Bike doesn't start, WHY?

[sinfull]

Now the question is if the battery will die in 3 days time....or ill need a new alternator..

Nah if ya lights are coming up when ya rev it there aint nothin wrong with the charging ! Leave the battery on charge over night even if the charger says full and when ya put it back on make sure there aint no corrosion on the connections ! If battery dies in a few days its knackered and wont hold a charge ! Look into prices of batteries ! Some one here will point ya in the right direction for one for your bike, as sometimes originals are way over priced !

[Foobin]

yea i hope the alternator is still working

but i still don't get why the battery will drain itself all of a sudden

[sinfull]

Cold snap ! Battery sales go through the roof ! Would say yours is original mmmm nah prob not (have you had the bike long ?) batteries had a life span of SWA these days

[Foobin]

what does a "cold snap" do to drain the battery?

had the bike for about 6 months, its a 1990 bike so i wouldnt know if the battery has been changed for the last 18 years lol

[TimeOut]

what does a "cold snap" do to drain the battery?

had the bike for about 6 months, its a 1990 bike so i wouldnt know if the battery has been changed for the last 18 years lol

Cold won't drain the battery, they don't work as well in the cold.

My sons ZXR was having starting problems seemed to turn over fast enough just wouldn't fire.
Replaced the 12 year old battery (not bad ah!) Instant cure.

[MaxB]

what does a "cold snap" do to drain the battery?

had the bike for about 6 months, its a 1990 bike so i wouldnt know if the battery has been changed for the last 18 years lol

Batteries poroduce their power via a chemical reaction. Cold weather slows the reaction down and the battery does not work as well.

[CookMySock]

that sounds like a great feat of timing and coordination, i can see myself riding into a tree or concrete wall.

heh, try doing it by yourself on a flat driveway on a big 650 vtwin..

They don't call it "crash starting" for no reason..

DB

[CookMySock]

but i still don't get why the battery will drain itself all of a sudden

it wont really.. either it has a sort-circuit cell or something was left turned on, or the charging circuit is poked. Soon we will see.

If it starts so well now, ride it for a day but do not trust it at night coz a flat battery will mean no headlights. Nasty.

ASAP, ask the auto electrician to "slap the clamp meter on the battery cable and check the charging current please" with the engine running - rev it a wee bit. This is a simple 30 second check that you are unlikely to be charged for. Clamp meters are teh shiz for this sort of thing. Now you get your yes/no answer and you can take it to the bike shop and tell them what the situation is, and what you want done, ie, "its not charging, check it over", or "the battery is rooted how much to slap in a new one?"


DB

[Foobin]

heh, try doing it by yourself on a flat driveway on a big 650 vtwin..

They don't call it "crash starting" for no reason..

DB

If you can do it on a 650, then i must be doing something wrong !

[Foobin]

it wont really.. either it has a sort-circuit cell or something was left turned on, or the charging circuit is poked. Soon we will see.

If it starts so well now, ride it for a day but do not trust it at night coz a flat battery will mean no headlights. Nasty.

ASAP, ask the auto electrician to "slap the clamp meter on the battery cable and check the charging current please" with the engine running - rev it a wee bit. This is a simple 30 second check that you are unlikely to be charged for. Clamp meters are teh shiz for this sort of thing. Now you get your yes/no answer and you can take it to the bike shop and tell them what the situation is, and what you want done, ie, "its not charging, check it over", or "the battery is rooted how much to slap in a new one?"


DB

thats a rather good idea, so you think any car mechanic place will have the tools for that?

[xwhatsit]

flat battery will mean no headlights.

Not unless you've got an RG150 2-stroke style setup. Most modern bikes with alternators will still run quite happily with all the lights etc. After I discovered that I don't run a battery at all now.

[skidMark]

Cold won't drain the battery, they don't work as well in the cold.

My sons ZXR was having starting problems seemed to turn over fast enough just wouldn't fire.
Replaced the 12 year old battery (not bad ah!) Instant cure.

Yeah ZXR's do that.

They will wind over at a good enough speed all day, but will not start if there isn't enough juice, because all the grunt gets taken to run the starter, leaving nothing to make a spark, pretty much the only design flaw in a ZXR.

[CookMySock]

If you can do it on a 650, then i must be doing something wrong !

re: crash starting - haha I didn't say I was successful! If I have a little hill I can crash or bump start it easily, but on the flat not by myself..

Try it for yourself - It's easy with a warm motor. Kill the engine. Start at the top of an incline - you only need enough to get jogging speed - don't do it any faster or you might lock a tyre and arse off. Try it on a dry road. Ignition on, crack throttle, kill off, select second gear, roll away.. stand up.. at jogging speed sit down HARD (bounce!) and at the same time dump the clutch and be ready to pull it back in again quick.. VARROOOM! You're away! Much harder on the flat without a helper, but the principle is the same.

thats a rather good idea, so you think any car mechanic place will have the tools for that?

re: clamp meter - its a matter of finding someone who has one. Your mechanic might have one, but theres no telling.. an auto electrician will have one for sure.. if he doesn't, just ask another one. I got one but I'm freakin' miles from you.

DB

[YellowDog]

Hey, if you fist test and measure the battery output, you will know if it is the battery or now. The danger here is that if there is something physically wrong, which might lead to a seizure, you can diagnose it before you blast so much power through it, you cause harm.

The other thing to remember is that the weather has just changed from being dry to being damp. This could be a red herring however if there is now moisture where there was not before, this could also provide an explanation.

You need to make some time to get to the bottom of this one. Good luck.

[Foobin]

so bike worked great this morning, started instantly and was fine all of today, probably started it about a dozen times.

now i got home and went inside to open garage door, came back and bike wouldnt start again !!!

had the battery on charge for about 1 hour and bike fires up again.

so....what you think is the problem? the alternator broken? dead battery? bad karma?