Okay, here's what I have. I uncovered my bike, put the battery in. lights came on and bike tried to turn over a couple of times and then nothing. Thought I blew a fuse so I checked those and all of them are good. I took the battery back out and tested on my voltmeter and it read 12.6. Put the battery back in and saw a glimmer of light when I turned the key and nothing.

Can this be my battery or something else? Given I'm getting a reading of 12.6 I'm thinking it's not the battery. What else could it be? Anyone else ever have something like this happen.

The bike ran fine last fall and I'm not electrically inclined at all so any ideas / thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Jay

 

Did you store the battery on a trickle charger through the winter or just sit it on a shelf somewhere? Even though it may have enough power to turn the lights on it might not have enough to crank the motor.

What does the voltage drop down to as you try to start it?

 

I didn't store it on a trickle charger, just kept in on my bench in my heated basement. I put the charger on it about a week ago. I didn't realize until after I had posted that it was an AGM battery, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference. I didn't check the voltage drop when starting but will do so later today.

I'm thinking though that given the lights are coming on then dying there aren't enough cold amps to turn the engine over and it's zapping the battery so a new one may be in order. If that's all it is it will be a big relief. Thanks for the reply!.

J

 

Thanks for the pointer Roadijeff. Voltage dropped significantly and after a little more testing determined the battery had indeed gone bad. Replaced it with YTX9-BS and problem solved. Bike started up almost immediately after sitting all winter.

Thanks again,
Jay

 

Glad to hear you got it fixed. You can find a Battery Tender Jr for around $20 online with a bit of Google searching. That might be a good thing to have for next winter.

I used to plug my OEM battery onto one each day after I was finished riding. I routed the little quick connect pigtail under the passenger seat and it was easy to get to.

 

My bike sat all winter on the battery tender. I cranked it every month or so, and took it for maybe 2 spins around in the last several months. I dunno what generic battery the previous owner had slapped in this thing, but I brought the bike home May, 2010. This is the battery that came in the bike. Battery is stamped 2008. Cleaned everything up this weekend and took my first long ride in months, and the battery keeps on ticking. It is an effing champ!!!