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Bike won't start

KennP

New Member
My 2010 Heritage has been sitting for about year as I recovered from cancer. The bike has a 2 year old battery which was on a trickle charger the entire time and was ridden briefly in May of this year. The bike would not start. The starter chatters fast. I checked the battery and it was charged to 80% so I charged it to 100%. Same response. Any ideas of what my problem might be??
 
Agree with the above posts, the battery should be ~12.7 volts when fully charged, having said that, it may charge fully but not hold a charge for long, so it's probably bad.
Just replaced a six year old battery last month that was having those symptoms. she fired right up, no problems.
 
Take a look here.


A load test is the only reliable way to determining the condition of a battery in any vehicle. Once you do a load test and review the results, it is possible to judge whether your battery is at fault for a starting problem you may be having.
Keep in mind that a low battery below about 9 volts will not run a bike because the voltage is too low for the ECM to operate properly. You may have sufficient cranking power but the ECM will not fire off the engine so you get a no start condition because the voltage in the battery will crank the engine but be too low to run the engine at cranking time if the battery isn't up to snuff.

Here's a video of a test on a car but a bike would be similar as far as a test is concerned.

YouTube - Poor Man's Load Test (testing battery)
 
Agree with the above posts, the battery should be ~12.7 volts when fully charged, having said that, it may charge fully but not hold a charge for long, so it's probably bad.
Just replaced a six year old battery last month that was having those symptoms. she fired right up, no problems.

Thanks for the info. The battery is only two years old but Texas heat is rough on them and this one has been sitting idle for a long time. Thanks again.

Take a look here.


A load test is the only reliable way to determining the condition of a battery in any vehicle. Once you do a load test and review the results, it is possible to judge whether your battery is at fault for a starting problem you may be having.
Keep in mind that a low battery below about 9 volts will not run a bike because the voltage is too low for the ECM to operate properly. You may have sufficient cranking power but the ECM will not fire off the engine so you get a no start condition because the voltage in the battery will crank the engine but be too low to run the engine at cranking time if the battery isn't up to snuff.

Here's a video of a test on a car but a bike would be similar as far as a test is concerned.

YouTube - Poor Man's Load Test (testing battery)
Thanks Jeff. My battery is only two years old but sitting inside in the Texas heat is rough on them. Thanks again for the info. I'll be taking to Auto Zone for laod testing soon. Cheers, Kenn

Agree with the above posts, the battery should be ~12.7 volts when fully charged, having said that, it may charge fully but not hold a charge for long, so it's probably bad.
Just replaced a six year old battery last month that was having those symptoms. she fired right up, no problems.

Thanks for the info. Mine is only two years old but its been sitting idle in my garage in the South Texas heat and I know thats hard on them. Cheers, Kenn
 
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Sounds like a bad battery, it can have 12 + volts but if the amperage is low the starter won't operate right.
Be sure to clean all grounds, battery to frame, I have seen corrosion from non use cause faults like poor starter operation.
 
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