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Message started by neenertronics on 05/24/24 at 05:07:40

Title: Electrical issue
Post by neenertronics on 05/24/24 at 05:07:40

I'm having some sort of electrical issue on my '96. I had taken the bike out for an hour or so for the first time this season, after making sure the battery had a full charge from my trickle charger. While I was out I shut it off, then after about a half hour when looking to start it again to go home, hitting the ignition button caused all the lights to turn off and the engine wouldn't turn. At that point, no lights would turn on when the key was in the on position and I was getting nothing from the ignition button.

I jumped it, but while putting the cords away it stalled out and was back to the same status. Jumping it again and keeping the RPMs up I was able to limp home, but it wanted to stall the whole way.

Currently in my garage the trickle charger indicates that the battery is fully charged, but am still getting no lights or response from the ignition button when the key is in the on position.

Any help would be appreciated!

Title: Re: Electrical issue
Post by Dave on 05/24/24 at 05:52:19

It sounds like your battery is bad.

Modern "Smart" chargers for some reason see a bad battery with low voltage the same as a fully charged battery.

You need to check the voltage of the battery using a meter. At rest a fully charged battery will have around 12.6 volts. More importantly you should check what the voltage of the battery does when you turn the key on or push the starter button.

Batteries can go bad in an instant. I had a motorcycle with a battery that had worked fine for years - it never failed to start the bike. I started it up and rode to the hardware store. Started it up and rode down to the gas station. After fueling I turned the key on and the battery wouldn't even power up the neutral light! I got a jump and rode 40 minutes - when I got home and shut if off the battery was still dead. Put in a new battery and all was normal again.

Don't trust your smart or trickle charger - they don't know what to do with a battery voltage that drops much below 12 volts.

Title: Re: Electrical issue
Post by neenertronics on 05/26/24 at 14:09:23

Thanks Dave, got a meter on it and it was in the 10s, under load it dropped to less than 1. Swapped the battery and started like a champ. Appreciate your help!