A Slight Panic Today

It was a really beautiful day. It was also the day I go to town for meetings so I took the VFR. Bear in mind that I rode it last Sunday over 250 miles and it was fine. As I backed it out of the shop I noticed that the clock was wrong. I noticed because I set the clock on Sunday. To my thinking this signals a bad or marginal battery. It started right up so I didn’t give it much thought but while I was at the store I thought about buying a new battery. I would have except I didn’t have any tools to install it and it would have been a pain in the butt to haul back under a cargo net.

On the ride home I took the long way, behind the landfill, through Blue Ridge and then on to the road to Celeste. This road eventually winds its way around and dumps you on to highway 78 two miles from Leonard. As luck would have it there was a construction crew working on the road and I stopped and switch off the bike. It took forever to clear the road and when I switched the bike on again the starter just grunted. I tried to bump it off but it just wouldn’t catch. The flagman came over and pushed me and that did the trick.

By the time I got home the battery was truly dead. No grunting or anything. I am assuming it is a dead battery but, as you know, these VFRs are notorious for charging gremlins. In fact I hate it that I had to ride with a flat battery since it tends to cane other components in the charging system. I’ll get a battery but I will check the charging output as well.

Other than that it was a beautiful day to ride.

 

Glad to hear you made it home with a running bike, Jim.

In my experience, you describe a typical modern battery failure: works fine when cold but the clock might reset, struggles when hot, and just hasn't got enough oomph to crank the bike over. Has happened on one bike and a few cars for me; one day they're fine, the next day they're toast. You should put a multimeter across the new connected battery and check the voltage looks sensible (13.5-14.5 I believe) but sure sounds like a battery death to me.

I got caught out fault finding my daughter's car, and convinced myself the starter solenoid was the fault, as even with a jumper from a good battery, it just clicked. Turns out the old battery had an internal short, so not only was the jump battery trying the start the car, it was also shorted inside the old battery; when thick jumper cables start to get warm, you know there is something up. I'm sure the problem with the old battery would stick out like the dog's proverbials if I had the facility to do a cranking load test.

 

Texas summers will take out a battery faster than anywhere else....I'm convinced. LOL

Big_Jim59 I like the avatar pic, looks like the hill country and more specifically the 3 Sisters. Am I correct?

 

Ding Ding Ding!! You are correct!

 

I'll take that Pepsi challenge, Florida is pretty bad too. lol

 

I had a battery die at a gas pump one time, no warning.
Rolled up no problem. Shut off, fill tank, no start, no crank, just dead. :grief:

The gas station garage people were useless. An MC shop down the street sold me a battery which I installed myself.
Thanks God for that phone book in the phone booth. Those are gone, but dead batteries continue. :triumphant:

 

CAREFULLY INSPECT THE CONNECTIONS for burned wires between stator and r/r and also atop the starter solenoid to find 2 possible charging problems.

 

I miss that ride. It has been at least 3 years. I used to go with my Boulevard group in March and September. At least 4 times my wife rode with me.

I would leave DFW and ride all the way to Kerrville Friday, ride hard Saturday and come back Sunday. Round trip was 1000 miles and some change. I don't think I can do that anymore, and will trailer down next time.

 

Bryson and I rode down there from DFW after the shop close on a Saturday night. We got on the road and made Marble Falls by 12:00 (That was was with a stop for supper.) All the way down my lights kept picking up the deer eyes shining from just off the road in the brush. It was really spooky. The last time I was down there, outside of Ingram, TX a doe and I scared hell out of each other. Good times.

Oh. . . and it was just the battery. Installed a new one and tested. Voltage comes up to 13.7 at over 2K so I think I am good.

 

Speaking of deer, not trying to take from the main topic...

We have family in Kerrville we will stay with, and have taken many trips down there. In the evening in the hill country it is crazy how many deer are out and about. One weekend my parents went to visit my Aunt/ Uncle. They left around sundown and right around Comanche they had an impact with a pregnant deer in their 2011 Chrysler 300. My dad kept in on the road and rubber down but the hood, grill, bumper, windshield and fender were done in for. The wife and I went down with my trailer and truck and delivered them my wifes Jeep and loaded their wrecked 300C on the trailer and brought it back home. It took them almost 4 hours from Comanche, he said he was lucky to run 50mph the rest of the way because there were so many deer on the road and crossing the road. It was that night he learned the value of stability control in a Jeep. The deer and baby didn't make it but my parents and our Jeep were ok for the rest of the trip.

Needless to say we do not travel down there in the dark anymore, too risky!.