Bike not turning over with a good battery.

[Scaredofmyownshadow]

Originally Posted by Espiritus

This is an exact description of what happened to me last month. I had my bike on a battery tender that glowed GREEN indicating it was fine, when, in fact, it had a dead cell. I went through all the troubleshooting, checking the relay/switches for my kickstand, neutral light, etc that would kill a bike, only to find that it was a dead cell when I took the battery to a friend who insisted that I check everything starting with the most obvious.

The battery couldn't handle the load of the starter, but could show the lights when it reset itself AFTER the "click." If your bike goes completely dead, then miraculously, has lights a moment or so later, I sure would take that battery out and have it tested. Then, if it tests good, start looking at other possibilities.

If you are testing the battery at home, make sure that you test it under the load of the starter and not just sitting still.

Good luck.

What he said. But make sure you take it to an auto parts store and have a "load test" done on it. This shows how many amps your battery will supply. No different than having a garden hose that is kinked off. Volts being the pressure and amps being the amount of flow. Put a slight link in your garden hose, you still have good pressure, but when you pull the trigger, pressure and flow drop off to almost nothing. You can have a battery with a weak or dead cell that will show 12-12.6 volts static but when you put it under a load, it cannot supply the amps, so power drops off to nothing. Sorry, I'm rambling here.


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[superdiver]

Is ther a reasonabley priced reliable "load tester" on the market?

[John Hopkins]

Originally Posted by superdiver

Is ther a reasonabley priced reliable "load tester" on the market?

A hydrometer works for me.

John.

[Espiritus]

At least I don't think it will, can't open the cells. Easiest and CHEAPEST way, is to take the battery out, stop at a Auto-Zone and have them check it for free. . .free is always cheap!

[Scaredofmyownshadow]

Originally Posted by John Hopkins

A hydrometer works for me.

John.

A hydrometer only checks acid level. Will not tell you if you have a bad cell. A battery is comprised of six two volt cells. One goes bad and it is toast.


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[GilaMinumBeer]

Silly, stupid question alert. And no offense if you are a mechanic.

Are you certain the bike is in neutral?

Have you tried getting it to turn over with the kickstand up?

If either of the position switches for those has stuck, you will get exactly the response from the bike that you are getting.

[dernp]

This past summer my bike did the same thing. I hooked up the battery tender and it showed it was charged. Turned out to be a dead cell. New battery purchased and all is well. My advice is that before you dwell too deep into electrical connections, start with the easy stuff first. get the battery load tested and eliminate that as a suspect. John Hopkins gives excellent advice as well.

[1996shadow]

Have you checked the connections, and I don't mean the appearance? Take the negative cable off the bike and the battery and clean it. Use a file and clean both sides where it attaches to the battery. then take the other end and clean it with a file or sandpaper on both sides and also where it bolts on. Then reinstall. The positive cable should get the same services. A bad connection will do the same thing with a brand new battery.

[chantervz]

I had this same problem and it turned out to be the battery. You can tell for sure by doing this:

Disconnect both the positive and negative leads.
Remove battery.
Jumpstart using your car by clip on to where the battery wouldve connected to (the battery lead clamps, not the battery)
If it starts you've isolated the battery.

I don't know why it acts like it turns on and does the clicking noise...maybe not enough juice to turn starter...but when a new battery was placed, vroooom, works great. I was so scared that it had mechanical issues.

[John Hopkins]

I don't think it is the battery because the OP jump started it and had the same result..

John.