Dead Bike and it's 68 Degrees Today! Help!

[WingMan71]

Was gonna have my first ride of the season, but the bike is dead. Help me noodle this out please.

Here's the situation:

1. 1999 C10 with just 16K miles on it. Bike is in like new condition including all of the wiring.

2. Gave me just one issue last season when a relay in the Junction box died. Installed a Larry Buck J-box to fix it.

3. Parked bike in the garage after last season. It's always connected to a Del-Tran Battery Tender Jr. (Also, started and ran the bike about every two weeks or so to keep fresh gas in the carbs.)

4. Went out to start it today to take a ride and it won't crank.

Symptoms:

With ignition key in ON position:

1. NO headlights.

2. Turn signals WORK, brake light WORK, dash lights WORK, and horn WORKS.

3. Press start button and each time get just one click out of the solenoid, but no crank. Plus, the dash lights DIM each time the starter button is pressed!

What I've checked:

1. Battery terminals are clean and tight. Battery reads 12 Volts at the terminals. (Don't have a load tester.)

2. Have no records to indicate how old the battery is.

3. I pulled all fuses in the junction box. Fuses are all good.

4. Tapped on the J-Box to see if a J-Box relay failed again. No difference. So, I don't think the J-Box is the problem this time.

5. Kill switch ON. Side stand UP. Bike in Neutral.

My only thought at this point is that the battery is just plain worn out and can't provide sufficient current.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Tim R]

The original factory battery in my C14 did the same thing. 12 volts at the terminals but would not crank the C14. Kawasaki gave me new one that lasted awhile until I left the key on and drained the battery. It would not hold a charge. So I bought a Yuasa. Solved the problem. I would suggest trying a new battery.

I put a trickle charger on the motorcycle batteries every 2 weeks. I don't drain the gas out of the C14, just make sure it is full of non alcohol premium gas with Stable. For the Z1 900, it's carbureted. I fill it with non alcohol regular gas, Stabil and a little 2 stroke oil. I drain the carbenators for winter storage.

That all said I did fire the C14 up just long enough to see if it would run after some work was done. It ran smoothly so it didn't run for long, less than a minute before I turned the key to off.

I won't start a bike unless I can do at least 15 miles. This way there is no condensation left in the oil.

So why every 2 weeks? The09 C14's owners manual recommended this. I figured it was also good for the glass mat battery in the 900. So far they have both ha enough grunt to start when ever asked.

 

[nosmo]

Actually, you DO have a battery load tester....it's called the starter motor. Hook up your voltmeter to the battery terminals and try to crank it. If the voltage drops below 9........battery is toast (assuming all connections good). I use the Del-Tran battery maintainers, also, and while they are good, if the battery has an internal problem, they won't save it. Beware of YSDS = Yuasa Sudden Death Syndrome.

 

[greenie]

Batteries aren't what they used to be - I've had a 3 year old motorcycle battery fail without warning.

 

[Stasch]

Actually, you DO have a battery load tester....it's called the starter motor. Hook up your voltmeter to the battery terminals and try to crank it. If the voltage drops below 9........battery is toast (assuming all connections good). I use the Del-Tran battery maintainers, also, and while they are good, if the battery has an internal problem, they won't save it. Beware of YSDS = Yuasa Sudden Death Syndrome.

Is this YSDS a real thing with YUASA?

My first YUASA in the C10 lasted 13 years !!!!!

I replaced it in with the identical model and it lasted just over a year - the it wouldn't hold a charge anymore.

 

[Merle Lowe]

The original battery in my CB500X died recently. Started fine, then after about 20 miles I stopped. Wouldn't turn the starter and the dash was flicking on/off etc. Even jump started it but wouldn't stay running. Apparently drawing so much current that the charging system couldn't run the bike. Would charge for hours and showed 12ish volts. Dead as a doornail. No warning, worked fine 1/2 hour prior.

Supposed to hit 70 here today but gotta work, no play.

 

[WingMan71]

Actually, you DO have a battery load tester....it's called the starter motor. Hook up your voltmeter to the battery terminals and try to crank it. If the voltage drops below 9........battery is toast (assuming all connections good)....

Thanks nosmo,

I just went out to the garage and did your test. Hooked the VOM clips up to the battery cable blades themselves, not the battery terminals directly.

11.5 Volts with key ON. Pressed the start button and the voltage dropped to 6.5 Volts! So, the battery is toast.

Gonna get Yuasa AGM battery to replace it with.

PS) What's the story on the "Yuasa Sudden Death Syndrome" you mentioned?

 

[S Smith]

PS) What's the story on the "Yuasa Sudden Death Syndrome" you mentioned?

This old post has some info on YSDS

SMOBAD- Sudden Motorcycle Battery Death

Well, it happens to everyone sooner or later. Been riding my Connie as often as practical since buying it last October. It has never failed to answer the bell. It just turned 5000 miles of ownership on a return trip from a nearby town this past weekend :great: and then on Monday I commuted to...

forum.concours.org

 

[nosmo]

YSDS isn't really limited to Yuasa batteries, I am on my second one after owning my 2003 Connie since 2005, so that's pretty good life. But any lead/acid battery can suffer sudden catastrophic internal failure. A gob of lead sulfate can short cell plates, or a conductor strap inside can break or degrade, just the nature of metals sitting in a highly corrosive bath of acid. Nothing lasts forever, and lot of times, how you operate it can help, but not always. I was an airplane mechanic for thirty years and I saw a LOT of sudden battery deaths for inexplicable reasons. The battery in my GMC truck failed "overnight" so to speak two years ago. Funny how it always dies in the morning when trying start the vehicle to go to work.

You haven't really experienced "battery failure" until you watch a big-ass NiCad suffer thermal runaway, but I guess the new lithium melt-downs are similar, perhaps worse.