have a reliable power source.
If the battery isn't the actual problem you have not really wasted any $. It is likely on it's last legs anyway.
Get a meter if you don't have one. Also get a Battery Tender to extend the life of the battery.

[GZ250]

In general, if everything is ok with a bike and it starts starting issue, its the BATTERY and especially if the battery is more than 3-4 yrs old. Even if you use battery tender, for a couple of times it will start the bike but then it start loosing power for a cold start (CCA). Recently, my bike was doing the same thing and with the new battery it is perfectly ok. During periods of no activity it is good to use battery tender.

[mrlmd1]

It most likely is just the battery. The charging system on these bikes is very puny and with a bad battery draining or taxing the charging capacity, the bike may not run right - you need juice to fire off the plug correctly. In any event, you have to replace the battery first if that is the problem.
Before you just get a new one, try to charge this one up completely to 12.6-12.8 V if it will accept that charge and bring it to a battery place or garage and have them load test it. If it fails, then get a new one. And remember, a new battery will probably be an AGM type, and YOU must fully charge it up before you use it or it will quickly fail.
You must buy a voltmeter/tester which you can get for $5 or less. You can check the battery voltage and the charging system and everything else on your bike, car, house, and you will use it forever.
And like was suggested before, get a battery tender/charger/maintainer/whatever you want to call it, and hook the pigtail leads up to the battery when you install it for use anytime you want to charge up the battery when it sits for a prolonged time.

[kongjie]

When I got the bike, about a month ago, I did have the battery checked. It was load tested and it passed. But I know that for more than a year the bike sat in a garage on a battery tender. Now that it is being relatively heavily used, I think it just died.

I do have a tender and a multimeter and will test everything after I charge and install the new battery.

[mrlmd1]

If the battery was on a battery tender for all that time and you had it load tested a month ago and it was good, it may not be the battery's fault. They just don't up an die just like like that. If the bike is being run a lot, then the battery should be charging. If you didn't leave the key in the Park position to drain it, before you buy another battery, see if you can charge it up again, then test for some other current draw with your meter as follows: Disconnect the negative cable from the battery, hook up the meter in between the negative terminal and the ground cable and set it to measure amperage. There should be 0 current flowing if the bike is off and there are no shorts anywhere. If you get any kind of current reading you have a draw on the electrical system and have to start tracing all the wiring to find it. If you measure 0, then get yourself a new battery, charge it, and then see what happens.
(Just trying to eliminate some other problem and try and save you money too. This is all a process of elimination instead of just shotgun buying new stuff and hope that solves the problem.)

[kongjie]

Originally Posted by mrlmd1

If the battery was on a battery tender for all that time and you had it load tested a month ago and it was good, it may not be the battery's fault. They just don't up an die just like like that. If the bike is being run a lot, then the battery should be charging. If you didn't leave the key in the Park position to drain it, before you buy another battery, see if you can charge it up again, then test for some other current draw with your meter as follows: Disconnect the negative cable from the battery, hook up the meter in between the negative terminal and the ground cable and set it to measure amperage. There should be 0 current flowing if the bike is off and there are no shorts anywhere. If you get any kind of current reading you have a draw on the electrical system and have to start tracing all the wiring to find it. If you measure 0, then get yourself a new battery, charge it, and then see what happens.
(Just trying to eliminate some other problem and try and save you money too. This is all a process of elimination instead of just shotgun buying new stuff and hope that solves the problem.)

Good advice about shotgun buying. Already bought a replacement battery, though. I'll test as you have suggested to make sure there are no shorts, but even the light indicators on the tender pointed to a problem charging the old battery.