Electric's or Battery problem - Battery doesn't charge

Dayao12

Dayao12

Well-known member
So here's my situation.

(A) When I try to start my bike, it cranks, but there seems to not be enough juice to get it going and it slowly dies out.

What I've tried:
1. Fully charge battery over night - Starts fine. But as soon as I turn the key off after a ride, same issue from (A).
2. Push start gets it going but same issue from (A) when I turn off the engine.
3. Tested batt with Voltimeter.
Bike off: outputs 12V
When starting: Drops to 8V

Observations:
Horn and front brake light trigger does not work.
Everything else works fine! Lights, high beams, rear brake light...
Battery doesn't seem to have any fluid left. Would that help if I filled it up?

What are your thoughts? What else can I try?
 
What's the voltage across the battery terminals with the engine running at various speeds?
 
Dayao12 said:
Battery doesn't seem to have any fluid left. Would that help if I filled it up?
Click to expand...

If there isn't any fluid left you're battery isn't going to work very well at all. Fill it up to the proper level (it'll be marked on the battery) with distilled water and then charge it fully.
 
all good advise to the above posts.....after topping up the battery and giving it a full charge, load test it, you may need a new battery. also check amp draw on the circuts and check and clean the connectors for your horn and front brake switch. the ignition needs at least 9 volts to fire. 80% of your battery goes to the stater motor and 20% to the ignition thats why the head light go out when starting the engine. hopes this helps more than just you.
 
The headlight on some bikes goes out when starting due to a relay.

Stewart said:
all good advise to the above posts.....after topping up the battery and giving it a full charge, load test it, you may need a new battery. also check amp draw on the circuts and check and clean the connectors for your horn and front brake switch. the ignition needs at least 9 volts to fire. 80% of your battery goes to the stater motor and 20% to the ignition thats why the head light go out when starting the engine. hopes this helps more than just you.
Click to expand...
 
When I had problems with my charging system I just brought my battery to ct for a quick test on their machine. Takes about an hour or so and can be a big help in diagnosing issues.

Definately check the battery while the bike is running. I think my bike is something like 14 volts dc when reving at 5000 rpm. Your manual should tell you how much. It's important to make sure you don't mix up your leads because you need to know if the battery is charging or draining.

If the charging is fine then I'd look for shorts in the wiring or dirty connections.
 
Load-testing a battery takes about 90 seconds; they either pass or fail.
They usually fail spectacularly (no doubts).
The battery should be charged up before the load-test is performed, though - perhaps this is why "takes about an hour or so" was mentioned.
Stay away from buying new no-name clone batteries, always get the genuine Yuasa or better!
I like the new Ballistic EVO2 LiFePO4 batteries:
http://www.partscanada.com/app/webroot/catalogue/2012/st/en/#/452/zoomed
 
Hey Thanks for your advice everyone!
I checked the fluids and it was bone dry. So I topped it up with distilled water and it seems to be good as new =D didn't see any discolouration on the plates so hopefully it can hold for till the end of summer.

Anything I should look out for?
 
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