Hi everyone i hope youre all well. Im the wife of a 2018 HD Fat Bob owner and i would like some advice on a technical issue if i may please.
hubbys bike is 16 months old and has done 4500 miles, he has a battery tender (get me with the jargon) and he did 120 miles on friday (didnt out tender on when he got back) and he done 50 miles on Saturday (didnt put tender on when he got back as he has took the day off today to get a few more miles on before its 5k miles service) however, he went out to start it and the battery was dead, didnt even make a sound. What i would like to know is the following please.
everything was switched off as normal, nothing only the security was running in the background so would this cause the battery to be flat in 40 hours without the tender on? Would really like some advice as he is winding me up saying “the bike has to go i cant deal with this”. It has never had an issue in the past. Many many thanks in advance for any advoce you can offer me to pass on to him. 😊

 

first, chill, no sweat.
owning a harley is like being married, sure there will be problems but if you love her, you can work things out, been doing that for 48 years, never been happier.
the security draws mill-amps so it would last longer than 40 hours. the best thing is to install an inline amp meter between the battery and system to see what it is actually doing. then pull one fuse at a time till the level drops. also, disconnect the voltage regulator and see if it drops (here, some leakage may occur but would be extremely low)
kiss it. charge the battery and then do two back to back load tests, the first to remove surface charge and the second to see condition of the battery. if it cannot maintain 10+, change it.
like a marriage, if you divorce it, it will cost $$$$. first you lose at resale value and then when you buy another, and who is to say in a few months it gives trouble. some men are just not suited to be married. LOL

 

Even though you got some good advice above, you might want to get it to the dealer since it's under warranty. It's a new battery but that doesn't mean it was fully charged when it got delivered. If it's bad or there's a problem with the charging system let the service department sort it out.

 

First off, You said that you nor your Hubby are not very mechanically inclined. If you don't understand what you are doing when testing things you need to get the bike to a shop for diagnoses and repair.
The bike should still be under warranty being a 2018. Did you buy the bike new? There should still be a warranty. This is what it is for.
Batteries usually are good for about 3 years or so, but some don't quite make it. There are also voltage regulator failures along with charging system failures.
Charging the battery will take quite a while if it is completely flat. but a good slow charge is the best, don't go over a few amper charging. the battery maintainer depending on which one might not do a good job recharging from a flat battery.. If you want, you can remove the battery and have it tested, but then you are going to get into the hooking everything back up again. If you aren't sure of what you are doing take it to someone who does know. It will save you problems big time !.
If you don't have a warranty find a good independent shop that is good with Harley Davidson. It will likely be less money.
Good Luck !!

 

What we don't know is any add-ons that your hubby has installed. Light kits, cell phone charger, etc?

Battery bad, stator bad, regulator bad. Could be any of those if nothing installed. Take it to the dealer.

 

Doesn't matter how much charged it was when delivered he has rode it since then. Ya it can stress a battery if really low. But I kinda doubt that was the problem.


Always start with checking battery cables are tight. Surprising how often that happens.

I never use tenders. I don't have secruity, which has some draw, but 40 hours still seems to quick.

Get a volt meter check the battery is around 12.7 when parked for awhile, and 14.4 when revved up. Some people will tell you to load test, but I wouldn't bother until I went through a lot of other stuff.


If it is dead right now, and not the cables. Charge it over night. See if it starts. This could imply battery then. I wouldn't think a charging system on that new of bike, but that is the other thing to verify. Looking at AC output from stator. Put volt meter on AC. Unplug stator and read AC output. Rev it should go up. Not sure about that year. Usually go up 20 VAC for 1000 RPM maybe. Need to get spec for your bike.


DC clamp ons have come down in price. You could clamp the battery with it off. I am not sure what draw to expect from secruity system.

 

If under warranty, the only thing I would do is check battery cables and charge and see if it starts.

I am going to start carrying a battery pack, i got for snowmobile and ATV.

 

A new bike, check the cables, jump start it and get it to the dealer or have them pick it up.
If YOU do ANYTHING MORE, they'll blame it on you.

 

I wouldn't jump start. Put a trickle charge on it over night. I would jump it, if you got to go.