I bought a new battery today because when I got home from the Mid East mine was dead and wouldn't take a charge. So I brought the battery home and put it on the charger. My charger is one of the automagic ones that you just hit a button that says charge or hit a button that says condition. The battery came to a full charge. When I connected it to my bike it wouln't start. At first I could hear the start clicking, like that of a dead battery. So I tested the battery again and it says full. Now I connect to my bike and nothing happens (no horn, no lights, nothing). The only thing that happens is when I put the key in the speedo goes from 0-max and back down and the clock is on until I hit the ignition button and then it fades out. The ground terminal does get sort of hot, not burning but hot enough to notice. Is this a bad battery?

3 days until i Leave back to Iraq and I need to ride tomorrow am.

 

Make sure your connections on the battery are tight and the wires are not loose. Sometimes, the screws that are provided bottom out in the battery and the terminal doesnt get fully seated. Other than a loose connection somewhere, I just don't know.

Also, most batteries will have to have acid added to them when they are new and need to be charged. Was your battery already filled? Or did you add the acid to it?

I know you stated that your battery charger says full, but chances are pretty good the battery is not charged. It should take a few hours on a low amp charge. You dont want to charge a motorcycle batttery on too high of an amp load.1-2 amps is ideal.

 

Yeah your battery is toast. Your gauges are dying when you try to start it because the power is going to your starter. Your battery charger will stop filling based on voltage, it can't actually tell if your battery is full or not. You could take it to autozone and they will test your battery for free. Good luck.