blackhawkxx Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 I'll tell you a little story so if it happens to you, you will know what not to do. Rode my Goldwing, everything was fine. Two days later, turn the key on, all good, lights on, hit the starter button, POP, all lights go out. Dead. I thought it must be the main fuse (there are two of them). They were good. Getting 12.8 volts at the battery and across the main fuses. On the othere side of the bike is the fuse panel and relays. Almost no power there. Everything is totaly jammed in a Wing and there are a million electric gizmo's. I called my son (he's a mechanic) he checked some stuff after ripping more stuff out just to get to things. Then is says"just for fun, put a battery charger on it". I said no way, we are getting 12.8 volts. So I did and the lights came on but wouldn't turn over. Put the big charger on, it started to turn over. Put a new battery in it today, started and ran perfect. He took the old battery to work and put it on the checker and it wouldn'd even show that it was connected (junk). In all my years messing with cars and bikes, I have never seen a battery do this. Something must have shorted in it but how does it still have 12.8 volts? Sorry about this being so long but maybe it will save someone some grief someday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnoGecko Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Just becuase it has voltage dosent mean that it is providing any current... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SBBXX Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 Just becuase it has voltage dosent mean that it is providing any current... exactly the 12.8 v (a bit low BTW, it should be closer to 13.5) is without a load. a decrease in internal resistance, (shorts) don't always show up until there's a load. marty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matey_peeps Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 May have had plenty of volts but no amps, I've seen it happen. It'll light everything but not enough gumption to turn anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N1K Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 In all my years messing with cars and bikes, I have never seen a battery do this. I had a battery do that on my 1000F... I could be cruising along and stop at a stop sign and it would instantly quit, and power would go out. If I'd put it on the side stand, the power would come back on, it would fire up and run fine. I only figured it out because I'd sit on the bike and turn the key off and on, check the kill switch etc. When I'd give up and put the side stand down to get off the bike and call someone, it would light up. After a couple of time of it going out, and turning on the minute I would give up and put it on the side stand I figured it out. I figure something must have corroded thru in the battery so it didn't make a good cirsuit and putting it on the side stand would improve the connection again. New battery problem solved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted August 24, 2005 Author Share Posted August 24, 2005 I guess my whole point was to make sure it's not the battery before ripping into the bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechnoGecko Posted August 24, 2005 Share Posted August 24, 2005 If you replaced the battery and it works, well then I'd say you fixed it. I don't quite understand... :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackhawkxx Posted August 24, 2005 Author Share Posted August 24, 2005 If you replaced the battery and it works, well then I'd say you fixed it. I don't quite understand... I didn't think it was the battery so I spent hours tearing into the bike. Always check the easy things first, OK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedygeezer Posted August 26, 2005 Share Posted August 26, 2005 Two of my buddies, both riding 1500 series Wings, had their bike engines quit while cruising down the road. Usually, this is an indication of a weak battery. Usually. It's always the 1st thing to check. However, in these two cases, two different culprits were eventually found. One bike had a faulty engine control module and the other had the handlebar kill switch go bad. On the latter, it was also an intermittent problem, so you know how long it took to find THAT glitch. File for future use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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