XV1100SE

I put this battery on last Fall and I have had the terminals disconnected a few times over the Winter. Can't hurt to try.

The Battery Tender I use is the "Battery Tender Plus" - http://www.batterytender.com/Motorcycle/Battery-TenderR-Plus.html I made sure before I bought it a couple years ago that it was for AGM batteries - "Perfect for all lead-acid, flooded or sealed maintenance free batteries (AGM and gel cell)." I had checked the ground (by OEM horn) and checked my connections at the battery after the border incident. My first thought was charging system and I am getting the voltages mentioned with the bike running so I think I ruled that out. I'm thinking it isn't the ignition switch issue as my passing lights are wired with a relay - I installed the passing lights originally and did it as recommended. I thought of the cable that runs under the gas tank and haven't popped the tank off yet but by putting the Tender Plus on the battery for 30 to 45 minutes without disturbing the wires I would think if there was a bad cable it would remain bad and not feed power to start the bike after charging the battery for such a short time. The voltage drop after running the battery caught my attention. Think from that it is either a power draw or bad battery. Before I go to work this morning or when I get home from work I'll disconnect the positive feed and put the meter between the positive post and the positive wires and see if it registers current. Thanks for the input guys !

For those that know more than me..... I've had two occurrences recently.... Had been riding the bike for about an hour and a half and shut the bike down at the border and it wouldn't start. Paddled it a few feet, popped the clutch and it started. Rode 10 minutes to a coffee shop and (of course) had a coffee. Went to start the bike and no problem, fired right up. Today, I rode 1/2 hr to work in the morning and 9 hours later the bike started normally. 1/2 hr ride home in 30C/90F roughly I stopped at the gas station about two blocks from home. After filling up, the bike started with no problem. When I got home, trying to maneuver it between the car and the garage door frame I stalled it. Push the starter, and not enough energy to turn it over. Put a meter on the battery tender leads and voltage measured 11.2v. Let it sit a while and tried starting it and it still wouldn't turn over. Was at the point where you could hear "clicking" from the starter solenoid. Went out to do some shopping and after about 5 hours after the initial problem, tried firing it up....no go. Put my battery tender on it and let it sit for about 1/2 hour. Measured voltage 11.4V and with the battery tender connected hit the starter button. Fired right up so I disconnected the battery tender with the bike running. At 2,000 rpm I'm reading 13.4v across the battery tender leads. 2,500 rpm and it reads 13.5v. 3,000 rpm and I'm reading 13.7v.. 4,000 rpm and I'm at 13.8v. After running the bike at various rpm for about 5 minutes, I shut it down and connected the voltmeter to the battery tender leads. Started at 12.2v...then a few seconds later read 12.1v, then 12v, then 11.9v....11.8v. I'm pretty sure I don't have a drain on the battery. I have installed two fuse blocks with relays that only enable the non-oem circuits when the bike is running. I've tried hitting the horns and turning on the passign lights with the bike off and nothing turns on. Other than tie-ins for turn signals and brakes I don't have anything additional that indicates any power going to them (eg usb charger in trunk is on same fuse block as horns and it lights when it gets power but isn't "hot" with the bike off). Previous owner bought the bike in May 2010 and I picked it up a couple months later. I replaced the OEM battery in the Fall of 2012 with a Deka ETX20L AGM battery and in the Fall of 2015 installed an Interstate AGM battery after having starting issues. I'm thinking it is another battery gone bad. I do leave the battery in the bike over the winter and put a battery tender on it occasionally. When the temps are above 6C/42F I'll start the bike over the winter. Garage is unheated so temps do get down to -20C/0F. So...opinions....should I purchase a new battery or do you think it is a charging issue? And it isn't bad gas btw. The bike tries to start and drains enough power that the bike stops trying and I get a solenoid clicking. And after sitting on the charger for 1/2 hour, the bike ran fine.

Congratulations on the new bike ! Ride safe !

Dave....I know you got home yesterday....you still catching up on sleep? Finally a night in your own bed ! Haven't seen any posts from you yet since your return. I read the blog daily and glad you and your cohorts had a safe and enjoyable trip. Brought back memories of the trip Nancy and I took three years ago. Hope you can make it to the Ontario rally in July....would be great to listen to you recount your trip around the evening camp fire. Welcome home !

I don't know Carl....might be fun to attempt it on your Spyder !

When did you change the coolant last? Did you check the reservoir under the seat? If it isn't this....then there is a thermostat (like in a car) that is probably sticking or not opening enough.

Hope the surgery goes well and everything works well !

After I got the Baggershield....I did offer to get you the leather jacket !

I keep mine in the pocket inside the trunk.

Throwing this out for comments.... I have Slowroll's fork deflectors and just got the stainless brackets so I can get rid of the OEM bracket. Having both in stainless....do I still need the bumpers?

You do need the battery side covers chromed. That will make the shine/chrome just POP ! And where is the Stebel/Wolo horn??? Slowroll sells brackets so you can mount a pair of them on either side of the bike. And how about passenger highway pegs? She'll like those ! Engine bolt covers. Not having them detracts from all the shine more so than the normal driver floorboards. Those bolts look ugly ! Few other things I noticed at MD but I'll leave a few things for others to point out. You 'aint done yet !

As one of the winners (Baggershield tall windshield and clutch/brake covers)....thank you for supporting our group!

In my opionion...the 404's are for a lighter bike. With the Venture you are talking close to 900lbs....PLUS weight of rider, passenger, gear, tongue weight (+) of a trailer..... I know you want white walls, but carefully check max tire capacity (weight) when considering what to get.

I'm thru Riders Plus and my yearly rate has been going down slightly. I'm at about $1,100 per year

Really glad you weren't hurt !

I'd be looking at the tires. Did you lose a wheel weight on the weekend? Absolutely sure the tire doesn't have a flat spot from locking up a wheel recently? Put the bike on your lift and spin the tires and see if you can see anything out of round. Visual inspection of the tread area may look fine, but give the wheel a spin and watch it from the side...does the outer tread go in and out? Rim still round? Where do you think the sound is coming from? Have someone stand by the side of the road and listen for the thump to see if they can tell if it is front/back.

Bump

I have all three...leather, textile, and Tourmaster. I wear the Tourmaster 90% of the time. With the Tourmaster, as mentioned you have one jacket for most of the climates - hot, cool, cold. I have the Air 3 and the newer Air 4. The Air 4 thermal liner is a vest only so I typically wear the Air 3 (with full sleeves) in cold weather. The rain liner is great for cooler days as well as rain. I can fit all three components of the jacket in a saddlebag. The Tourmaster outer is mostly mesh and lets the air flow thru. Leather is too bulky but gives you the best protection if it is the proper motorcycle leather. Dress leather doesn't do you any good what-so-ever....trust me I know. In hot weather you'll be boiling in leather. Cool/cold is okay, especially with the thermal liner. You won't get any air thru leather and if it has "vents"...they don't usually vent much. I find the textile to be the most useless lets say. It is somewhat bulky and allows no wind to go thru. It is more for cool/cold weather with the thermal liner.

I added a usb charging port in the trunk recently. Added a relay so it wasn't "hot" all the time. Tied into the "running" light to activate the port when the engine is running.

It's been said already how much we enjoy MD and appreciate you doing it. All I can add is....when is MD in 2017? Pick a date yet? :-)

Thank you for another great MD ! Hot and humid as usual (with the odd exception) but had a good time. Great seeing everyone again !

From another thread, Flyinfool posted : "The relay is so that you can have a switch to have the HID off while starting the engine. The HID controllers have a low voltage cutoff built in. If the battery voltage should dip below the cut off it will turn off the HID to protect itself. Once tripped it does not reset when the voltage comes back up once the bike is running. In order get the light to turn back on you have to turn off the engine and restart. Of course this restart can once again drop the voltage momentarily and turn off the HID.... Having a switch that is controlling the HID power wire will allow you to have the HID off while starting. Having the switch operate a relay means that you do not have to have a switch and wiring that can handle 20 amps." In that thread, someone posted that flipping to high beam and back to low restarted the HID with the bike running and that got the light to come on.

Do they come with mounting hardware? How much $ ?

As I recall....that night you felt no pain either ! The rum balls and apple pie went down real smooth !