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Posted by DC
- September 12, 2013, 07:38:48 AMQuote from: Troll on September 11, 2013, 18:08:28 PMI decided to put it on the Battery Tender Plus. The label on the battery says to charge it 1.2-2 amps for 5-10 hours. hmmm . . . kinda broad range there. I put it on last night until I had to go to bed. I didn't want to leave it on overnight. So when I took it off, after 4 hours, the red light was steady and the green light was blinking. When I get home from work today, I'll put it on the tender to charge again. Then I have to go out to the butcher for my follow up root canal appointment. Sorry, I meant dentist.. By the time I get back, the battery should be fully charged. We'll see what happens.It's not the voltage, per se that will kill the battery, it's amperage. The battery charger will only put out what the battery will accept. When I used a standard car charger for motorcycle batteries, I put a tail light bulb in series with the battery. It doesn't matter which terminal you choose, the bulb will act as a damper for the current. A side benefit is that the bulb will almost be out when the charge is complete....
I'm going to take readings from the old battery. First, just sitting there, then with the bike running, if the bike will even start again. Then I'll pull it and put the new battery in and we'll see what happens. This is all assuming I'm in a sane state after this second root canal appointment. The first one didn't go so well. I've had a few of them in the past, and they were tolerable, but this last one, last month, was over the top. So I'm telling the guy to gas me this time. I told him last time when things were going horribly wrong half way through, when he hit an unknown raw exposed nerve that I should have been gassed ahead of time.
Posted by DC
- September 11, 2013, 21:34:01 PMQuote from: CDNRatMan on September 11, 2013, 19:41:22 PMI'm guessing I would be able to use the 'stachy as a shunt. I'm thinking when I glue on my Fu-Manchu, I can hook the charging cables to either side, just sit there in the lounge chair, and charge myself up for the day.DC if you had a double twist 'stach this would not have happened......
Posted by CDNRatMan
- September 11, 2013, 19:41:22 PMDC if you had a double twist 'stach this would not have happened......
Posted by 49Reo
- September 11, 2013, 19:31:26 PMQuote from: Troll on September 11, 2013, 18:08:28 PMIt's not the voltage, per se that will kill the battery, it's amperage. The battery charger will only put out what the battery will accept. When I used a standard car charger for motorcycle batteries, I put a tail light bulb in series with the battery. It doesn't matter which terminal you choose, the bulb will act as a damper for the current. A side benefit is that the bulb will almost be out when the charge is complete....
......now that's good intel....learn something new every day.
Posted by Troll
- September 11, 2013, 18:08:28 PMIt's not the voltage, per se that will kill the battery, it's amperage. The battery charger will only put out what the battery will accept. When I used a standard car charger for motorcycle batteries, I put a tail light bulb in series with the battery. It doesn't matter which terminal you choose, the bulb will act as a damper for the current. A side benefit is that the bulb will almost be out when the charge is complete....
Posted by DC
- September 11, 2013, 16:54:14 PMThe battery arrived today. I'm assuming it needs to be charged, but I have not put it on the charger yet. I'm reading that you need to have an AGM type charger or the higher charging voltages on non-AGM chargers )14.2v) will toast one of these batteries, or at least reduce the longevity. So now are we saying my Diehard 71222 charger is not good for this? Mine is the older 71222 without the AGM setting. The new ones come with that.
I also have a Battery Tender Plus and in the FAQ it says it will initially attempt a charge at 14.5v.
So now I have to go out and buy an AGM charger? What else do I have to do? File some forms in triplicate, pat my head and rub my belly at the same time as I am walking and chewing gum? Why so complicated? I'm just trying to put a new battery in.
Posted by DC
- September 10, 2013, 10:40:57 AMI know I wired it according to the instructions. So it should be good then. I guess that's not the problem.
The new battery should arrive tomorrow.
Posted by 49Reo
- September 10, 2013, 09:53:15 AMYour battery tender lead should should have the hot shielded, and the ground bare;(coming from the battery), the lead from the tender should be the opposite. It should never short out on the bike if it is done this way, other than wires rubbing through on the bike. However, it does sound like a battery or loose lead to me. Good luck with it, and keep us posted. 
Posted by John Hopkins
- September 10, 2013, 06:37:03 AMNobody has mentioned this so I will
You discovered that one of the leads to the battery tender connection was bared and possibly shorting somewhere..This could have caused the battery to drain enough to damage it and that might be the only thing to worry about but..The short could have damaged your battery tender so that it no longer works..or even worse if it has damaged the rectifier in the tender it may put out an a/c voltage instead of dc and this will ruin the new battery very quickly..
Although battery tenders do a good job of maintaining a battery over the winter months and for people who don't use their bikes very often, I find a cheap 4 amp car battery charger very handy for those times you need a full charge fairly quickly..I should point out that I keep a $10 DIGITAL multimeter handy and if I have a battery problem I check the dc voltage across the battery with the engine running, I expect to see at least 13v dc which is a few millivolts volts more than I would expect from a good battery with the engine off..by increasing the revs slowly I would expect that to rise to 14v but never more than 14.8v..
We spend a lot of money on these bikes so spending a few dollars on tools and test equipment seems a good idea to me..
John.
Posted by dakuhosu
- September 09, 2013, 21:54:25 PMQuote from: Troll on September 09, 2013, 07:54:26 AMI got it from the local dealer. He had the oem, the next amp capacity up in the oem (YUASA) and the standard and upgrade batteries in a "generic" brand, like parts unlimited house brand. They all had the same warranty..one year, so it came down to price. I bought the uprated battery but the parts unlimited brand because it was significantly cheaper than the Yuasa in the oem capacity. All were AGM and all were probably made in the same shed in China, so why not save some money. I'm thinking it was about $70....
You forgot to mention hand made!
Posted by DC
- September 09, 2013, 09:23:58 AMOkay, thanks. I just ordered this one . . . MotoCross(by Yuasa) High Performance AGM Battery - USPS Priority Mail FRB-1. Should be here in a couple of days.
Posted by Troll
- September 09, 2013, 07:54:26 AMQuote from: DC on September 08, 2013, 20:26:22 PMWas it the 270 CCA battery? What's a good place to get it from online?
I got it from the local dealer. He had the oem, the next amp capacity up in the oem (YUASA) and the standard and upgrade batteries in a "generic" brand, like parts unlimited house brand. They all had the same warranty..one year, so it came down to price. I bought the uprated battery but the parts unlimited brand because it was significantly cheaper than the Yuasa in the oem capacity. All were AGM and all were probably made in the same shed in China, so why not save some money. I'm thinking it was about $70....
Posted by greenbarn
- September 08, 2013, 23:16:01 PMSame thing mine did as well. You either have a battery problem, starter problem or wiring problem. Most likely battery as others have said. Do you have a volt meter? The battery, when charged should have over 12 volts, nearly 13. When you put a load on it (i.e. try to start the bike), the voltage will drop a bit, but it should not drop very much. You need a load tester to do an exact test - the "motor cranking" test is pretty variable, but it probably shouldn't drop below 9-10V. If it drops way below that, the battery is bad. Also, if the charge doesn't come right back up to at least 11 1/2 or 12 volts, then it's bad.
Starter solenoids also act that way- click-click- then maybe they'll start. However, I've not heard a lot of problems with these Kaw starters so I'd tend to think the battery is more likely. Every battery eventually goes bad.
Wiring issues will not be nearly as common on these as on cars. Corrosion is the culprit, usually on the wiring going to the solenoid, and it's usually caused by road salt, which isn't nearly the issue as on cars.
I think any of the on-line bike stores should have a battery. I'm partial to Interstate, but the originals Japanese batteries are very good. I'm not nuts about Walmart or parts-store batteries. They're usually cheaper, but they are a cheaply made battery.
Posted by DC
- September 08, 2013, 20:26:22 PMQuote from: Troll on September 08, 2013, 16:29:54 PMWas it the 270 CCA battery? What's a good place to get it from online?Sounds EXACTLY like mine did when the original battery bit the dust. Sometimes it would start on the second try, sometimes on the third, and then it would turn over like there was nothing wrong. I got the next size up (amperage) battery, and everything has been fine all year.
Posted by dakuhosu
- September 08, 2013, 18:05:44 PMQuote from: Drifter1500 on September 08, 2013, 16:45:30 PMA battery tender will not charge a low battery, it is meant to maintain a good charge. I would put the battery on a trickle charge at 2 amps for 24 hours and do a load test on it. Sounds like you have a dead cell or two. Clean all the connections and check your grounds. How old is the battery?
A dead cell would show up as 1.2 volts down and two cells would be 2.4 volts down , etc... So it's not a dead cell, if the solenoid clicks but there is no current draw it would have to be something like a dirty connection somewhere. It starts sometimes so that eliminates any battery problems... I'm reasonably sure it's a starter/solenoid issue, I'd rapp on the starter a few times the next time it acts up.