battery failure!!

[jamie92j]

hi used the bike today as usall, have noticed recently it doent seem to have been starting that well, i.e not firing up strait away on first poke like it used to.
Went to start it up around 11 tonight, is a cold night so full choke on throttle shut, pressed the button and the starter motor whirled round a few times for around 5 seconds or so, nothing. Tried again on the button to get a half wimpy turn of the starter motor and then a clicking noise from near the battery.
I have extra lights, 12v socket and broken heated grips, none of which have been on for a few days, and have all been installed months now without problem.
I presume its the original battery mr Honda put in as was low milage when i got it, and still had original trailwing on front.
so im just guessing its a rather old battery and past its best and hopfully no other reason for it to have died out.
Will be doing new battery asap along with 4 new iridium plugs as ther due to be done, also valve clearences are being done next week by the garage so all being well bike should be running sweet again soon
Any thoughts for any other reasons it may of happend would be good, cheers

[StumpyFingers]

It does seem that the Battery is at fault, the extras might not have been in use recently but they could have helped stress the battery.

[SILVALP]

Always worth giving the battery a charge to see if it repeats the problem. U mention "broken" Heated grips - are you sure these are not drawing any current even when in "off postion" ?

I would certainly try a charge/ suck N See before replacing. Batteries are "odd animals" in my book and can do "strange things". FWIW i once had a battery "tested" with some Very Expensive battery testing kit (after it went flat) at a dealers & they pronounced nothing was wrong with it.

After a re-charge it continued dying so got replaced but i now always try the process myself rather than get opinions elswhere.

My MAX life for a battery was TEN YEARS on my VF1000 !! Astonishing considering a collection of bikes means they dont necc get a "regular ride"

[Traveller]

The 'Broken heateg grips' may be a clue. If they are the type where the controller senses low battery voltage and cuts off the suppy to the grips then one cell failed on the battery has the potential to drop the voltage to a level below the cut off voltage.

Some components ar not as voltage sensitive as others so they appear to work. In actual fact they are working less efficiently. Eg dimmer lights, perhaps the spark at the plugs is weaker leading to less efficient starting and running etc.

When a starter motor is turning the engine, the battery is delivering a massive flow of current, the internal resistance of the battery results in a fairly high voltage drop accross the battery terminals (you see lights dim for that reason) however, the starter, being less sensitive to voltage works fine.

Cars built in the late sixties were fitted with ignition coils that ran at 6 volts even though the electrics were 12 volt. A simple system halved the voltage to the coil during normal running and all worked fine.

When starting the car, the full voltage battery was fed to the coil, but as the battery voltage had dropped due to the current load from the starter the coil was effectivly running on say 8 volts. 8 volts feeding a 6 volt coil results in a fatter spark at the time needed for starting.

The point is a battery can appear to work ok because the starter turns well but if the voltage is low due to one cell being duff then other problems occur such as poor firing up.

Sounds like a new battery to me. And, with the new battery fitted, a voltage check of the charging system.
All the best .

PS the clicking noise is the starter solenoied dropping out because the voltage has dropped so low. Then as it has disconected the feed to the starter it clicks back in again, feeds the starter and the whole clicking cycle starts again.

[jamie92j]

well fitted new battery, burst into life first prod of the starter, none of the wezzing into life before
will check to see if the heated grips work next ride really hope so as its so cold

[jamie92j]

hi quick update, so heated grips still dont work, i have checked all connections and fuse etc, so probs going to strip them off to avoid any short circuting or shorting out and what not, bit gutted as they were really usefull when they worked, although iv got some good gloves now

[thekeyman]

l have always topped up with the optimate and it save the battery from discharging too deep. l leave the classic bike on for weeks or month with no ill effect. Its just nice too know you can go on along night ride. Still check that its not discharging while switched off as the charger can mask it .

[Bonez]

I had a similar problem recently with my battery, when I didn't start the bike for a few days over Christmas I could not get started. After jumping off another battery started fine until left for a few days. Borrowed a mates optimate charger and battery has been doing the business. I was worried as I had left the bike for 5 days without started this week (Ice Snow etc.) and starts first time.