Here we go again...

[xsilerating]

For some strange, unknown reason, the "Mistress" doesn't seem to like the fall season for, once again, starting issues have reared its ugly head and, once again, I'm stumped. So, once again, I hope that someone can help.

At the moment, the bike will barely turn over when the starter button is pushed. The battery is fully charged, I checked the grounds - all appear to be good - and, for good measure, I replaced the starter solenoid. Also, tried to jumper the solenoid and, that didn't work either.

However, the bike will start with a boost and, it will start with a push start.

Any suggestions, ideas, etc. will be most gratefully appreciated.

Ron

[motoman]

Chargng won't matter when battery has a bad or shorted cell..........bite the bullet and replace the battery with new and don't be cheap. Good one will set U back $80-90US

[Incubus]

Put a multimeter between the positive and negative terminals of your battery. A fully charged battery that sits overnight should show a stable charge of 12.7 volts. If it is 12.5 you have a bad cell. If it is 12.3 you have two bad cells.

My backup battery takes what looks like a full charge from my charger. It seems to change correctly and the battery charger does not read any problems. Fully charged, however, I have only 12.5 volts - and exactly the same symptoms as you.

Check the battery. You might very well need a new one.

Patrick

[motoman]

Not true.........12.5 is normal static voltage. You can NOT know if there is a shorted cell unless the individual cells are loaded tested. For all practical puposes though a load test of battery itself will tell whether or not it can be condemmed. It can show on a meter to have twelve volts till a load test condems it . There are some five different test that can be done to decide if battery is good or not good. Hooked up with known good connections on the bike is a decent load test if you don't have all the test equip...............and I think you already had your answer when that was done. Another thing to remember is a wet cell battery is only as good as how many times it's been run down and re-charged. New one, no matter what your told, charge at a 1-2amp charge for several hours, cause your charging system will never bring it up any more than what it was when installed. Could get very technical when it comes to automotive type charging systems and there PROPER operation, but I think you get the idea.

[Incubus]

Well, I guess every one of my good batteries is screwed up, then because they all show a 12.7 volt resting charge. The bad one is the only one that shows the correct 12.5 volt charge.

Of course, I'm not an expert. What do I know.

Patrick

[fredintoon]

So long as the bike alternator is charging properly, try this:-
Remove the bike battery and jumper the bike from your car battery. If the bike starts and runs on the car battery and it don't on the bike battery the bike battery is fu*ked no matter what the voltmeter sez.

[cywelchjr]

Well, I guess every one of my good batteries is screwed up, then because they all show a 12.7 volt resting charge. The bad one is the only one that shows the correct 12.5 volt charge.

Of course, I'm not an expert. What do I know.

Patrick

Actually a fully charged lead/acid battery with no load on it should show 13.8 volts. That said, they will not actually stay at full charge long, so 12.7 at rest is a good number. But as said, you MUST load test a battery to know if it's actually good, as even a bad cell can show good voltage while not able to provide good current flow.

[xsilerating]

... You can NOT know if there is a shorted cell unless the individual cells are loaded tested. For all practical puposes though a load test of battery itself will tell whether or not it can be condemmed. It can show on a meter to have twelve volts till a load test condems it . ...

... But as said, you MUST load test a battery to know if it's actually good, as even a bad cell can show good voltage while not able to provide good current flow.

Good information. Thank you.

Although the battery was showing good numbers on my meter, based on the information you provided, I replaced it with a spare one that I had. The bike fired right up! Feel a bit but, based on the numbers showing and the fact that the battery is less than a year old, it wasn't something that I thought to be a feasible choice as being the problem. Although, I must admit that it had crossed my mind to try the spare but, a seniors moment interrupted the thought and... I forgot.

Thanks again.
Ron

[cywelchjr]

The least I can do is give help where I have the knowledge. Seeing as the guys on here saved my butt this week, I've got Brutus running, I just need to figure out what I did to frack up the clutch (won't release, and since I put it together out of 3 clutch packs, it's gotta be something *I* did wrong).