I was trying to get my bike started after winter storage. The battery had been kept inside, out of the bike, all winter but I have no idea how old it is. I put the battery back in the bike and tried to start her up.

Initially all seemed normal. Turned the ignition on and the lights came on. Pressed the starter button and the engine turned over ok but didn't catch. I waited a minute and then tried again. This time it tried to catch. I waited another minute and tried a third time. This time it almost started.

As the engine died I pressed the starter button again and that is when something happened. The whole bike just lost electrical power. The lights went out and nothing would respond. Turning the ignition on and off did nothing.

I pondered this for a few minutes and tried the ignition again. This time the lights came back on so I tried the starter button again and there was a single loud click on the left side of the bike (solenoid?) and all electrical power was lost again.

Could the battery have lost power that quickly after turning the engine over a couple of times? Anyone come across anything similar?

Thanks for any help offered.

 

I came across that exact same situation last year when I went to pull my bike back out...turns out that I just didn't have the greatest connection at my positive terminal...tightened it up and new life was given...

 

Thanks for the tip. It makes sense that it is battery related and now you mention it I remember having trouble getting the rubber cover out of the way when connecting the positive battery terminal. I'll check the connection and see if it helps...

 

...yep, that did the trick. I checked the battery and it was just a loose terminal. Thanks again.