[Mikectc]

Last night while out cruisin on a great night for riding i ran into some issues. I hit some traffic because of an accident after riding about forty miles. In traffic i look down and see this god awful, bright red light on. Yes, the engine light was on. No clue why. Bike was still running and sounded fine. So i didn't pull over because i was almost past the accident. My first thought was that the bike was getting too hot from just sitting there but i now know that was not the problem. Anyway, the light is still glaring at me but now i'm back up to speed hoping the wind would cool it down and the light would shut off. Yeah right. So i started getting nervous because i still had 20 miles to get home. Now im doing about 85, i figured if it shut off im gonna roll as far as possible and i promise you it shut off on me going around 85mph. The problem was that it was spittin and sputterin before it shut off. Yes there is gas in it. The speedometer flipped all the way around while i was riding and the mileage disappeared. I get it pulled over 4 miles from home, glad i got that close, and noticed my lights seemed to be half dimmed lime the battery was dead.

Would a dead battery shut your bike off on the highway? Seemed odd to me. It tries to turn over then the starter starts clicking just like a car with a dead battery. My first guess seemed like something may have shorted but im hoping that all i need is a new battery. Any input would be grateful. I'm putting a battery tender on it now.

Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App

 

[Tims_04V92TC]

Loosing your battery due to loose connections will in fact freak your ECU out and cause all kinds of head aches. Have not heard of it shutting the engine down but caused enough crap wrong that the rider shut it off. Then, no restart. Ensure you got good clean connections and see what you got, finish your charge and see what you get.

 

[ridealittle]

Last night while out cruisin on a great night for riding i ran into some issues. I hit some traffic because of an accident after riding about forty miles. In traffic i look down and see this god awful, bright red light on. Yes, the engine light was on. No clue why. Bike was still running and sounded fine. So i didn't pull over because i was almost past the accident. My first thought was that the bike was getting too hot from just sitting there but i now know that was not the problem. Anyway, the light is still glaring at me but now i'm back up to speed hoping the wind would cool it down and the light would shut off. Yeah right. So i started getting nervous because i still had 20 miles to get home. Now im doing about 85, i figured if it shut off im gonna roll as far as possible and i promise you it shut off on me going around 85mph. The problem was that it was spittin and sputterin before it shut off. Yes there is gas in it. The speedometer flipped all the way around while i was riding and the mileage disappeared. I get it pulled over 4 miles from home, glad i got that close, and noticed my lights seemed to be half dimmed lime the battery was dead.

Would a dead battery shut your bike off on the highway? Seemed odd to me. It tries to turn over then the starter starts clicking just like a car with a dead battery. My first guess seemed like something may have shorted but im hoping that all i need is a new battery. Any input would be grateful. I'm putting a battery tender on it now.

Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App

if it is the battery, it probably has a short across a cell, and charging it probably won't help. and yes if a battery shorts it will do that, also could be a short in the bike draining the battery or could be not charging. I would try charging the battery, and if it takes a good charge like it should, put it on and start it up and check to see if it is charging, then go from there.

 

[Mikectc]

Last night my buddy who came with trailer had a volt meter and it read 11 and change. Then after trying to crank a couple times it dropped to around 10.8. He said it should've started but who knows. He's a harley guy and man did i get an earful. "I never thouht i'd be trailin somethin thats not a harley." Hahaha. Anyway, tender on it now. Rain tomorrow. Chrome triple trees will be here tomorrow. Not gonna lose any sleep over this.

BTW, bike has never been put on a tender since i owned it. So it just could be the battery. It never sat longer than a couple weeks until this winter.

Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App

 

[visionjohnny]

Funny you say you had a 11 and it dropped to 10 but you didn't say battery.
Yup battery is shot I'm guessing because you have a 07 and it about time for battery to die.
Put new battery in and have you Buddy check volts when running and that should be 14.5
Auto stores sell meters and you can get a great battery at a good price from Amazon
Sealed battery terminals never get corroded like old water filed battery's
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000MX2ORM/ref=s9_psimh_gw_p263_d4_i2?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=0QDZY46TCHNPPZQT428K&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1389517282&pf_rd_i=507846[/ame]

 

[NOEMTZ]

Check battery first, rectifier next.

 

[saddlebag]

Check battery first, rectifier next.

If it was running, what difference does the battery make? At the point the alternator is providing the juice. I'd suspect the rectifier/regulator aka alternator first.

Now that I read he has a six year ole battery reading 11 V, that is a problem. Still unclear why it starts and then causes a problem once it's running.

 

[Azdave]

You would think but alt does not keep bike running. When my battery went dead, done, backfiring, chugging, then flat bed home. Battery was shot replaced no problem again. Multimeter 14.3 while running. Over 12 on a good battery not running

 

[saddlebag]

You would think but alt does not keep bike running. When my battery went dead, done, backfiring, chugging, then flat bed home. Battery was shot replaced no problem again. Multimeter 14.3 while running. Over 12 on a good battery not running

I looked at my manual to confirm Vic wasn't doing anything unusual. They aren't. The battery is in parallel with the alternator and the load. One thing I didn't consider is that a bad battery could become a load that overwhelms the alternator's ability to source quality power to the real loads like our ECUs, thereby causing mayhem.

Anyway, if the battery reads 11 V, it's time for a new one.

 

[Mikectc]

I have not owned this bike since new. Bought used two years ago. I would agree its the battery but the things my bike was doin on the highway almost had a little urine escape!!

 

[Mikectc]

Azdave that sounds like me last night. Sputtering, backfiring, skidding, then coast!

 

[saddlebag]

I have not owned this bike since new. Bought used two years ago. I would agree its the battery but the things my bike was doin on the highway almost had a little urine escape!!

I had a new bike once that the assembler failed to tighten the alternator connections. About 100 miles into my ownership it sputtered and the dash board flaked out until it died and I coasted over to the edge of the road...in a pending electrical storm...in the middle of nothing...with lots of religious car people avoiding eye contact...until a righteous bro on a Harley picked me up and gave me a ride to the nearest gas station.

Our bikes today are completely controlled via electricity. Once it goes, all bets are off.

 

[Azdave]

My fix was a new battery. Checked with multimeter while running 14.3. No problems I traded it in on a 13 Vision so really no problems now.

 

[saddlebag]

Checked with multimeter while running 14.3.

What bike did you check while running, the bike with a good battery or the bike with a bad battery?

 

[ridealittle]

battery's now a days aren't like they used to be. used to be they showed you they were going bad by slow cranking, now they just crap out all at once. and a dead cell or shorted cell will stop anything, car or mc, all of a sudden. if one has a dead or shorted cell you can't even jump it off.

 

[Azdave]

I checked the old battery when it was barely running and that was less than 12. Being the math whiz I am I figured under 12 was baadd. KevinX told me it was a battery and so I went out and bought one. Funny the first battery I brought home was bad, wouldn't even turn over. Tested on multimeter and it didn't register at all. Took it back and I brought my multimeter with me. Fresh out of the box 12.2 then when running 14.3 and when I revved it, it went up even higher. Anyways that was my fix and it worked for a year. Traded bike in last month and heard it sold. I do recommend checking those battery connections. Seems JPs shake them loose.

 

[gibson]

some brand new battery's lay on the shelf to long and should not be sold and also some new battery's have to be charged up before used for the first time.

 

[Mikectc]

ok so here's the latest. I charged the battery for 24 hours and tested this morning. Battery read 13.8. Started it up and yes battery went back down to 12. so i went to sam's and bought a new battery. I'm thinking that should resove the problem.

Next is how to fix speedo?

Any ideas? When i started it it didn't fix itself.

 

[BBob]

I found out buying a motorcycle battery from Walmart is a bad idea. For one thing they only warranty them for 30 days and they don't have any sealed batteries for bikes.

Best deal, as mentioned, is at Amazon.com for a Yuasa. $66 shipped. Gets there in a few days.

 

[25thAnnZ]

If you have an '07 make sure you perform the throttle reset procedure once the new battery is in. My '06 would barely turn over and stay running until I did it after I changed the battery. (There's a sticky on how to perform it)

Joel


Sent from Motorcycle.com Free App