Was out on the bike today, stopped for fuel and my bike wouldn’t start again! Got it bump started eventually, and it was riding no problem, until I was stationary for a few minutes, at which point it just died on me! It felt like it was running out of fuel (it had a full tank) and just cut out.
Is it possible that it could just be that the battery has given up and won’t hold a charge any more? Would that cause it to die like that? As far as I remember, the engine has to be revving at about 2000rpm to keep keep the bikes electrics going and charge the battery at the same time, but obviously it idles at about 1100rpm. Would this explain why it’s cutting out after about a minute or two of idleing? :ermm:
I’m thinking along the lines that the alternator is working, due to the fact that it works as long as it’s running at over 2000rpm. As soon as it starts to idle, the alternator isn’t pumping out enough juice to keep it going. this is where the battery should be doing the work.
I’ll be following your progress VERY closely, I’ve had exactly the same kind of trouble today as well. Haynes manual is my bed-time reading tonight, methinks.
Vehicle batteries do not last forever, at least the old ones that we used to be able to ‘top up’ the fluid used to work less efficiently as they neared their end but modern ones which we can’t maintain now just don’t hold a charge when they need to be replaced and sometimes I’ve been left out in the cold by a dead battery.
As far as I know letting a bike battery lose its charge through winter instead of keeping it on a trickle charger also isn’t good for it, don’t know if that is your case though.
You should ofc do all the test the previous posters mentioned, but in the end it could just be an old battery that needs to be replaced, I recommend an optimate or datatool trickle capable battery charger, saves you money and hassle in the long run.
I have had troubles with batteries recently. Not made easier by the fact there were none in stock of the model I needed in the UK. I had another battery but of a different model so I wired some connectors so I could connect the battery to start and then disconnect once it was going. My in situ battery doesn’t hold charge, but once the bike is started there is enough charge to keep the bike going, including lights, and indicators, even at idle. What I was told, was that the one thing that will finish a bike battery is to run it flat, so always at least disconnect if you are not using it for any period, and as said above, better to trickle charge if this is the case.
At the risk of stating the obvious - you have checked the terminals, leads tight, terminals undamaged?
As stated, if not above or charging system, modern batteries don’t deteriorate slowly like old lead/acid ones, they last longer, are more efficient but when they fail, it’s sudden and complete.
Thanks for the suggestions guys. First thing I checked at the side of the road was the terminals etc…
I’m just going out on the other bike to get a new battery and a volt-metre. Need a new battery anyway, haven’t had a fresh one since I bought the bike in September so I don’t know how old it is. That and the fact that it was a harsh little winter that we had, could be the problem!