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Posted by chief
 - April 19, 2010, 16:00:13 PM

If its one you have to maintain, ie fill up with water, get a NEW battery!!!  Wet-cell lead-acid batteries have a LOT more potential problems than modern sealed batteries... and require a lot more care.

Longevity of lead-acid batteries are based upon a lot of factors, but, believe it or not, temperature is one of the biggest. If you ride in temps at or above 95*F you will cut the life of the battery in half... optimum operating temp is 77*. So if you live in the AZ desert, these batteries can start failing pretty quick!

There are 3 basic types of lead-acid batteries:

1) Wet Cell (flooded)
- Serviceable
- Maintenance free
2) Gel Cell (some folks mistake maintenance free wet cells for gel cells... don't confuse these when dealing with battery chargers... they are much different.
3) AGM (absorbed Glass Mat)

Gel Cell and AGM are the safest of the lead-acid batteries. AGM's hold their charge better than others. AGM's are replacing gel cell batteries in most applications.

Posted by Varooom
 - April 19, 2010, 12:13:17 PM

I forgot to mention one thing: I had a dealer installed Kawasaki battery in my bike and it failed in two years.  The dealer was telling me he's sell me another.  I pulled the strip off the top, topped up the distilled water in the cells and drove with it for another 7 years!
If this is a refillable battery, check your fluid levels.
Varooom

Posted by chief
 - April 19, 2010, 11:17:03 AM

I had a similar problem. Except it started doing it within an hour or so after sitting.

The battery I had was 2 years old so I figured it still had to be good. But I like simple, so I pulled it out of the bike and sat it on my bench. I fully charged it and let it sit for a while. It discharged sitting on the bench, so the answer to my problem was fairly obvious.

I replaced the battery with a Yuasa this time. These have figured to be a better battery than many others I've tried. My original lasted 5 years.

Of course, removing the battery gives you the opportunity to clean and reposition the connections too.

My recommendation. Disconnect the battery and fully charge it. Measure the starting voltage - ensure its above 13 v and let it sit for a while... two days might be a good time frame in your case, but measurements can be taken at any time. Measure again. If its discharged much, you likely have a bad battery. If not you can reconnect and start tracking down the parasitic discharge. I'll add some info about that on the website in mods and tips.

Posted by annieoakley
 - April 19, 2010, 11:15:24 AM

Hurry up and get that thing fixed! June is coming fast ;D Tell Murphy to take a hike ;)

Posted by Varooom
 - April 19, 2010, 06:29:14 AM

You might try getting an ammeter and hooking it to the circuit to see if there's electricity leaving the battery when nothing is on.  Sounds like you have something that slowly drains your battery.
If nothing is, you have a dying battery that holds a charge for a bit and then loses it.  If the voltage is 12+ when the bike is off and 13+ when it's running the alternator and battery are probably good.
Good luck,
Varoom

Posted by pcarrell
 - April 18, 2010, 22:00:10 PM

OK, so I guess it's my turn to host Murphy for while.

Last Sunday, my battery was dead when I went to start the bike.  The bike had sat all weekend, and that Murphy guy took the chance to slip into my garage.

Now, this battery is almost exactly a year old, so it should be good.  The terminals are clean, connections good, etc, etc.......

So, I threw it on the trickle charger for a few hours and the bike started right up.  I checked everything out, and realized that the headlight was out.  I happened to have a spare bulb, so I threw that in and all was good.  I figured that was the cause of the problem and wrote it off.  (I'm not so good with electrical, ya know?)  I charged the battery overnight, and in the morning, rode away happy.

The bike ran fine all week, so I figured it was behind me.................And then Murphy showed up again!

The bike sat all weekend, and then this evening I went to go for a ride.  You guessed it!  Dead again!  And the headlight still works.

The bike turns over for a second, then gives the dead battery clicking sound.  The clock goes to 1:00, and the trip odometer resets to 0.

So, ya think the battery is toast, or is it something else?

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