Starting Issues
2nd Gear
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
From: Cincinnati
I'm in I'm for more info on this too. Just ran into the same problem. All winter while the bike sat with a broken starter ring gear, any time I turned it on it had power and would turn over the starter. Fixed it two weeks ago and it fired right up. It was never hooked to a tender. Rode every day for a week and had no problems. Let it sit from Tuesday afternoon til Saturday night and then got the crankcrankclickclickclickclick. Pulled the battery and dropped it off for a test/charge last night. In the meantime, I put a tiny 80cca battery from my '73 Honda bike on there, which has sat all winter with no tender, and the bike fired right up. Rode for 45 minutes with no problems. I go to start it today, still on the tiny battery...dead. I picked up my other battery from the shop and it held the charge and tested great. I'm not getting a bad smell from the primary, so I THINK the stator is good...so I'm pretty miffed about this.
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 234
Likes: 1
From: La Crosse, WI
As far as jump starting from a car battery, yes I did. Thinking back, this bike has been jump started from a car battery a few times...probably a half dozen. Am I in trouble for doing this?
Where to next?
Road Captain
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 731
Likes: 7
From: Windsor Ontario
...why would there be a problem? Does a car/truck battery generate a different type of electricity?
Road Captain
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 731
Likes: 7
From: Windsor Ontario
(this... I gotta hear!)
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Tourer
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 417
Likes: 2
From: El Mirage, AZ
Its the current that your car/truck alternator is putting out. 12 volt is 12 volts, but current is different. Thats why you have different batter chargers for autos and motorcycles. Motorcycle battery chargers use less current to charge the battery. But dont take my word for it, do some research for yourself.
Tourer
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 417
Likes: 2
From: El Mirage, AZ
Here is just one article about motorcycle batteries... http://www.mcnews.com/mcnews/articles/battery.htm
This is an excerpt from that article explaining a little about what is ideal for charging motorcycle batteries.
"A motorcycle battery should never receive the kind of high-rate booster charge intended for a car battery, and unfortunately that always seems to be the only type of charger a service station has on hand when your bike needs help.
To learn the proper maximum charging rate for your battery, look at the alphanumeric code printed across the case of the battery and you will usually find its Amp/Hour rating. If it's not obvious, check your owners manual. The proper trickle-charging rate for a motorcycle battery is one-tenth of the A/H rating for as long as 10 hours, depending on how discharged it is. Charging faster than 2.02.5 amps causes overheating which can warp and even melt the battery case if ignored. High-rate charging also speeds up internal corrosion, and its visible sign is sediment buildup under the cells, which if it reaches high enough, will also permanently short out the battery. Too high a charging rate can also result in a battery that does not hold a charge because too-rapid transformation of the lead sulfate may actually trap sulfate under a surface coating of rejuvenated lead, producing a battery that can test okay but fails quickly. Thankfully, this last effect can be reversed with a very slow charge of no more than 1ź20 (yes, that's one-twentieth) of rated capacity for 25 to 30 hours.
Therefore, because we really don't want a powerful charger, a good battery charger for most purposes is the inexpensive low-output type. Typically selling for around $20, the so-called "trickle chargers" usually produce no more than 1.2 amps. They often incorporate a solid-state feedback circuit that will taper the charge down to even lower levels as the battery voltage comes back up, preventing overcharging. Most convenient are the quick-connect type that provide a pigtail connector that can be permanently attached to the battery. The trickle charger will also work on your car battery, but even more slowly, and produces the same battery-friendly results.
Both the taper-rate and trickle charger supply only a fixed voltage. However, the lead-antimony battery should be charged at 1415 volts, but the lead-calcium type needs l516 volts to reach full charge. What's the voltage of your charger? Does it match your battery type?
Constant current chargers like the Optimate or Battery Tender brands are called smart chargers because they can vary the charging voltage to keep current constant and charge a battery much more quickly. We'll cover their other advantages in a future article."
This is an excerpt from that article explaining a little about what is ideal for charging motorcycle batteries.
"A motorcycle battery should never receive the kind of high-rate booster charge intended for a car battery, and unfortunately that always seems to be the only type of charger a service station has on hand when your bike needs help.
To learn the proper maximum charging rate for your battery, look at the alphanumeric code printed across the case of the battery and you will usually find its Amp/Hour rating. If it's not obvious, check your owners manual. The proper trickle-charging rate for a motorcycle battery is one-tenth of the A/H rating for as long as 10 hours, depending on how discharged it is. Charging faster than 2.02.5 amps causes overheating which can warp and even melt the battery case if ignored. High-rate charging also speeds up internal corrosion, and its visible sign is sediment buildup under the cells, which if it reaches high enough, will also permanently short out the battery. Too high a charging rate can also result in a battery that does not hold a charge because too-rapid transformation of the lead sulfate may actually trap sulfate under a surface coating of rejuvenated lead, producing a battery that can test okay but fails quickly. Thankfully, this last effect can be reversed with a very slow charge of no more than 1ź20 (yes, that's one-twentieth) of rated capacity for 25 to 30 hours.
Therefore, because we really don't want a powerful charger, a good battery charger for most purposes is the inexpensive low-output type. Typically selling for around $20, the so-called "trickle chargers" usually produce no more than 1.2 amps. They often incorporate a solid-state feedback circuit that will taper the charge down to even lower levels as the battery voltage comes back up, preventing overcharging. Most convenient are the quick-connect type that provide a pigtail connector that can be permanently attached to the battery. The trickle charger will also work on your car battery, but even more slowly, and produces the same battery-friendly results.
Both the taper-rate and trickle charger supply only a fixed voltage. However, the lead-antimony battery should be charged at 1415 volts, but the lead-calcium type needs l516 volts to reach full charge. What's the voltage of your charger? Does it match your battery type?
Constant current chargers like the Optimate or Battery Tender brands are called smart chargers because they can vary the charging voltage to keep current constant and charge a battery much more quickly. We'll cover their other advantages in a future article."