Fried battery
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2021
Posts: 151
Likes: 97
From: France
Fried battery
Well I knew it was too good to be true. After a whole year of electrical bugs, all seemed Ok after HD changed the battery last May.
Well I've been getting hard starts and MODE icons on the screen for the last 2 weeks. I have added Denali rear indicator/stop lights recently but don't see how this could drain the battery.
Last night I put it on trickle charge as I often do with an HD charger - the orange light was continuous - not a good sign and this morning, she started on one cylinder with a flickering black screen. Well that didn't last long.
Seems the battery is totally fried.
So back to square one again. I have an older spare battery which I have put on charge but don't have much hope.
So back to the dealer next week for yet another thrilling episode of PanAmerica wows.
Not sure I will be keeping this bike much longer... but there's not much I like in the current Harley lineup - for about the same price. By the way, the Special is 2000/$ more now than in 2021. That's a wack.
Well I've been getting hard starts and MODE icons on the screen for the last 2 weeks. I have added Denali rear indicator/stop lights recently but don't see how this could drain the battery.
Last night I put it on trickle charge as I often do with an HD charger - the orange light was continuous - not a good sign and this morning, she started on one cylinder with a flickering black screen. Well that didn't last long.
Seems the battery is totally fried.
So back to square one again. I have an older spare battery which I have put on charge but don't have much hope.
So back to the dealer next week for yet another thrilling episode of PanAmerica wows.
Not sure I will be keeping this bike much longer... but there's not much I like in the current Harley lineup - for about the same price. By the way, the Special is 2000/$ more now than in 2021. That's a wack.
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2021
Posts: 151
Likes: 97
From: France
Well more news on this. Took the battery to the dealer last week who tested it and said it was good but was way down on voltage. Surprising as the bike is on it's tender most of the time.
So after charging for a day, they asked for the bike to test the charging system.
They kept the bike. It's not charging. Part of the alternator is broken - the stator ? has come loose. None in stock so another long wait ahead.
They will also add a multiplying cog to the starter motor that fixes the hard start problem.
But will this ever end...
I did spend last Friday morning test driving a Street Bob with a mind about changing bikes. Very disappointed. So heavy, so stiff on the suspension. Clutch really hard. I had so forgotten what a classic Harley is like.
And it made me realize just how comfortable the PanAm is. I'm keeping it !
So after charging for a day, they asked for the bike to test the charging system.
They kept the bike. It's not charging. Part of the alternator is broken - the stator ? has come loose. None in stock so another long wait ahead.
They will also add a multiplying cog to the starter motor that fixes the hard start problem.
But will this ever end...
I did spend last Friday morning test driving a Street Bob with a mind about changing bikes. Very disappointed. So heavy, so stiff on the suspension. Clutch really hard. I had so forgotten what a classic Harley is like.
And it made me realize just how comfortable the PanAm is. I'm keeping it !
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 12,254
Likes: 4,946
From: England
The tender being a low current device is probably not the best thing to recover a flat battery. For that you need 3 or 4 amp charger.
A simple test for the charging system is once the bike is running, set it to a high idle 2500 to 3000 rpm, measure the voltage at the battery across the terminals. It should be over 14 volts in the region of 14.6 volts.
A simple test for the charging system is once the bike is running, set it to a high idle 2500 to 3000 rpm, measure the voltage at the battery across the terminals. It should be over 14 volts in the region of 14.6 volts.
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2021
Posts: 151
Likes: 97
From: France
The tender being a low current device is probably not the best thing to recover a flat battery. For that you need 3 or 4 amp charger.
A simple test for the charging system is once the bike is running, set it to a high idle 2500 to 3000 rpm, measure the voltage at the battery across the terminals. It should be over 14 volts in the region of 14.6 volts.
A simple test for the charging system is once the bike is running, set it to a high idle 2500 to 3000 rpm, measure the voltage at the battery across the terminals. It should be over 14 volts in the region of 14.6 volts.
I put it on an Optimate charger in the end. With an 0.8 amp output charger. I see that Harley now sell a 5 amp charger so maybe sometime I'll upgrade. Or maybe I won't need to - if the bike gets fixed. But then pigs might fly...
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Jun 2021
Posts: 151
Likes: 97
From: France
So here's the score on this. No fried battery in the end. But a stator and rotor problem. No charging. Turns out the rotor which has the magnets looses them... and the stator which has the wire coils (hope I got this right) had a pinched coil and one the the wires snapped.
So on and off charging for a while until is stopped. An isolated incident they say. Mmmmm.
Just got it back after 2 months at the dealer. Feels good. And on the trickle charger it now goes green. So all is good.
They also changed the main cog in the starter engine. The cog that fits to the motor. Harley have updated that part making it heavier to give the starter motor more torque. Seems to work but early days.
So on and off charging for a while until is stopped. An isolated incident they say. Mmmmm.
Just got it back after 2 months at the dealer. Feels good. And on the trickle charger it now goes green. So all is good.
They also changed the main cog in the starter engine. The cog that fits to the motor. Harley have updated that part making it heavier to give the starter motor more torque. Seems to work but early days.
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Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 5,815
Likes: 2,555
From: UK
So here's the score on this. No fried battery in the end. But a stator and rotor problem. No charging. Turns out the rotor which has the magnets looses them... and the stator which has the wire coils (hope I got this right) had a pinched coil and one the the wires snapped.
So on and off charging for a while until is stopped. An isolated incident they say. Mmmmm.
Just got it back after 2 months at the dealer. Feels good. And on the trickle charger it now goes green. So all is good.
They also changed the main cog in the starter engine. The cog that fits to the motor. Harley have updated that part making it heavier to give the starter motor more torque. Seems to work but early days.
So on and off charging for a while until is stopped. An isolated incident they say. Mmmmm.
Just got it back after 2 months at the dealer. Feels good. And on the trickle charger it now goes green. So all is good.
They also changed the main cog in the starter engine. The cog that fits to the motor. Harley have updated that part making it heavier to give the starter motor more torque. Seems to work but early days.
The dealer has replaced the stator/rotor, the BCM, the battery, the starter clutch etc....and the bike now seems to run perfectly.
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Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 169
Likes: 12
From: NoVA
I fried an AntiGravity lithium battery over here myself. I noticed before dealer visits that the voltage was all over the place (12-14).
To you op, the loose magnets were reported by someone else on advrider as well.
Mine is currently at the dealer with a the new reflash, battery replaced, and waiting for the rest. They did do a teardown to look at the charging system and the magnets I was told were good.
Just another day in the Pan America support group!
To you op, the loose magnets were reported by someone else on advrider as well.
Mine is currently at the dealer with a the new reflash, battery replaced, and waiting for the rest. They did do a teardown to look at the charging system and the magnets I was told were good.
Just another day in the Pan America support group!
Banned
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 261
Likes: 186
For those with starting issues when cold, did you notice what you battery voltage showed when ignition first turned on? If mine shows 11.8 or higher, I'm good to go, starts perfectly. If it shows 11.7 or lower, it's pretty much a done deal - it will crank few times, then throw a code or two, and not start. Trickle charger does not help - if the bike sits for a week or so, even though my trickle charger shows green, it will drop to 11.7 and game's over. Once I get it started - if I ride it for 15-20 minutes, I'm good to go - park at work in the morning, leave in the late afternoon, and it shows 11.9-12.0...
Dealer checked the battery, no issues. Since I don't have any hard starting issues other than voltage dropping, I don't think it's the starter.
The only thing I can think of is - my bike sat at the dealer for 6 months due to a deer incident and waiting on parts. I'm sure they didn't keep the battery charged, so maybe despite their assurances the battery is just plain toast and I should get it replaced...
Dealer checked the battery, no issues. Since I don't have any hard starting issues other than voltage dropping, I don't think it's the starter.
The only thing I can think of is - my bike sat at the dealer for 6 months due to a deer incident and waiting on parts. I'm sure they didn't keep the battery charged, so maybe despite their assurances the battery is just plain toast and I should get it replaced...