I have a 2005 1200 Custom with about 13K miles on it. I bought it about 8 months ago with about 4100 miles on it. Have had no problems until the other day. Went out to go to work and battery was dead. I had just changed the rear tire on it, but do not believe I left the key on to drain the battery, but assumed I must have. Charged the battery overnight and next day rode to work (about 50 miles). Rode 20 minutes mid day during lunch. Then on the way home got about 20 miles and bike just died on me. Turn the key and headlight and instrument lights were very dim. Took battery out and was at night so only place open was AutoZone. Took (dead) battery there and they tested it, said it was bad battery. I took battery home, charged it overnight, put back in bike next morning and rode home and started driving truck to work. That was two days ago. Went out to get battery out of bike tonight and light was not good so decided to see if would crank to turn it around and battery was very strong. I wasn't sure battery was bad to begin with and now really don't think so. Spoke to bike shop today about it and they said bring it in and they could test it, but I was wondering if anybody had some suggestions as to what I might check out on my own. I would rather diagnose and fix it myself first. I read here mostly, but thought I would give it a shot and research a lot tonight too. Any help appreciated.

Thanks,

Dawg

 

Sounds as if you might have had a loose battery connection or some corrosion on the battery connector. Had that on my 99. If it's running strong now I wouldn't worry about it. Did you notice how ole the battery was? I got 7.5 years out of the one I changed recently.

 

Check the battery ground cable where it attaches to the bike. Could be loose and has been known to cause this problem.

 

Check the plug coming out of the regulator. Had some work done on mine at the indy a few weeks back and it "accidently" pulled it loose. Didn't find it til the next morning after it died while riding. Had probably put about 80 miles with half a dozen starts from just the battery and never getting a charge.

 

Put a voltmeter across the battery terminals with the motor running at a fast idle (~2000 rpm). It should measure between 13.5 - 14.5VDC. If it's lower than that your charging circuit isn't working (regulator and/or stator).

 

Thanks for all the info. That nut for the ground wire is a bitch to get to, and I had removed/replaced the battery, so I'm thinking that was likely my problem, but I'll check out the other stuff too. Thanks again

Dawg

 

I replace the battires in my bikes ebery 3 years need it or not. My wife has had a dead battery and she was stuck on the side of the road 110 miles from home .When the battery dies the ecm and fuel injection dies and you are **** out of luck waiting for a trailer

 

I agree with the comments about checking the connections as well. I would also use a battery tender when not riding. A great $35.00 investment.

 

Like everyone said, check the cheap stuff first -- Not a bad thing to do anyway, as it will keep a good battery good.
1) shine up all the connections (and a little grease helps to keep them from corroding again)
2) check your charging voltage with the bike running. Should be 13.5 to 14v at the battery. Fix a bad regulator or stator before you ruin a replacement battery.

With all the above taken care of, I wouldn't be suprised if you do have a bad battery. 4 years is a typical battery life, and that's actually a long life if the battery had ben neglected. Since you have only had the bike for 6 months, the battery's history is questionable.

Motorcycle batteries are not designed for "deep cycle", so they degrade each time you let them discharge. That is why the tender is so important for long term storage -- if you let it completely dscharge, you can't just recharge it at the beginning of the next season.

The parts store might still be right that the battery is indeed bad. One of the causes for a battery failure is the lead sulfide forming and shorting the plates. Jostling around, you may have shaken it loose, but still have a build-up at the bottom of the cells. Charging a battery with a bad cell causes the remaining cells to overcharge, boiling out the electrolyte.

 

Also, if you do buy a replacement battery, don't buy one of those cheap batteries that you have to put in the electrolite and charge.... They don't last... spend the extra $20 and get a sealed battery that is already charged. Advance Auto Parts sells them for about $75. My original factory battery is still in my 02 and has never been on a tender and have had no problems with it.