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How embarrassing....

3K views 14 replies 10 participants last post by  ironmark 
#1 ·
Went to go riding with a few buddies last night. Stopped at one of their houses and hung out for a bit. When we got ready to leave to meet up at another friends house the engine turned over real slow. Hummm, I was thinking that maybe when I installed my new gauges and J&M amp last week that I might have left one of the battery terminals loose. We rode the his house a hung out again for a bit. When we got ready to leave I hit the starter button and clunk...The enging wouldn't turn over. Yup dead battery. We pushed it into his shop and tore it apart. The terminals were clean and tight. Checked the batter and it only had 11.85 vdc. We jump started it and the voltage regulator was putting out over 14 volts so I guess I'm off to get a battery this morning.
Now for the embarrassing part. My buddy was nice enough to let me take his Road King home. Thankfully if was dark out and nobody would be able to recognize me. :eek:
 
#2 ·
Now thats funny I don't care who you are...:)

To make you feel better I will share ONE of my many embarassing moments.

I was up at the HD dealership picking up something for my SO fatboy. I did not own a HD at the time myself, I had a beautiful 97 Honda Valkyrie that I thought I would be burried with, that I coincidentally had just washed.

Anyway one of the salesmen and myself were always razzing each other, I would give him flac re: HD history of unrealibility.

Well I go to leave and hit the starter button and noting, nada. I knew imeadeately what was wrong. I had gotten water in the starter button so I had to catch a ride home to get some WD-40 to sneak back over to spray the button so it would disperse the H2O and start.

Needless to say they got a good chuckle out of that.
 
#3 ·
It may not be the battery it may be the stator. If the stator goes bad you may get a good voltage reading to start out with and then as the stator heats up the voltage will drop to the point that stator will not produce enough current to run the bike and keep the battery charged, after riding the bike for a while with a bad stator the battery will be drained and the bike will not start.
 
#8 ·
Battery life (like brake pad life) depends on a myriad of factors, including ambient heat, engine modifications, strter motor health, usual trip length, daily use of a charger, trickle charger versus high end charger, regular use of power draining accessories, etc.

If you can get five years out of a MC battery you are doing pretty good.
 
#9 ·
.. and while your battery connections may be tight, for some reason they can corrode pretty easily. Also the Ground for the amp, must be in the proper place for a good ground and that can kill the battery too.
Clean the battery terminals, and make sure you got a good ground!
I had issues myself at 2 different occaisions, and both of these were the culprit!
 
#11 ·
Now for the embarrassing part. My buddy was nice enough to let me take his Road King home. Thankfully if was dark out and nobody would be able to recognize me. :eek:
At least it was a Harley and not a Vespa. :D
 
#15 · (Edited)
Glad to here that you are back on the road and all is good. You may want to consider filling out a signature with some info about your bike it may help other members provide answers to your questions.
 
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