Started up the bike with a jump figuring it would charge going for a ride but got a mile from home and it literally looked like a Christmas tree on the console and then it died. I pushed it home (and needed oxygen!!!) and jumped it again. It would start and then die. Upon further investigation, I saw that all 3 lights on my Fi2000 stay on after starting and at idol. According to the documentation, I had a bad wire connection. I fixed the connection, jumped started it again and this time, only the green light stayed lit and the bike ran great, while jumped.
I did see that when I gave it some gas, the red and the yellow light would come on and then off when I let off the gas.
(Video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxcn2zesQEM (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxcn2zesQEM) )
Is that normal behavior for the Cobra Fi2000? Just want to make sure.
And as far as charging the battery, my brother and I are arguing over that one. I thought that if I jump started it and then ran it that the bike would eventually charge it while my brother says the bike is dieing because it doesn't have the juice for the fuel injection and that the battery needs to be charged. That just doesn't make sense to me, I mean, why carry jumper cables if the bike is going to die after starting it? And isn't the alternator strong enough to be charging the battery (while riding) and have enough juice to supply fuel? Really curious as to who is right because I want to rub it in his face :-)
Thanks in advance to all responses.
Charge the battery...sorry, he's right. The engine's charging system is adequate for maintaining the battery's charge under most, if not all situations, but you will burn out the rectifier, and possibly overheat the stator connections if you try to charge a dead battery by running the bike. If you keep it connected to the slave battery, while you're running it, it will be less detrimental to the charging system, but also take longer to charge...charge the battery, much safer in the long and short run....and no this is exactly the same as a car, so don't try to say that's ok, 'cause it isn't. DO NOT CHARGE AT OVER 1 Amp unless it's marked at a higher rate on the battery. Small batteries should be charged at 1/10 their ampere hour rating for as long as it takes.
Thank you, I appreciate the response. I'm going to charge the battery tonight and hope it takes.
Again, thank you and as a side note....I'm not going to tell my brother he's right 'cause I'll never hear the end of it :D
The battery may be dying and in need of replacement.
My VTX (w/ Cobra) acted up like that.
First I checked the battery (13.2v) then started checking everything.
Even with jumper cables from a good battery to the installed battery it wouldn't start even though it cranked over.
Finally, I removed the battery and used the jumper cables to the good battery and it started right up.
My battery Tender told me the installed battery was fully charged and the voltmeter said it was good, but it was DOA.
If I had known to test the voltage while cranking it over I would have seen the voltage drop to 3 volts or so I read.
Evidently, when I used the cables to the installed battery it was sucking up the power... or something!
I bought a new battery and the problem was gone.
A bad battery will mean that the bike won't stay running as soon as you remove whatever battery you used to jump it. I had that issue with my bike. I could attach another battery and it would start just fine but it would die whenever I removed the jumper cables. Put a voltmeter on the battery and it read 7 volts. And that's when I got a new battery...
Quote from: JagLite on October 12, 2014, 14:45:33 PM
The battery may be dying and in need of replacement.
My VTX (w/ Cobra) acted up like that.
First I checked the battery (13.2v) then started checking everything.
Even with jumper cables from a good battery to the installed battery it wouldn't start even though it cranked over.
Finally, I removed the battery and used the jumper cables to the good battery and it started right up.
My battery Tender told me the installed battery was fully charged and the voltmeter said it was good, but it was DOA.
If I had known to test the voltage while cranking it over I would have seen the voltage drop to 3 volts or so I read.
Evidently, when I used the cables to the installed battery it was sucking up the power... or something!
I bought a new battery and the problem was gone.
You were all right when suggesting the battery. I bought a new one and all problems solved.
On a side note, today was the 1st day riding after doing the Caddmann mod and Wow!, what an incredible improvement. The bike has never started so good and fast, I swear, the cruising speed increased by 10 mph's. I put on almost 200 miles today and the bike ran incredibly well, quicker and more power. I am so impressed with the difference that mod made. It almost feels like a different bike!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt3IMn8W7Tw (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt3IMn8W7Tw)
http://youtu.be/WxpaqUBpZTY (http://youtu.be/WxpaqUBpZTY)