So my F4i has been running fine for the past few years. No issues to speak of. The other day I went out to take it for a ride, and as soon as I turned the ignition to "ON" the whole gauge cluster went blank. I turned the kill switch on, but there was no sound of the fuel pump priming. Now, I will mention that the very last time I rode the motorcycle, it sounded (very subtly) like it was a bit of a weak start, and I made a mental note that the battery may be low. Thus, I immediately assumed the battery was dead and hooked it up to trickle charger. This battery is only a couple years old, and I kept it pretty well charged, even through the winter.

Anyhow, I went out again the other day to ride it. Unhooked the trickle charger and turned the ignition "ON" and its the exact same thing. The gauge cluster goes blank. No headlights on, the fuel pump won't prime, nothing. Now, when the engine is off, the cluster is on (not back-lit...it just shows the time, like normal), but whenever I turn the ignition on it goes blank. Additionally, the time seems to always reset itself after I turn the ignition on and off again. I thought maybe the battery was just totally dead, but I tested it w/ my multimeter today and it was sitting pretty at 12.74 V, which is more than enough charge to start it up.

One last thing to note is that when the trickle charger was hooked up to the battery, and I turned the ignition on, it acted much more normal. The gauge cluster came on, the headlights came on (though dimly) and the fuel pump primed (though it sounded painful). I hit the ignition to see if the engine would turn over, but, not surprisingly, it didn't budge. Not sure what could be wrong, so I thought I'd throw it out here for you guys to see if you had any thoughts.

Oh, one last thing...I also checked the fuse for the "starter bank angle(?)" and it was fine. I just saw the word starter and thought maybe it was a blown fuse or something, but the fuse was fine.

Thanks!

 

Assuming the battery terminals are clean and tight try turning the ignition on with your multimeter hooked up to the battery and see what the voltage does. Might just be a really weak battery that looks fine without a load, but drops voltage significantly as soon as a load is applied. Your comment about the symptoms starting to go away with the trickle charger hooked up makes me suspect the battery and/or a poor connection there.

You could also try jump starting it from another vehicle and see if it will crank over.

 

Sounds like your battery shot.

 

I went out and turned the ignition on and checked the multimeter. The voltage dropped to less than 1 volt. I didn't know if this was abnormal or not, but given what everyone here has said, it doesn't sound good.

If the voltage is supposed to stay high, what would cause a battery hold a charge, but not be able to provide any power anymore?

 

Bad cellls inside. There is more to battery diagnostics than standing voltage, which is supposed to be tested after sitting instead of fresh off a charger.

 

Yeah it looks like new battery time. I'd also suggest using a battery tender if you don't ride it all the time. I would always have battery problems after the bike sat a lot in the winter until I started using one.

 

My F4i started doing similar things a few months ago. I replaced the battery and checked connections, and it's been perfect since.

Peter

 

Sorry for necroing thread, but this helped me alot. my bike had same exact symptoms after 3 years or so with a new cheapo chinese battery. hooked up jump box bike acts normal again starts right up. new battery and shell be good as new!