Got bike out of winter storage. got it started. Did not realize the positive cable to the battery was very loose. It soundedlike a backfire occurred, but everything instantly died: dash lights out and engine stopped running. I looked down to see that the plastice strip that holds in the battery fluid was off the battery and a little fluid was splashed about, as if it had "popped" off during the backfire noise. On closer inspection I see that some of the plastic battery where the loose cable rested, (out of place), was melted away. Then I noticed that a little spot on the cable coating itself near the end appeared to have suffered a bit of heat damage. I cleaned things up and tightened the cable and now sometimes I get no charge to the dash but if I whack the cable/positive node with a blunt instrumentthen I will get charge and be able to start the engine, but as soon as I do any throttle everything goes dead again.
Spring is here in Minnesota.

 

I would get that battery as far from your bike as possible.....
Get a new one, along with a new poscable, and start again.

I unknowingly arc welded an intake to the hood of my civic once....

 

+1 Replace the battery asap. And the live cable. And check ALL the wiring for scorching/acid burns.......
I touched both terminals on a car battery once with a spanner, which was touching my stainless watch strap at the time....took three weeks for the burns to heal, and the watch never ran again .....Dunno why....

 

That's funny. My dad's buddy laid a wrench across the terminals of a battery once. Talk about burnt.

 

I've shorted many batteries over the years. It still surprises me how much power 12 volts is. The damage can be major but usually isn't. Check your fuses too when you replace battery.
I'm curious though as to why the "backfire"? Most engines still run even with a battery disconnected. Not advisable as it can & usually does cause damage.

 

I'm just guessing that it wasn't actually a "backfire" per say, but rather the shutdown/weld/battery pop simultaneously. Ever hear a battery explode? I always laughedto myself when I heard people mention exploding batteries, until I saw one blow for no reason.

Strange things happen, and sounds can be deceiving.

When my civic welded the intaketo my hood,my car died, and I coastedoff theroad. I popped the hood, yanked the intake off, and tried to restart. No go.
Got a jump, and tried toget it home. The whole way home, I had this bad ticking noise. I pulled in my driveway, and figured out that the noise was coming from my distributor.While I was inspecting everything, the car died on it's own. I pulled the cap, andthe insides were shredded, as was the rotor.I couldn't evenbelieve it made it home. I figured the jolt just melted a terminal or bitched up the rotor. Seemed logical.Islapped ina new cap and rotor, and it destroyed them both, too.
I've worked on hondas all my life (mostly why I own this bike..they are superior )and I'm still not sure why the hell this happened.
Just thought I'd share...off topic, I know. Jacking, I'm sorry...
I had to buy awhole new distributor, and it fixed the problem.

 

Experience shared is never wasted, Kilgore, someone'll need it some time, and remember what you said........

 

Its not the voltage that does it Bluebeard, its the amperage of the battery, which is why you dont get the same affect from a 9V battery which is only 3V's less but waaaaaaaaay lower amps.

I seen a guy in a parking lot one day changing his battery on a mini-van. The battery exploded and ripped the hood completely off the hinges. He had to be taken to the hospital with acid burns and lost the sight from one eye..........not good......

Also make sure you have a good overflow tube from the battery and its pointed AWAY from any metal parts like swing-arms and frame members. It will save you $$ if you battery starts to leak. I seen one guy had his fuel overflow tube pointing straight down on his exhaust pipes.......makes me shiver

 

When you consider that 6 milliamps across the heart is guaranteed to kill you, we should be more careful with batteries. I have a stun gun that pushes out 1000000 volts, but only 3 milliamps, and a bump from that will knock you off your feet. Can't wait to try it on a minibus taxi driver at a traffic light....he he he