2012 Ultra classic. Just bought it. Battery is new (put in at Harley dealer 1500 miles ago). bike has been setting up about 3 months, had to jump start it to bring it home. Removed battery, charged for 14 full hrs, installed. Started one time, very weak sounding, after that won't turn fast enough to start. Checking with my Fluke meter before starting it shows 12.7 volts. Press start button, it drops to 8 volts within 2 seconds. This is my second ultra classic, I never noticed on the first one, but on this 2012 when the start button is pressed, the headlights and dash as well as tail lights never cycle off during the start sequence. All metric bikes have a relay that shuts off all power to lights during start up for max amp. Does Harley not relay off lights during start up or do I have a problem with some relay?

 

Needs a new battery.

 

I'm guessing that this 3 month and two week old Harley battery is no good. I am taking it with the sales receipt to the local Harley shop Monday and let them do their super charge, load test and see what the results are. At least it has some kind of warranty help for one year even if it is pro-rated. Thanks for your reply.

 

Another vote for bad battery. The jump probably didn't help it.

 

A fully charged batter will measure 14.2 vdc. (2.2vdc x 6/cells). After charging for 14 hours and you're registering 12.7 volts then your batter is very suspect.

 

I think 12.7 for a battery is pretty decent; 14.2 is about what you want to see from a charging system, not a battery.

For me, it's the 8 volts when trying to start that's the warning sign here.

 

Just to confirm, 12.7 is the battery voltage and 14.2 volts is the charging system voltage. If you are below 11VDC on your battery there may be starting issues until the battery is charged, if your engine is running you should have the 14.2~14.7VDC at the battery if you get less than that you may have a charging system issue.

 

agreed!

 

If your battery is dropping to 8VDC in 2 seconds, then battery is very suspect (new or not) have the battery load tested, I would be willing to bet that it will fail with that much drain. Most likely bad cell so you will show the 12.7 initially but there will not be enough current to start it (mine calls for a 310cca battery). The cells in most AGM or Lead/acid batteries are wired in parallel so that the voltage remains the same but the more cells the more current it is capable of producing which is why we load test the batteries expecially if the current is suspect.