starting problem
Discussion
The battery may still show 12 V, however that doesnt strictly indicate how good it is in terms of the amperage it can dish out. You ideally want to test it under load (I.E see what the voltage drops to when you try and crank the engine).
How old is the battery? If recharging it doesnt work, or it results in sluggish cranking of the engine when attempting to start, it is likely due for replacement.
It is a good idea when the bike is running to run some tests on the charging of the battery to determine faults with the system - usually the regulator / rectifier is at fault causing over charging (leading to a hot battery!) or under charging. The alternator is seldom the issue, but that can also be checked as well (I forget how but searching for this on the internet will give a method for testing the alternator output).
FYI - at idle, on a carburetted bike, the voltage across the battery terminals should be high 12V. Increase engine sped to 5000 rm, voltage across the battery terminals should be around 14V. On a fuel injected bike, you should see ~14 V even at idle.
I had a sluggish battery last year on my FZ1 - it was easy o hear it strugling to start the engine, despite being kept on a trickle charger. New battery, all was well.
Extra info - buy a good battery. Dont buy something cheap just because it saves you money now. Something like a Yuasa branded battery will serve you well. Get the one with the highest CCA (cold cranking amperage) you can.
How old is the battery? If recharging it doesnt work, or it results in sluggish cranking of the engine when attempting to start, it is likely due for replacement.
It is a good idea when the bike is running to run some tests on the charging of the battery to determine faults with the system - usually the regulator / rectifier is at fault causing over charging (leading to a hot battery!) or under charging. The alternator is seldom the issue, but that can also be checked as well (I forget how but searching for this on the internet will give a method for testing the alternator output).
FYI - at idle, on a carburetted bike, the voltage across the battery terminals should be high 12V. Increase engine sped to 5000 rm, voltage across the battery terminals should be around 14V. On a fuel injected bike, you should see ~14 V even at idle.
I had a sluggish battery last year on my FZ1 - it was easy o hear it strugling to start the engine, despite being kept on a trickle charger. New battery, all was well.
Extra info - buy a good battery. Dont buy something cheap just because it saves you money now. Something like a Yuasa branded battery will serve you well. Get the one with the highest CCA (cold cranking amperage) you can.
Edited by thatdude on Tuesday 26th January 15:40
Edited by thatdude on Tuesday 26th January 15:53
thatdude said:
Extra info - buy a good battery. Dont buy something cheap just because it saves you money now. Something like a Yuasa branded battery will serve you well. Get the one with the highest CCA (cold cranking amperage) you can.
Definitely Yuasa for a bike you intend to keep a while or only use occasionally.Also, compare the price with what you would pay from your local Honda dealer; genuine Honda batteries are made by Yuasa anyway and bizarrely are sometimes cheaper!
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