Battery Issues

Ok here's the deal. I went for a ride today and stopped for lunch. When returning to the bike, she took a few tries to start. About 10 miles later (guestimate), I stopped to fill up the gas tank and the battery wouldn't turn her over. Had to have a lady at the next pump jump me.

So, I'm out riding (approx 15 miles), in the hopes that the battery will charge. I stop for a smoke and left the bike running. On my short trip home from there (roughly 3 miles) I noticed that the blinkers did not seem to be working unless the engine was revving high. I got home, turned into the driveway and was backing her into the garage and she died on me.

Here's the strange part...my first thought is that my new dual headlight setup (I think it's a 55/60w H4 setup for each light) was draining the battery, and that the sirius radio on for the whole ride today didn't make anything better. But when I hooked up the battery charger, the green light came right on indicating a fully charged battery. So, I unhooked it, turned the key and pushed the button...nothing...no click, no noise what so ever...just a barely noticeable flicker of the "dash lights".

So...do I need a new battery, or can anyone deduce some other problem? Is the dual headlight setup too much for the little battery???

Thanks guys,

Clutch

Hey clutch, i would try going back to the stock headlight to see if it makes the problem go away. Do you know how old the battery is? Is the water level in between the indicated lines? I know my z1 was doing the same thing you were describing, i went ahead and ordered a sealed gel type battery for it at a place called bikebatts.com.

oldkaws4ever wrote:

Hey clutch, i would try going back to the stock headlight to see if it makes the problem go away. Do you know how old the battery is? Is the water level in between the indicated lines? I know my z1 was doing the same thing you were describing, i went ahead and ordered a sealed gel type battery for it at a place called bikebatts.com.

Not sure about battery age. It came with the bike when I got it earlier this year. So far I have had no problems, but I am thinking since the charger does not seem to be making things any better (now hours later), that it is most likely the battery.

Is there an advantage, performance/charge/cca/ca wise, to the sealed gel battery over the fillable stock style ones?

Would assure negative battery cable has good clean ground where it attaches to the engine (or frame).

Would charge battery overnight, then check charging system by measuring voltage across battery terminals. At idle rpm look for 12+ volts. At 3000~4000 rpm, look for 14+ volts.

Imo, it's okay to jump from a automobile battery so long as the automobile engine in NOT running.

Symptoms do indicate that battery won't hold a charge. Are fluid levels correct? Has specific gravity been checked (little floating balls test)?

Good Luck!

Patton wrote:

Would assure negative battery cable has good clean ground where it attaches to the engine (or frame).

Hmmm....

This may very well be the issue. I didn't think much of it earlier, but when I hooked up the jumper cables, I put the negative on the frame ground first. It wouldn't stat, and moved it directly to the neg batt "post", and she started right up. I will go check that right now!!!

So after checking the ground, which appeared to be fine, I opted for picking up a new battery today since I did not know the age of the old one since it was on the bike when I got it. I brought one home, filled and hooked it up to the charger. I noticed I had flipped the switch at some point from 12v to 6v, which was issue number one. With the new battery charging (not sitting on concrete), I removed the old one and my jaw dropped! The second issue was that two or three of the cells were COMPLETELY DRY! I am amazed my bike even started at all yesterday!

The new battery is completely charged and now installed on the bike. I will be going out for a test drive tomorrow after work, but it already appears to have fixed most of the issues!

cool, glad to hear you found the problem. See, it is always something simple and small, and after you find it you say to your self........WTF was i thinking.....lol. Hope all goes well for ya on your ride after work.

One of the main reasons I converted to GEL battery...

Worth the extra $$$ when I'll get another season or two from it... Plus it can handle the AZ heat better...

Glad you have it figured out, now go ride that old girl...

And definitely still take your idle and higher rpm voltage (charging) measurements for confirmations...

OMR

Patton wrote:

Would charge battery overnight, then check charging system by measuring voltage across battery terminals. At idle rpm look for 12+ volts. At 3000~4000 rpm, look for 14+ volts.

Ok....looks like there is an issue here. I'm not upset about getting a fresh new battery, but no voltage increase as specified above. I decided to check this after getting home today and realizing the battery cherge is slightly UNDER 12 volts. Now what should I check? The book says that if there is no increase, to check the alternator by removing the engine sprocket cover and testing some wires in the connectors back there, but I noticed a comment on the rectifier info page on the Z1 Enterprises site and it says a faulty rectifier COULD result in not charging, and not just overcharging like the book suggests. I've taken the sprocket cover off before and it is a PITA! Is there a sure fire way to know whether it's the alternator, rectifier or both without removing it?

Thanks,

Clutch

Go to www.electrosport.com They have a trouble shooting page for problems like yours.

So after reading this post, and a lot of other information on the web about problems with replacing the wrong part, I decided to replace both the alternator/stator and the reg/rect. I got them and installed them yesterday and went for a ride after checking voltages, etc. All seemed well and went for another ride today before work and the bike died on me. It almost seemed as if it had run out of gas the way it went out.

Unfortunately, gas is not the issue. I did however, notice some REALLY bad wires, one of which is the reg/rect to battery wire. I'm thinking some of the old wiring may be the real issue. I am also thinking that maybe the three yellow wires from the stator need to be in a certain order??

Anyway, all help is much appreciated because I absolutely love riding, and hate having problems. The way things have been going, there is not much else to replace other than old wires, the coils and a few other bits and pieces.

Thanks,

Clutch

The bad wire is almost certainly the problem. The three yellow wires can be in any order. (That is why they are ALL yellow!)