Bike won't start - accessory wired and petcock left on night before

Z

zaltec

Member
Hey folks, looking for some suggestions. New rider here, so I'm learning as I go, and not sure what my issue is as I did both some electrical accessory wiring and left the petcock on overnight.

Bike is a 2009 Hyosung GV250 cruiser, bought in March and put about 1,400km on it so far (love the bike so far, even if they're not highly regarded on here!).

If you can tell anything by the sound of the starter (I can't), Video of the issue here; http://youtu.be/FRguEpnkB0Q

On Saturday my family gave me an early father's day gift, a set of speakers for the bike. They came with an inline fuse, and I bought an on/off power switch and wired it in. Connected directly to the battery. Speakers worked great when testing (bike running, not riding; had a few drinks earlier that day). Made sure to turn speaker switch off before heading in.

Next afternoon I'm about to go for a ride, realize I left the petcock turned On overnight. Try to start the bike, and it sounds very slow/sluggish, won't start. Had a similar issue a few weeks before (unsure if I left the petcock on that time, I've been pretty good about it normally), but it did start after a few tries, just sounded the same when trying.

Thought I might have mis-wired something, and there was still a draw that drained the battery. Purchased a Battery Tender Jr, charged it up fully, tried to start; same issue. Disconnected my speakers wiring, re-charged, tried to start; same issue. Even disconnected the BT JR battery hookups after charging, and trying that; no luck.

After some reading, I thought the cylinders might be flooded with gas from leaving the petcock on. Removed the tank, removed the spark plugs. Plugs might have seemed slightly damp (unsure), but not dripping wet or anything. Tried to start the bike, no fuel or anything came out of the plug holes. Let it sit a few hours in case anything needed to evaporate. Reassembled bike, still same issue.

I'm at a loss now, been working on this since Sunday (weather permitting). Battery was purchased new in March (crappytire motomaster battery I think) and I made sure it was "fully" charged (according to the BT JR) before each starting attempt (I know it may still be dead even if the BT says it's charged). Unsure if it could be the battery, if I accidentally disconnected/shorted something while moving the battery around, or if it's due to the petcock being left on.

Hoping you can give some ideas! Thanks.
 
Based on that video, your battery is still dead. Cranking is way too slow. The Tender Jr is not appropriate for recharging a flat battery.

Bump-start it and go for a long ride, or get a proper charger.
 
Also, your battery isn't charging while the bike is idling, so it's possible that your testing the speakers drained the battery enough to cause this issue.
 
Thanks for the input, tomorrow is supposed to be nice so I'll try the bump-start then. Hadn't wanted to go that route in case there was an internal issue, so thanks again for the peace of mind! Knew I should've spent the extra $30 on the proper charger... hindsight, eh?
 
Check your oil level and make sure the gas did not flow into the crankcase and the rest of the engine, this can happen with a bad petcock that does not hold back the gas or a float needle not seating correctly

Sounds like a battery that is drained and not enough power to spin up the starter and spin the motor....

you can try to hook up booster cables, run them from your car battery, to the bike battery, do not have car running and see if the bike starts and or the starter motor spins a bit faster...

.
 
if you're bike battery is 12v. jump start your bike using a car battery and pray that it starts. Make sure the car is on ofc in case you're there cranking for hours
 
Connect to your car, + to +, - to -, car OFF. Try to start the bike. If it does start your battery is bad. Check the water levels of your battery to ensure they are up to the max mark. The bike's alternator does not start recharging the battery until about 3,000 rpm, so will not charge at idle. It takes about 20 mins of riding to replenish your battery after starting your bike. The Tender jr is a smart computerized "topper upper" charger, and good at what it does.

Your accessory outlet should ideally be wired to a relay that comes on only when you have the key in the on position. It should shut off automatically when the key is out. This prevents the accessory from completely draining the battery and leaving you stranded. This happens a lot to even the most diligent of riders.

The petcock left on usually does not affect anything, but you never know. There may be something else wrong and your mod is only a coincidence. Start with the easy things first.

If you add your general location maybe one of us might be able to go to your place and take a look. It does not sound too serious, so we'll work through it.
 
I have charged many batteries with a tender JR. They put out .75 amps, so if your battery is around 10 -13 amp hrs , 10/.75 is 12.5 hours . (plus a bit because of ineffeciency ) . IT is really the best way . If you charge a dead battery from the scratch using the bike it can cause a lot of stress on the rectifier and regulator. It wont kill it but its not the best for the parts, and the battery, as it will charge the battery at an extremely high rate.
 
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In my limited experience, tenders and other affordable chargers do not put out enough *volts* to fix/desulfate an old, abused battery, but of course your mileage may vary based on specific battery condition.

I've sucessfully revived a 5yo Canadian Tire battery that was reading 0.something volts, using a hobby/RC charger (iMax B6AC). Took several days but it eventually worked. My 1.1Ah Noco Genius called it "full" well before it could actually hold a charge.
 
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So, I found a 6/2A charger that I'd forgotten about, and tried that as well; Set to 2A and charged to "full" in about 30min, wouldn't start. Bump-started it today with no problem, rode it around for about 90 minutes (mostly country highways, some city and 401), got it back home, shut it off, and tried to re-start... was so dead it sounded much worse than the previous attempts. So it sounds like my battery won't hold a charge.

3 questions now;
1) Will Canadian Tire exchange the battery? It's a MotoMaster Eliminator Ultra AGM Powersports Battery 9-BS(real nice 1.8/5 rating) that was purchased on March 27th 2015. They claim to have a 12-month "free replacement warranty", but I know they weasel out of them whenever possible.
2) Was this due to something I did, that is possible to re-occur with a new battery? Is there a chance the speakers were mis-wired and caused the battery to die? I've done a fair bit of wiring previously, but still very much amateur, and this was my first time with the bike.
3) If they won't honour the warranty, this seems like a craptastic battery anyway (but free is always preferred for now), any recommendations on a replacement?

Thanks again.
 
Do you have a multimeter? Easiest way to diagnose a battery. Check the voltage with:

- the bike off
- the bike on
- while cranking
- at idle
- at 3000 rpm
 
Good idea! And it was much easier to find my multimeter than I expected. Tested with 20V DC setting, which I believe is correct. Battery is also untouched since I got home (ie, no battery tender top-up).

Off: 12.92
Key on: 12.53
Cranking: 10.4-10.6
Can't bump-start the bike right now to check idle/3k rpm, wife's car is in the way to turn it around and she's out of the house.
 
zaltec said:
Good idea! And it was much easier to find my multimeter than I expected. Tested with 20V DC setting, which I believe is correct. Battery is also untouched since I got home (ie, no battery tender top-up).

Off: 12.92
Key on: 12.53
Cranking: 10.4-10.6
Can't bump-start the bike right now to check idle/3k rpm, wife's car is in the way to turn it around and she's out of the house.
Click to expand...

I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but those numbers look good to me. I'd be interested to see what it shows when the bike is idle and 3k. It could be your charging system isn't working so the battery is continually being depleted. The other possibility is your starter is on the way out, and doesn't have the strength to turn over the engine.
 
zaltec said:
So, I found a 6/2A charger that I'd forgotten about, and tried that as well; Set to 2A and charged to "full" in about 30min, wouldn't start. Bump-started it today with no problem, rode it around for about 90 minutes (mostly country highways, some city and 401), got it back home, shut it off, and tried to re-start... was so dead it sounded much worse than the previous attempts. So it sounds like my battery won't hold a charge.

3 questions now;
1) Will Canadian Tire exchange the battery? It's a MotoMaster Eliminator Ultra AGM Powersports Battery 9-BS(real nice 1.8/5 rating) that was purchased on March 27th 2015. They claim to have a 12-month "free replacement warranty", but I know they weasel out of them whenever possible.
2) Was this due to something I did, that is possible to re-occur with a new battery? Is there a chance the speakers were mis-wired and caused the battery to die? I've done a fair bit of wiring previously, but still very much amateur, and this was my first time with the bike.
3) If they won't honour the warranty, this seems like a craptastic battery anyway (but free is always preferred for now), any recommendations on a replacement?

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

To answer your questions

1 - maybe, but you will have to ask them

2 - maybe, you will have to see if you have grounded out something

3 - I have purchased expensive batteries (yuasa) and ones from Walmart both have been good and bad
 
zaltec said:
Good idea! And it was much easier to find my multimeter than I expected. Tested with 20V DC setting, which I believe is correct. Battery is also untouched since I got home (ie, no battery tender top-up).

Off: 12.92
Key on: 12.53
Cranking: 10.4-10.6
Can't bump-start the bike right now to check idle/3k rpm, wife's car is in the way to turn it around and she's out of the house.
Click to expand...

Odd. These numbers are exactly what you'd expect from a healthy AGM battery. I don't think replacing the battery is going to do anything at this point.

Clean your battery cables and terminals with a wire brush and make sure that all connections are tight.
 
Nothing that looks like corrosion to me, just a bit of rust on the top of the neg bolt, which is clean underneath. Is there something I could have disconnected accidentally? The battery is tucked pretty tightly into it's sheath, and I have to slide it out to access it (top of the terminals are covered by the frame).

I'm also blocked in until tomorrow, so no running measurements tonight :(
 

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zaltec said:
...
1) Will Canadian Tire exchange the battery? It's a MotoMaster Eliminator Ultra AGM Powersports Battery 9-BS(real nice 1.8/5 rating) ...
Click to expand...

LOL on the customer reviews rating of 1.8/5! This puts your battery as the prime suspect. I've had my share of bad batteries in the past, all no name "Parts Canada"-type made in China batteries. The head tech at my local bike store gave me some advice: Don't buy a Chinese battery (yea, right, as they're almost all made in China now). Do buy a Yuasa, but made in Japan (Yuasa also has some batteries made in China).

If, in the outside chance your battery checks out as good, then the next step is to check your alternator, which has already been recommended. Start your bike, put it into neutral, rev to 3k rpm and check the voltage. The charge on your battery should be 14-14.5v or so.
 
Alright, figures it would start raining just as I've got a chance to bump the bike and take readings... I'm damp, but the results are;

Idling: 13.63
Revving: 13.32 - 13.35
 
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