Bad battery?

1253 Views 19 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Unkle Krusty, Apr 26, 2019

Jcorey

Discussion Starter · Apr 21, 2019

Bad battery? If I don’t ride my Honda shadow, 2009, for about a week the battery does not have enough juice to start. Is this a bad battery or do I need to just keep my trickle charger on it whenever I’m not riding.Is there anything wrong with leaving my trickle charger on all the time? How long should I be able to go without writing not have to worry about my battery? Look forward any help!

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Tobacco Road

· #2 · Apr 22, 2019

Trickle charger is not the way to go. You want a battery tender. A trickle charger constantly applies a charge even when the batter doesn't need it. A battery tender senses a voltage drop and then will apply a charge.

Jcorey

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 22, 2019

I may have misquoted but I will check what kind of charger I’m using. Good point.

WintrSol

· #4 · Apr 22, 2019

Trickle charger or tender, you have a problem. I can go for weeks, and still get an easy start. Make sure the battery tests OK, and then check for current leaks, which should not be there when the key is off. Batteries can develop internal leaks, and discharge even when disconnected, and there could be a leak in your electrical system.

Jcorey

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 22, 2019

Thanks I’ll have it checked out.

Offcenter

· #6 · Apr 22, 2019

The Battery Tender Jr. by Deltran is the way to go. A friend has had two of the cheap ones go bad and ruin the battery.
Spend the extra few dollars.

hogcowboy

· #7 · Apr 22, 2019

I've had 2 Deltran Battery Tender Juniors go bad as well. And yes, they took the battery out with them. Nothing is perfect. Failures just happen sometimes. But even with the failures they have been worth the money. I've got plenty of batteries here and was replacing one or two a year before I started using Tenders. Now I go years and never replace a single one. Those of you that just have one or 2 batteries and get a failure might feel they are a gimmick but I can assure you they are not and well worth having them.

Zebraranger

· #8 · Apr 22, 2019

All modern vehicles (including motorcycles) have ECU's that causes a constant parasitic drain on the battery when its not running. This constant draw on the battery could be from 0.37mA and up, depending on the vehicle. So a older battery that is still good but maybe a little weak, or a low amp hour rated battery could discharge enough over a couple of weeks to the point that it will not turn over the starter. A battery doesn't have to be completely discharged for this to happen. You can use a multimeter with amp capabilities and do a parasitic draw test to see exactly how much constant draw there is on the battery with the key turned off. For this reason, and the fact that I don't ride everyday, all my bikes over the last 12 or 13 years had or have battery maintainers on them when parked in the garage.

Even the 2013 Triumph Trophy that I owned had a maintainer port built into the left side of the bike from the factory just for this purpose. For the last few years, I've had as many as five of these Schumacher battery maintainers running at the same time in the garage and I've never had any battery issues or any batteries go bad that was less than 7 or 8 years old. Once the pigtail is permanently installed on the battery, it only takes about one second to plug and unplug these maintainers after every use. At $30.00 its cheap insurance that ensures that your bike is always fully charged no matter how long it sits. These smart maintainers turn on and off automatically only when your battery needs it (usually only once or twice a week for a few minutes at a time to top off the battery to 14.5 to 14.7 volts). Most good ones come with the standard alligator clamps and the pigtails that's always attached to the battery for quick connect/disconnect.

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Vstarnewbie

· #9 · Apr 25, 2019

I have a Vstar 1100, and if i dont start it for 4 days.... it wont turn over... i had battery checked they said its good battery. What could be issue?

Unkle Krusty

· #10 · Apr 25, 2019

My 006 Dodge Caravan has a .75 amp drain. It sits during the summer months, now with a battery tender connected.
My Triumph and Suzuki have clocks that cause a drain. They are always plugged in if sitting for more than a week. Everything is plugged in here, when not in use. The tractor battery is connected to a 50 watt solar panel with a regulator. The boat batteries get charged by solar panels, and a fancy regulator.
Check the battery volts on a regular basis. My guess is after sitting it does not have enough volts, and or not enough cranking power. A new battery and a battery tender will fix, provided the bike is charging properly. Your volt meter will confirm that.

UK

hogcowboy

· #11 · Apr 26, 2019

Vstarnewbie said:
I have a Vstar 1100, and if i dont start it for 4 days.... it wont turn over... i had battery checked they said its good battery. What could be issue?

You don't say what year your bike is but many newer bikes need to stay on a battery tender due to the power consumption of their computer. You might also have something else drawing power. On my Indian there were a lot of complaints about this as well. Turned out that some bikes tour pak light was always on even when the lid was closed and locked. Simple adjustment of the latch fixed the problem. So look for anything that could possibly still be on even when you think you powered the bike down. Something like shutting off with the emergency off switch but key is still in the on position. That's just one possible but that's the kind of thing to look for.

mike721

· #12 · Apr 26, 2019

Something weird there, we have a VStar 650 and I always am amazed how long it can sit neglected and still start without being on the tender, the thing is an older design and has no real modern electronics so it has no parasitic draw, when it's off it's off. In contrast is my 08 Vision, it has electronics that need to be kept alive but they are early generation and draw a lot just sitting, in 2 weeks it's getting low, my 16 Vision has much lower draw and has sat a month and still was fine.

I think your 1100 Vstar is very similar to the 650 ( same generation) so something is drawing power. Disconnect a battery lead and put an ammeter in series (ask for an explanation if this is gibberish to you) and see if your pulling any decent current with everything off, then if you are start trying to isolate it, pulling fuses, disconnecting wires, until you can find whats drawing the power. Could be stuck relay, or aftermarket radio, or a couple of other things.

Vstarnewbie said:
I have a Vstar 1100, and if i dont start it for 4 days.... it wont turn over... i had battery checked they said its good battery. What could be issue?

mike721

· #13 · Apr 26, 2019

My vision did that trunk light trick too, though it was kind of my fault. I left my jacket caught in the trunk lid, worked 12 hours, ended up having to jump start it to get home. The lid over the trunk light was still warm, that was how I found what was the cause. I leave that light turned off now, instead of on automatic, if I need it I turn it on.

hogcowboy said:
You don't say what year your bike is but many newer bikes need to stay on a battery tender due to the power consumption of their computer. You might also have something else drawing power. On my Indian there were a lot of complaints about this as well. Turned out that some bikes tour pak light was always on even when the lid was closed and locked. Simple adjustment of the latch fixed the problem. So look for anything that could possibly still be on even when you think you powered the bike down. Something like shutting off with the emergency off switch but key is still in the on position. That's just one possible but that's the kind of thing to look for.

450zuki

· #14 · Apr 26, 2019 (Edited)

1. Disconnect the battery from the bike.

2. Charge it completely, disconnect the charger, wait 5 min, check the voltage....should be 13+ volts.

3. Wait 24hrs

4. Check the voltage

If it's 12.7 volts or higher you have a good battery and a drain issue with the bike.

If it's 12.6 or less, you've got a weak/bad battery and a good bike.

Note, it is possible to have 12.7v and still have a bad battery. A battery tester that applies a heavy load with the flick of a switch will let you know the truth about the battery. The Volt meter and load tester are both very affordable at Harbor Freight.

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WintrSol

· #15 · Apr 26, 2019

You guys with trunk lights, can you find a LED replacement? If so, it will take a lot longer to drain a battery. I know some bulb types aren't available in LED, but one can often use the shell of the old bulb, and fit a LED into it.

Unkle Krusty

· #16 · Apr 26, 2019

WintrSol said:
You guys with trunk lights, can you find a LED replacement? If so, it will take a lot longer to drain a battery. I know some bulb types aren't available in LED, but one can often use the shell of the old bulb, and fit a LED into it.

One old style bulb on the boat, uses 3/4 of an amp. 6 LED use about 1/8 of an amp. One LED trunk light, is hardly worth counting. On the boat I measure volts and amps, in and out.

UK

hogcowboy

· #17 · Apr 26, 2019

WintrSol said:
You guys with trunk lights, can you find a LED replacement? If so, it will take a lot longer to drain a battery. I know some bulb types aren't available in LED, but one can often use the shell of the old bulb, and fit a LED into it.

These canbus system are finicky about such changes. Might get away with it but I think mine is already an LED. Not positive but it sure is bright if not.

WintrSol

· #18 · Apr 26, 2019

hogcowboy said:
These canbus system are finicky about such changes. Might get away with it but I think mine is already an LED. Not positive but it sure is bright if not.

Your bike has canbus? That's new to me.

hogcowboy

· #19 · Apr 26, 2019

WintrSol said:
Your bike has canbus? That's new to me.

Yep, sure does. Very sensitive electronics on these things. It will throw error codes for the least little thing.

Unkle Krusty

· #20 · Apr 26, 2019

hogcowboy said:
Yep, sure does. Very sensitive electronics on these things. It will throw error codes for the least little thing.

Sometimes I miss having a magneto and no battery.

UK

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