Wildguzzi.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: sstone14 on June 23, 2021, 06:17:16 PM
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So the owner's manual calls for a 12V charge for the battery, but I'm finding I need 13V to get the starter to actually continue working long enough to get the motor to turn over (according to the voltmeter, that is).
Not sure if the voltmeter readout is accurate or not, but regardless, the battery will be down to 12.4V or so after two days of not riding, and then I won't have enough juice to be able to start the bike (starter will start working, then fail and click out rapidly--not sure about what technically is happening here), so I have to take the battery out and charge it again (I live in a city, so I have to remove the battery and bring it inside every time I need to charge it).
Is it possible I'm not getting the RPMs up high enough to charge the thing when riding?
Or the stop and go of the city prevents good charging?
Or the battery is faulty somehow? (It's brand new.)
Any tips for maintaining a higher charge for longer?
If this is just how it is, I can live with it and act accordingly, but something feels a bit off and I'm just looking for second opinions.
Thanks y'all!
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It's a new batt but may be bad if it doesn't keep at least 12.7-13.4. It does happen. Before it starts voltage drops so isn't enough to activate starter solenoid. Try riding longer. Have the batt load tested. Should be charging at 1500rpm enough, 3000 should be even more adequate.
Check across batt terminals while running, check at idle and 3000rpm & more. You will see the input from charging system.
Check voltage at the spade connector on starter solenoid when you hit start, it's most likely 9-10V
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Is the CCA equal to or better than the original battery? Flooded cell or AGM?
Do you have a hand held multimeter to check (independently of the bikes volt meter) the bikes charging circuit voltage? Your inside charger voltage?
Check battery voltage during charging then after rest for about 5 hours.
With key off, disconnect +cable from battery...check voltage BETWEEN cable and battery terminal. If voltage is less than battery voltage, use 10 amp or better setting on the multimeter and repeat last step for possible current draw.
Yes...Stop and slow go for long period of time will probably deplete the battery charge somewhat.
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Agreed. If your battery isn't holding more than 12.4, I would expect there's a problem wit the battery an not the charging system. Across the terminals, you should be getting a reading of at least 12.9 while running and similar when at rest- at least 12.7. That's what I like to see. If not, it's likely there will be issues with heavy load service like electric starting.
New batteries seem different than ones 20 yrs ago. Beginning around 2006-07, lead prices jumped, regulations changed and it seemed like batteries went to a working/not working configuration. Maybe we weren't paying attention before that but ?? Warranty issues became normal when any battery would die at any time. Some weren't right from the beginning. Some would still be good at 5-6+ yrs. Thankfully Yuasa and our vendor (Tucker Rocky) was great with pro-rated warranty service. Now some big box vendors like Walmart are also good about no-questions-asked replacement, so make better sense to use them than other outlets.
If you can charge your battery off the bike and it holds a proper charge (well above 12.4) but loses it in service, look into your charging system, Otherwise, the battery is likely the problem. Just remember that extended idling in traffic or a short ride (or a combination of the two) isn't going to sufficiently charge your battery. That type of use is hard on any bike or car.
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It just might be the Chinese alternator, the one on my V7III was bad and eventually replaced under warranty.
This is the picture I took that finally convinced them to do the right thing and send me a replacement.
(https://i.ibb.co/mCtyfJh/DSCN0288.jpg) (https://ibb.co/qM9gTBm)
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It's a new batt but may be bad if it doesn't keep at least 12.7-13.4. It does happen. Before it starts voltage drops so isn't enough to activate starter solenoid. Try riding longer. Have the batt load tested. Should be charging at 1500rpm enough, 3000 should be even more adequate.
Check across batt terminals while running, check at idle and 3000rpm & more. You will see the input from charging system.
Check voltage at the spade connector on starter solenoid when you hit start, it's most likely 9-10V
I've also had brand new batteries fail so that's what I'd check first. Then look at your connections and lastly charging system.
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A better view once I was able to get it off
(https://i.ibb.co/X41Cd2t/DSCN0359.jpg) (https://ibb.co/QcLKqbM)
I have a long thread on my alternator problems but it's somewhat convoluted.
I would charge the battery up overnight then run around during the day, by late afternoon I had to bump start.
The poor alternator eventually resulted in the bike catching fire but that's another story.
I now have a Voltmeter connected across the city light, best thing ever.
(https://i.ibb.co/xs08Wnd/DSCN0418.jpg) (https://ibb.co/H2sp6c3)