Have been riding for the last few days and had no issues.

However today during my ride home from work I decided to stop to fill er up at a gas station. Upon topping off the tank I went to start her up....and nothing.

By nothing I mean no clicking or any sound of any kind whatsoever.
Neutral light is on.
No headlamp.
No speedo lights
Turn signals worked though
Brake light worked too.

I had a friend come with a car and some jumper cables, followed protocol and hooked up negatives last and removed negatives first.

Let it sit for about 20 min like that, no change to the situation as stated above.

Assumed then it must be the battery was so low that maybe it just needed to be replaced. Shelled out $100 at the local Advance Auto Parts for their mc 12v battery.

Took out the old battery and replaced with the new battery, still no change to the situation stated above.

Guess it's time to learn how to bump start...

Bump start successful on the second try in second gear, then when I slowed down it died again.

On the 7th or 8th try I got it turned over again and had my friends escort me front and rear flank all the way home because it was dark and I had no headlamp...or so I thought!

Headlamp started coming on whenever I used the front brake, like it would with the taillight...WTF?!?

I have the clymers manual and I guess I'll start troubleshooting tomorrow since I have off from work. However I do not have a lot of electrical experience and would like some suggestions about what may have gone wrong and where to start looking to diagnose these issues.

Recent mods:
Raptor 660 petcock changed.
Carb mixture screw adjusted to just under 2 full turns out.
Replaced speedo bulbs.
Removed and repainted headlamp assembly.

I am very positive the speedo and headlamp were wired back together properly because they are just terminals that click back together and do not require any actual "wiring" They have been fine for days of riding these last two weeks.

I have neglected to hook up my battery tender though for a week or so though.

Help me out here guys!  

Go back to every place you've been. Look at wires.
Always have batteries tested.

justin_o_guy2 wrote on 10/09/14 at 18:49:59:


I will.

They (AAP) assured me the battery was charged and ready to go. My buddy dropped the positive terminal screw and it contacted the battery box and sparked, so doesn't that mean its juiced up?

I found it. Total noob. It was the "run/off" wiring terminal connection under the gas tank that shook loose I guess. Well, lesson learned there eh? Wish I would have found that at 5pm today instead of 10:30 at night.

Don't worry about the money spent on a new battery, chances are it wasn't wasted.  If your old battery was the type that needs periodic water replacement then good riddance. Or if it was more than 4 or 5 years old it probably didn't have much life left in it anyway.  With a good  battery tender the new one will last many years.

Best place to buy a battery is at a battery house retailer.  They sell lots of batteries so the stock is fresh and they know batteries and always test before they sell a new one.  The guys that work at those national chain auto parts stores may or may not know anything about the product they are selling.

engineer wrote on 10/10/14 at 06:45:21:


"Old" battery was a newer gel cell. Only about 3 yrs old and I already have a 12v battery tender trickle charge for it.