battery problems, please help

[hemi1300]

my 08 busa has had starting problems ever since i bought it a month or so ago. About once a week, after riding for a while it will not want to start. It will crank 2 or 3 times very slowly (acting like a dead battery), and then all the gauges go completely out and i get nothin. Did it again yesterday, checked the voltage and it was at 11.26. Charged it all night and it still wasn't fully charged, checked voltage again and it was about 14.5. Do these voltage readings sound right, i'm totally lost on what to look for

[1340x]

If your battery is at 11.2VDC after riding then either it is not being charged or it is bad.

You said you charged it all night and it wasn't fully charged. What kind of charger do you have?

The resting voltage on a 12V battery shouldn't be 14.5VDC after being charged. It has been a while but I I believe you should see a 12.6-13VDC float after charging.

[rkcain]

Please click one of the Quick Reply icons in the posts above to activate Quick Reply.

[rkcain]

I would say you have a dead cell in the battery.it will show to charge,but will not take a load when you try to start bike.also it will not charge right.a fully charge 12 volt battery can show up to 14 volts.take your battery to a auto parts and have it load tested,but it has to charged.

[1340x]

a fully charge 12 volt battery can show up to 14 volts.
Really? What's the charging voltage, 16VDC?

[1340x]

Actually, I'll just step outside my door and check for myself, LOL.

[1340x]

My '09 Busa battery resting voltage. Less than 100 miles on my bike.

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/4103/tnimg0496.jpg

Charging voltage at 4000rpm.

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/5664/tnimg0499.jpg

At idle it fluctuates 14.52VDC-14.57VDC. Pretty stable charging system. First time I checked it out.


Either way, OP, you should have the battery load tested like rkcain suggested.

[hemi1300]

i have been charging it with a battery tender that i picked up at my local motorcycle shop. I ended up just buying a new battery for the heck of it, hopefully it was a bad battery and this fixes it

[hemi1300]

i had the battery checked at my local suzuki dealer and my local auto parts store and both said it was good. Both times I had charged the battery the night before though, could it still be bad even though it tested good

[1340x]

i have been charging it with a battery tender that i picked up at my local motorcycle shop. I ended up just buying a new battery for the heck of it, hopefully it was a bad battery and this fixes itI think those are trickle chargers. If the battery is DEAD DEAD it may not be able to charge it up fully by the next morning.

i had the battery checked at my local suzuki dealer and my local auto parts store and both said it was good. Both times I had charged the battery the night before though, could it still be bad even though it tested goodYes, a battery can still be bad but load test good.

Did the Suzuki dealer check out your charging system or just load test the battery? Is your bike still under warranty?

[hemi1300]

all the suzuki dealer did was test the battery, didn't check the charging system at all. Tryin to figure this out a bit before i take it to the dealer and let them tear into it. I don't trust the dealer that I bought the bike from worth a crap, gotta find a good dealer in my area. Yes, the bike is still under warranty, i have only had it about 2 months and bought it brand new

[1340x]

From a ex-mechanic's viewpoint the most likely cause is your battery. Check your voltage in the mornings and if it is staying above 12.6VDC (engine off) you're probably OK. Because if your bike isn't charging the battery correctly you will see the voltage start to drop.

Do you have the quick disconnect thing for the trickle charger connected to make it easy to check the battery voltage without removing the seat each time?

[Got-Busa?]

My guess is the dealer never charged the battery before they installed it. I bet they filled it, installed it and since you haven't ridden it much the battery has died. If you don't trust the dealer, I would order a new battery.....charge it and install yourself to see if the problem goes away... ;)

[rkcain]

You don't have take it to dealer to check charging system.real easy.use a volt meter or a digital battery tester.disc. From bike. Fully charge battery.check voltage.recon.battery start bike.voltage should go up.hit the throttle and it should rise.if so your charging.watch it a while at idel,make sure your volts are not droping and climbing.I ment to say earlier that on a charging system, it can show up to 14 volts.thanks for the learning.lol

[rkcain]

I'm wrong.on a bike it should not be reading 14 volts.on autos it will. I used to have 2000 mustang gtr with a high output alt and @ 4000 rpm it showed near 16 volts.then when the supercharger kick in high it went down to 12.50 volts.

Also I have batteries show a good charge and a good load one day then the a few days later a bad load,then charge it again and its good for another couple of days.crazy sh**.

[hemi1300]

well i just took it out again tonight. Ended up buying a new battery from advance auto yesterday and charged it fully all night. Was out for about an hour today and when i was about 5 minutes from home the fi light came home. After i got it home i tried to start it, of course it was doing the same sluggish start and wouldn't even come close to starting. Waited a while for it to cool down and tried it a few more times, it turned over a little faster but only lasted a few seconds. Decided to check battery voltage again, 9.6v!! I have it charging right now, gonna let it charge for a while and see if i can get it started so i can check the charging system with my digital multimeter. Now i have 2 problems, the charging system isn't working properly, and the fi light is on. Man i have not had luck with this bike so far

[1340x]

You can check the voltage but you have no way of testing how many amps your charging system is putting out. Checking the charging voltage will steer you in a direction if all you have is a VOM, it is not a complete diagnosis. This is why I asked if the dealer did a charging system test.

Take the bike back to the dealer. Tell them your battery died. You bought a new one and that also died. Make them fix it.

[george henry]

Just take it to the dealer when the doors open up and tell them you will wait on it. You have no why to get back home and they will jump on it. it is under full warranty and i bet there is a loose connection coming off your charging system on your bike. They will find it fast when they hook up the diagnostic (spelling ? ) test.
First charge up the factory battery the night before and put it back in the bike and ride it straight to the dealer. Don't even tell them that you replace the battery .
They will if you ask to replace the battery with a brand new fully charge battery and check the charging system completly. Also tell them about the F1.
Also ask them to do the recall on the igniton switch wire binding behind the switch. TSB recalls

[davrai]

hi there
my battery would go flat at times< i worked out the idle was too low
when at idle behind a car one day i noticed the headlight brighten when i went to take off
if i rode through traffic at slower speed it would go flat,bumped idle up to 1150, no problem since


2005 gen 1

[toastman]

Hey gang,

Just noticed this thread. FYI I was having battery problems, as well as my dad was on his M109R. Found out that the frame was painted where the battery - lead grounds to the bike. In turn the battery was getting very little charge. Cleaned the paint off, put some electronic grease on it, and wholla...batteries are good now.

Cheers,

Tony

[dadofthree]

I know it's an old thread, but from reading you have/had a charging problem. You charged the battery over night and went for a ride and it died. I have read many post talking about bad chargers on the K8. Hopefully you took it back to the dealer under warranty. Anytime I have something under warranty it goes back. I saw the one post where the Gen II was charging well at idle. Another improvement. You have to be careful with these batteries; trickle charge only IMHO. You can do a high rate charge but I wouldn't push past an hour or you'll run a chance of damaging the battery.

If not under warranty : check the charging system. The manual spells this out clearly. It's easy. If the battery is fully charged, lift a battery lead and check the voltage across the battery. The open voltage test should be around 12.5 volts. It will be higher if you just took it off the charger. Over a short period of time this voltage will drop down to around 12.5. Should stay there for days unless there's a drain on the battery. Most people can't do a true load test at home. Auto parts stores can do this. The load test is the only true test of a battery IMHO. There are other methods of testing a battery now-a-days, but this method isn't widely available.

If the battery is good, and the charging circuit is good, then you're left with testing the system for a drain. This typically happens on bikes that have modified electrical systems; i.e. LEDs, outlets, lighting, heated grips / seats, etc. Bikes that have been dropped can have damaged harnesses too.