Riding into Boston yesterday i noticed that my headlight wasnt on, but i was able to get it to come on after switching it on and off a bunch of times. Then later I was coming to a stop at a light and the bike died. I tried to start it but the starter would barely crank for a moment and then the gauges would reset. I pushed it to a nearby parking lot where i was able to push start it and ride like 50 or 60 ft but I had errands to run so I just parked it and its been sitting there since.

I replaced my R/R with a 04 Gsxr one last year. My battery is at least three years old. Unfortunately i haven't even tested it with a multimeter, but i did try to start it a few hours later and she turned over a few times before resetting the guages and shutting the headlight off. Never have the battery die like that. Should I buy a new battery?

 

Check you charging system again.

I'd replace the battery soon. Don't wait until you stuck somewhere. If it isn't completely bad, you can wait until next season (if you park it for the winter).

 

Batterys can be funny causing all kind of symptoms I have seen them just die it started fine when I left the house went to leave work and proof battery dead also have seen a few make a pop and dead. The Magna is bad about RR also so kinda a Honda thing from what I have seen.

 

So i bought a new battery from Battery Plus. The girl at the store put a multimeter on it to see if i could just install it and it was good to go. I installed it in the bike and she turned right over started up fine. BUT What I noticed that i should have mentioned earlier in the summer my headlight will buzz before/when its turning, others it will make the buzz and not turn on so I will alternate between on and off till it stays on. After hitting the switch a few times it turns on without the buzz. I dont have a high beam so, just a very birght HID, so it either on or off. This happens much less often if the bike is in motion and it never buzzed before this season. Also when im riding i cant really tell if its (the light) just vibrating with the road etc, or the power to it is varying causing it to slighty flicker, its a very subtle effect.

Is this linked to my battery dying? Or is the light separate and maybe I just need a new bulb or the ballast has gone and it has nothing to do with it? Any Thoughts?

 

You battery didn't die while riding. The battery doesn't do anything while the engine is on, the charging system does everything. So if the bike died and the battery wouldn't crank the bike then your charging system died and you drained the battery while the bike continued to run.

 

have you checked rectifier?

 

definately not excluding that as a possibility. Its also possible that my battery is not capable of holding a charge after being used for so many years. I will have look into checking the charging system for sure though.

 

If the old battery had a major failure such as shorting out a cell it could indeed fail while you were riding. The charging system is designed to maintain the battery which in turn runs all the electrical accessories while the bike is running. If the battery is unable to maintain 12+ volts it can create all sorts of havoc on the electrical components.

First thing I would do is make sure you're getting the proper voltage when the bike is running to make sure it's charging properly. The buzzing may be related to a bad ground or possibly something failing in the lighting circuit. Sort of hard to pinpoint without seeing the bike in person however.

 

Im with Boredandstroked on this one, you dont even need a battery in the bike for it to run, test it.. take out battery. bump start it. and it will run fine. so that wouldnt of caused your bike to shut off. IMO. (im pretty sure with race bikes they take out the batteries for less weight)

 

Not a good idea, especially on a modern fuel injected bike with an ECU.