battery problems

A

Alex_Amaze

New member
I have a '06 C50 Boulevard that has been running fairly decently until lately. I don't ride every day, mostly on the weekends. Two months ago my bike would'nt start and I detemined it was a dead battery. I went to Walmart and got a trickle charger and put it on the battery. It charged my battery up to100% and I got about 2 months of starts with it. Then last week it wouldn't start again. So I took it out and put it on the trickle charger again. I got it up to 100% again. It started fine about twice. Then I got dead battery problems again. But when I put it back on the charger, it registered over 90% live. So I figured it can't be the battery. After the tightening the screws to the terminal good, it didn't start. But I played around with the terminal leads and it started. It seems like the leads are not getting a good connection with the battery terminals. And I tightened the screws pretty good......should I put a larger screw in the terminal? It seems to be the positive terminal giving the problem more than the ground. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Thanks people!
Stan
 
How old is the battery? Is it the original? I'd take it in and have it load tested. Sounds to me like it is on its way out.
 
Two things... how did your Walmart charger give you any sort of reliable status indication? Often a junk battery will appear charged to simple circuitry. Also, battery contacts are rarely a problem on motorcycles unless they're noticeably loose. If they're mostly clean and snug, that's not your problem.

Your battery has seen four seasons, with perhaps less-than-ideal maintenance. Take it to Batteries Plus and let them do a free check.
 
I've found that it's a lot more important for the contacts to be super clean than it is for them to be super tight.

That being said, no two batteries are created equal, and predicting battery life is just as difficult as predicting a persons life span.
 
Some thoughts:
Sometimes the connections to the posts INSIDE THE BATTERY go bad.

Check the connections at the OTHER end of both main cables; red one at the solenoid/starter/main fuse and black one at the frame.

Given what the battery has been through lately.....and that it is 4 years old (at least), I would start with a new battery and then visit a shop to get the charging system tested.

If you get a new battery, use that new charger to fully charge it before installation.

P.S. In the future, make sure the battery is fully charged before you "park" it for more than a few days. :bluethum:
 
Nah! I think it's time for a new ECM, stator, and RR.

What are those and how much would it cost? I have the original battery in there and its a sealed Yuasa (hope i spelled it right). So there was no maintenence involved. I'll check the cables at the other end like Easy Rider mentioned. If that doesn't do it, I'll spring for a new battery. Thanks
Stan
 
Any battery specialty place can test your battery. Most lead acid batteries for vehicles are built to last about 5 years and the manufacturers seem to hit that right on the nose these days. This will ocour much faster if it's left in an uncharged state for any length of time. When they die it can happen quickly.

You can do a simple test of the charging system on any vehicle with a digital multimeter. Borrow one or borrow someone that has one. Measure the battery voltage right on the battery terminals with key off it should be 12.5 volts. Measure the battery voltage right on the battery terminals as the bike is running. Then gently rev the motor and watch the voltage. You don't have to rev it very high. The voltage should rise to at least 13.5 volts but not above 15. These are ideal numbers and will vary slightly. The key thing is at an idle the lights and other loads on the battery will make the voltage drop and when you rev the motor the charging system has to raise the voltage enough to overcome the load and have extra to charge the battery.
 
The ECM is the computer of an FI system. My guess for cost would be $500.

The stator is the stationary part of an alternator. This is inside the motor, probably on the left lower side. Not difficult to change though. OEM costs are probably $250 to $350.

The RR or regulator rectifier is necessary since almost all motorcycles are equipped with a three-phase AC (Alternating Current) generator, while the electrical system on the bike is a DC (Direct Current) system. The rectifier part inside the regulator-rectifier takes care of converting the AC-current to the DC-current the battery needs. Some RR are behind a cover, some are external. It is a small boxy unit with cooling fins on it that is wired via couplers to your stator. Cost probably around $200. Also not difficult to change (more difficult to diagnose but what electrical issues is not??) unless putting toast in a toaster is a challenge for you.:mrgreen:
 
batteries can be tested at a good auto parts store (where they test what current the battery can handle) or

you can buy a load tester for about $50 at the store; I own one, although as good as it is, ain't always perfect.

I bought a lead acid battery a few years back, and it lasted about a year and a half.

Then, after a bit of thought (and a lot of aggravation) I bought a(n) AGM battery, which at the time was about triple the price of a regular battery.

Last year ended season number 7 with the agm battery.

As icing on the cake, there are manufacturing variations in the battery process, and you only need one of those 6 cells to be a bit "on the weak side" to cause battery problems.
 
A lot of shops will load test your battery for free. Just start calling. Extreme heat and cold will shorten a battery's life. Four years is a fairly reasonable life span.
 
From what I'm getting from most of you guys is that my battery is about at the end of it's road. I will probably try to charge it again but I've already gotten it load tested. That was before I brought the trickle charger from Walmart. I took it back to the automotove shop (in Walmart) and asked them if it would hold a charge. They took it about two hours and when I went back they told me it was charging and at approx %80at that particular point. I had to leave so I told them to take it off and I would finish charging it myself. I figured it would die again at some point so I grabbed a trickle charger while I was there. As I said before, the trickle charger worked good and prolonged by battery up to this point. My puzzle was that why would't it crank the bike if the charger LED read 100% charged? The trickle charger model is a Shumacher Elecric Microprocessor LED that contains three LED displays for 2,8 and 12 amp charge selections. If any one can address this puzzle I can appreciate your support. Thanks again to those who are helpful!
Stanley
 
The charger you have is NOT a trickle charger; those only have one range and are 2 amps or less.

Just exactly what LED do you think indicates a full charge?

Just because a battery comes up to full voltage, that doesn't necessarily mean that it can still deliver the current it should. Sulphation is the most common cause of that but there are others.

I don't think the battery has been load tested because it must be very near 100% charged before you do that test. You told the shop to stop charging it......so they probably never did the test.

And finally, the starter didn't run MAYBE because of another problem......like loose or corroded cables.

But.....after all this, yes, I still think you need a new battery......unless you find another problem.

Oh, and I still think you should have the onboard charging system tested too..........or your new battery might go dead too.
 
and remember, only 1 of those 6 cells needs to be on the fritz to cause these problems.

Go to the store, by the expensive ($80 - $90) agm battery and be happy.
 
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