First Time Like This

[MikeWa]

Got on the bike for a short ride. Every thing was normal. Pulled the choke and the bike started right up. Revved the gas once and it died. Lost all electrical power. No lights, no dash. In fact no tach or anything else. I am not a happy camper. Thinking of the main fuse or ignition switch or who knows what. And if it is the main fuse then how come. No good possibilities are coming from my thoughts.

 

Ok so I check the battery with a test light and clean the terminals. Yep has power. But the cleaning was no help. Next I pull the passengers step to access the main fuse. Crap there is a plastic cover on the fuse that is nearly impossible to dislodge. Finally I get to the fuse and it tests ok. Power on both sides. Of course I am thinking ignition switch. I have the bypass kit. I just never got around to installing it. One more check before heading to the ignition switch. I attempt to load check the cable from the solenoid and main fuse to the battery positive. So I connect my test light and turn the key on. Before I even get to the crank position I loose all power. Everything. Now there is nothing at the battery when the key is on. Hmmm could it be. I have not had a battery fail before and stop a running engine. Let alone show good voltage and then nothing with a miniscule load.

 

So I pull the battery and take it to O'Reilly's and have it tested. The clerk says it is good, just needs to be charged. Not possible. My batteries live on a maintainer. Since I am riding first thing in the morning I go ahead and purchase an AGM battery. Sorry Skydoc I just couldn't wait. Does it fix the bike? You bet it does. Everything is back to normal. Except me of course. My wife says I will never be normal. But that is another story.

 

Mike

[djh3]

Most stores only check battery with a "conductance" test. It will tell you if the battery has a dead short, but thats about it. Broken plates or something it may show if they happen to be "open" at the time. Most electronic ignition systems (auto , bike what have you) need a "base line voltage" or minimum voltage to operate. The ECU has to have say 11.5 volts to "turn the brain on" to even "see" the ignition coils etc. So low voltage is a big deal on modern vehicle operation.

[Dragonslayer]

Most stores only check battery with a "conductance" test. It will tell you if the battery has a dead short, but thats about it. Broken plates or something it may show if they happen to be "open" at the time. Most electronic ignition systems (auto , bike what have you) need a "base line voltage" or minimum voltage to operate. The ECU has to have say 11.5 volts to "turn the brain on" to even "see" the ignition coils etc. So low voltage is a big deal on modern vehicle operation.

It.wouldn't be the first time they are wrong at the auto parts store. I've had it happen the same way.

[Flyinfool]

If you had an intermittent internal connection in the battery, and it was tested while the connection was good, it would test as a good battery. But then on the other hand an open in the battery should not stop a running engine UNLESS, at idle the charging system output was less than the power demands of everything that was drawing power on the bike at that time. It is common to be running off the battery at idle with everything turned on.

Simple check, Measure the voltage across the battery with the engine above 3,000 RPM. as long as it is about 14V you are charging correctly.

[steamer]

Pull your tank off and check the connector plug for the ignition switch. It's the one with 2 wires, main power lines to the switch. I had the same problem and found this connector was burned corroded.

[MikeWa]

Thanks for the replies.

The problem was solved. It was the battery. It was just strange the way it failed. The bike lives on a maintainer. It cranked and started right up. Then it died. A test light across the battery worked until any kind of load was applied then it went completely out. I will never know what the batteries internal problem was because I used it for a core.

 

 

Mike

[djh3]

You probably had a surface charge, enough to start it and maybe then it josseled the plates and--wa-laa no connection. Just glad you got it figured out.