Hey guys,

I've got an '03 F4i, and the original battery can't hold a charge anymore. So I went to the local motorcycle store and bought a new MegaBoost (cycle gear) battery. Before buying it I asked the guy if it came fully charged, and he said yes.

So I went home and installed the new battery, and when I turned the key to "on" nothing happened. None of the indicator lights would even come on...nothing. My old battery, which doesn't have enough to juice to turn on the engine, will at least turn on the indicators. So I took the new battery down to autozone and had them test the voltage, which turned out to be 9 volts. To my knowledge, it should be around 12.5 volts.

Should 9 volts be enough to at least turn on the indicators and turn the engine on? Or does it sound like I have a bad battery? I'd appreciate your guys info. Thanks.

 

9 Volts is not enough to do anything.
A full battery is around 12.8V
A dead battery is considered to be just over 12V.
If your getting 9V you would most likely have a cell out or something.

 

Thanks for your reply. Rather than taking back the battery, I decided to charge it using my battery tender and see what happens. After about 2 hours charging, it fired up the engine properly. I don't have a voltmeter, but I assume it's in the right range now. I guess I'll keep it for now, and hope that it continues to work.

 

You're always suppose to charge a new battery fully. Guy who wold it to you clearly does not know what he's talking about. Once it is fully charged it should be good to go.

 

So you didn't even try charging the battery after finding out its dead? That should have been the first step you took after checking its voltage.

 

I've not used CG batteries but have done lots of business w/ CG. If there's any prob w/ that battery, take it back for an exchange. Shouldn't be any prob.

For future reference, as previously recommended, be sure to charge your battery b/f installation. A simple hookup to your battery tender & charged until the indicator light shows charged.

Not to defend the CG sales guy but batteries do ship from the factory at full charge. However, as batteries sit over time, they loose capacity. Thus, the reason for fully charging b/f use. When buying batteries, I always ask for the most recent date on the battery.

Hope you're good to go now.

 

Anda what happen if you dont charge it and you use it??? You will have problems after with the battery?? Or i have to charge it??

 

Not sure which battery I picked up from CG, but I paid 130 and it came with a lifetime warranty. I was told if I had any problems with it I could take it to any CG and get it replaced.

On that note, mine was fully charged when I brought it home and have had no problems with it since.