Police Bike Overheated

JBCleere

New member
My battery went dead on my 2010 Ectra Glide Police Bike. I jumped it off and let it run idle. I rode it around a little bit then let it idle again to charge the battery back up. I go to get some water and come back and the bike is smoking. I turned it off immediately. What kind of damage did I do?
 
Your bike will not charge the battery at idle and it is never good to let an air cooled motor sit still while running for any length of time.

When it cooled down would it restart?
 
Yep, Jim pretty much said everything.
Smoking hot isn't good. Could do internal engine damage, melted wiring and/or discolor pipes but probably didn't.
If it starts, listen for strange noises and watch for leaks.
 
Unless you let it idle for hours, I doubt it hurt it. I did 2 weeks of training on an 09 Road King Police bike for 8 hrs a day going in slow tight circles and sitting idling for 10 minutes at a time, then going real hard and stopping real fast. In 90+ degree weather. It was like an extreme torture test, for the bike and me. The bike did fine. I felt like I had been beaten to death.

The smoking was probably some oil burning from somewhere externally.
 
I ride my non POLICE bike fifteen to twenty minutes before it gets up to 200 degrees
(HD3 oil)...I can not imagine a bike over heating and then bellowing smoke from heat after
going into a house to get a drink of water.
If your battery went dead, I would determine the cause of it. If you ride it once a
week, it should be fine.
Not a good idea to 'charge' a battery by letting a bike idle.
You may have other issues.

I have a battery tender I use....maybe twice a year. I ride my bike. Battery seems fine.
 
thanks guys. I am sorry that I did not clarify the "minute" timeframe. It was probably closer to 20-30 minutes. I got to talking with some of the guys at work. In the south a minute could be 60 seconds or 30 minutes. The bike started after it cooled off and I rode it for about 10 minutes. Everything went fine and I did not see any leaks anywhere. I will update y'all tomorrow after a nice 8 hr day at work on it. First off, thank god its not mine and two, there is a warranty.
 
They're air cooled, they gotta be moving. I've never let my bike just sit and idle except whenever I'm stuck in traffic.
 
Now that's funny in a non-tax paying kind of way! Made me smile.

Just took a few miles of life off her is all. Lots of people talk about buying used police bikes, and honestly I would, but I know they are hard miles and yours is an example why Ride safe!

BTW. Will be rolling down I95 towards Ft Bragg to see my son and family this weekend... If ya see me just wave, please don't pull me over
 
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