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General Category >> Rubber Side Down! >> Bike Died, or at least took a nap
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Message started by shadowman on 08/25/08 at 10:02:54

Title: Bike Died, or at least took a nap
Post by shadowman on 08/25/08 at 10:02:54

Went out to do a couple of errands yesterday. Bike started just fine, went couple of miles, shut down, did business, started up fine, shut down, did business, then ...clunk. Just made that decompression sound and nothing else. Very weak hedalight, so I knew it was electrical. Dead battery. But why?? Don't seem to have any charging problems (lights brighten when I rev).

Got the truck, hauled it home and pulled the battery -- looks OK (What can your tell??) Put it on the charger and it only took about 90 minutes for a full charge, which seems a little strange -- last time I ran it down it took somewhat longer. Anyhow, bike started right up. I left it overnight and this a.m. I put the charger back on, thinking there might be a short and wanted to see what it took to bring it back to full charge. Nope -- after about two minutes the charger registered complete charge and shut down. Started bike up and rode 20 miles to work, no problem.

Something is not right -- how does a bike start and run and then after sitting 20 minutes (key was in my pocket, park lights not on) the batt was all but empty? Suspicious that it charged up so quickly. Any thoughts?? Don't know how old battery is, but PO said it was fresh. Possible bad cell?? Take it to Autozone for a check??

Title: Re: Bike Died, or at least took a nap
Post by T Mack 1 on 08/25/08 at 10:22:38

Were the runs in between stops short??? Maybe the battery didn't have time to charge.

I guess the test will be whether you are riding home from work today.........

Title: Re: Bike Died, or at least took a nap
Post by photojoe on 08/25/08 at 12:37:13

Shado, that sounds exactly the same as what happened to me last week. Turned out to be a dead battery. When I got the bike home, I pulled the battery and hooked it up to the battery tender jr. It showed a full charge, so I put it back in the bike. Turned the ignition, lights came on, hit the starter, belched and died. Then, nothing. Went to Pep Boys (See my ost in the tech section) and bought a ProStart Powersport 14LA2 battery for $29.00, hooked it up to the tender overnight, installed it in the morning and it runs fine now.

I thought is was a short also, and ingnored the most obvious. I'll bet it's you battery. Well, let's hope that's what it is.

Title: Re: Bike Died, or at least took a nap
Post by shadowman on 08/25/08 at 13:17:03

I saw your thread and the problems do sound similar. I guess it is possible that a full charge on a weak bettery can be just enough to kick it over with nothing else in the tank. It's just that a couple of times in recent weeks I have had minor problems starting it (other issues) and the battery has been up to a series of starts and never faltered. For $30 I might just get the battery and be done with it.

Title: Re: Bike Died, or at least took a nap
Post by photojoe on 08/25/08 at 13:31:20

It takes a lot of juice to get this bike started. Reading your post, I noticed that you said the headlight got brighter as it revs. I'm not an expert, but shouldn't the headlight maintain steady brightness with a good battery?

No harm in taking the old battery to get tested also. Good luck, I hope it's something simple.

Title: Re: Bike Died, or at least took a nap
Post by mick on 08/25/08 at 15:28:15

Photojoe is right if you rev up and the light gets brighter ,you definatly need a new battery.

Title: Re: Bike Died, or at least took a nap
Post by justin_o_guy2 on 08/25/08 at 17:18:49

last time I ran it down it took somewhat longer

Sounds like the battery has seen some harsh service. They dont last 4ever anyway. Get a good one, like the Big Crank, & be done with wondering if the problem is the battery.

Title: Re: Bike Died, or at least took a nap
Post by skrapiron on 08/26/08 at 05:48:39

It sounds like you have a dead cell in that battery too.

On a vented battery (like the one in your Savage), electrolyte can boil off and is vented through a drain tube. You have to periodically top up the battery with fresh electrolyte (use distilled water). If you don't catch it in time, you can damage the cell permanently. The result will be voltage less than what the bike requres to start.

Any AGM (absorbed glass mat) or other maintenance free battery will work much better.

Title: Re: Bike Died, or at least took a nap
Post by Moofed on 08/26/08 at 06:38:33

I've had my Savage for a year now and the head light has always brightened when I rev it a little bit. It also dims a bit when the turn signal is on. It hasn't failed me yet and the fluid has always been at the full mark. Have to roll the bike forward and back to see the level through the window.

Then again, if you guys are right it could die any second. :-?

edit: I am mistaken. My light dims with the turn signals. Otherwise dims only if the idle is set too low. ::)

Title: Re: Bike Died, or at least took a nap
Post by Reelthing on 08/26/08 at 07:02:29

After what is believed to be a full charge and they have sat overnite with out any charge on them check the voltage - if it's down around 12.4v or less likely time to toss it

Title: Re: Bike Died, or at least took a nap
Post by shadowman on 08/26/08 at 09:30:35

As usual, good suggestions. When I said the light 'brightened' I didn't mean dramatically -- just enough to tell me that the bike was making electricity, so the problem is not the generator. Of course, it started right up last night and this morning and ran like a champ. I will get the battery checked (it is sealed, so adding electrolyte is out), but after reading these posts I recalled that when I removed the battery the negative terminal was suspiciously loose. (Duh!) I am onow thinking that it might have been something as simple as a bad connection, though I would think that with a good battery/bad connection you either have juice or you don't. In my case it had all the earmarks of a weak battery -- dim light, no start. Of course, it could have been that the weak connection prevented the battery from charging.

Lesson learned: time to go over the bike top to bottom and double check every connection, assume nothing, apply loctite where needed. Repeat periodically.