been riding all summer. installed a new battery in july. lately she will crank a couple of times then just start clicking...voltage on battery is 12.3...I can't get it started to see if she's charging the battery or not...
could be be a crappy battery or something else? what is the bare min. voltage to able to turn over the motor?
According to tech manuals anything below 12.4V creates a sulfation situation and the longer it sits like that the worse it gets sulfated and dead. Have you tried recharging the battery and load testing it? It has to sustain a load test for at least 10 seconds. Any battery 12V or lower after recharging and load testing is generally considered unserviceable (i.e. no good) but yours may still be salvageable. A battery should have full charge (i.e. 12.8V or higher) in order to test anything on a bike. Wish you success.
Last edited by Comanche; 11-06-2012 at 07:52 PM.
Reason: Clarification
Does it crank ok with a fresh charge? Clean all your connection , on the battery, the starter, and on the seloniod. The seloniod I believe is in front of the battery along with a couple relays. Is possible the battery is bad. Finally replaced my origanal battery 2 months ago on my 05. Had it checked at my local O'Riely's
battery is toast. I bought it this year, and never lasted the summer. I hope I can find the receipt so I can get warranty on it.
Did you charge it? Have it tested? When you bought it did you or the dealer charge it the 1st time? Do you use a battery tender? Or, are you using a car charger? Have you checked out the charging voltage on your bike? Just trying to find out if it was a bad battery at the start or, did it go bad owing to improper under / over charging, storage issues, sulfation, etc. If you don't find out the root cause you may just repeat the issue with the next battery. Good Luck.
Did you charge it? Have it tested? When you bought it did you or the dealer charge it the 1st time? Do you use a battery tender? Or, are you using a car charger? Have you checked out the charging voltage on your bike? Just trying to find out if it was a bad battery at the start or, did it go bad owing to improper under / over charging, storage issues, sulfation, etc. If you don't find out the root cause you may just repeat the issue with the next battery. Good Luck.
Excellent advise!!!
A charging system voltage check should always be done whenever a battery is giving problems or is changed for any reason.
....Just trying to find out if it was a bad battery at the start or, did it go bad owing to improper under / over charging, storage issues, sulfation, etc. If you don't find out the root cause you may just repeat the issue with the next battery. Good Luck.
My OEM battery lasted 7 years and died only because I left the key "on" for a week....now is sitting in my garage with 9 V (multimeter)
sulfation
My new battery is 1 year old only and the reading is 12.56 V . Am I borderline with sulfation? (It's 2 weeks I m not riding because of maintenance).I plan to keep maintenance 2 weeks more. It has been charged by dealer when sold
Storage issue
If not using the bike for 6 weeks do you disconnect the battery and remove from bike or just disconnect negative?
I have been lucky till now, now thinking of buying charger, just in case.
No need to remove the cables nor the battery. Buy a battery tender with a pig tail that you can run from the battery out to a convienant spot to plug the tender in whenever you're not riding. They keep the battery topped off and ready to go. They may not keep up with the drain of the bike being left "on" for a week though. Sounds like some of the pltes may have warped from the continuous drain. It's more than likey ruined the battery.
My OEM battery lasted about 7 years aswell, an 05 bike that I bought in feb 06 lasted untill october of 2012. If my replacement from O'Riely's auto parts last 1/2 as lng, I will be quite happy with it.
98 vulcan 800 classic...won't start
1967 Triumph Bonneville 650 T-120
2005 Kawasaki vulcan classic
Linear Mode
