Got stranded! By runningslow (Read 1,466 times)

[runningslow]

Augh!

Long story short.... went out for lunch, and bike would not start to get me back to the office.... giving the tell tale signs of a low battery. The only thing seemingly out of place was I had forgotten to cancel the turn signal, so it started to flash when I turned the key on.

A coworker came and we easily jump started the scoot. I got back to the office with no problems, but it looks like I'll have to get another jump to go home.

My question... would leaving a turn signal on (with the bike completely off), still have put a strain on the battery? I was only in the restaurant for about 30 minutes. Tops.

Like a fool, I didn't have any tools on the bike and I've removed the kick-start lever (It was knocking against the center stand.)

[ce]

If your battery terminals aren't periodically cleaned, and the battery trickle charged regularly, you aren't secure with electric starting as your only option.

[felliott]

Chinese batteries do not last long. I would advise you to buy a new battery. You can get a good one at Walmart.

[Bashan]

Oct 11, 2010 11:12:03 GMT -6 runningslow said:

My question... would leaving a turn signal on (with the bike completely off), still have put a strain on the battery? I was only in the restaurant for about 30 minutes. Tops.

I don't think so, I leave mine on all the time and it always starts. If you have a four wire ignition switch without a theft alarm the battery is totally disconnected in the off position. Of course a minor short would drain it. Rich

Oct 11, 2010 15:47:18 GMT -6 felliott said:

Chinese batteries do not last long. I would advise you to buy a new battery. You can get a good one at Walmart.

Batteries Plus too!

[sprocket]

>>would leaving a turn signal on (with the bike completely off)

Nope...off is off except to the clock and alarm system if you have them.

Sounds like you need to look into your battery charging from the regulator/rectifier

[runningslow]

Thanks for the input, everyone.

That's what I thought. I didn't really think it was turn signal, but I was desperate for an explanation.

I wouldn't be surprised if the battery was bad, in fact, it looks like that may be the case. Its not the original chinese battery, in fact, I've never had a chinese battery. My original battery was a Yuasa and the current one I got from Autozone.

After my hour long ride home from work, I put my multimeter on the battery. Idling, it read 11.5v and did not go up at all while revving. So, obviously something is wrong. Thoughts?

Battery is on my battery tender, now, and the scoot will easily kick start.

[Cruiser]

Not knowing the full history of your battery, I would do the following. This is a recap of some of the previous suggestions.

1. Check the terminals to make sure they are clean and tight.

2. If it's not the sealed type, I would check the liquid levels in all the cells. Add water (distilled preferably) if necessary.

3. To ensure accuracy in this step, use a fully charged battery. Use a voltmeter to check the voltage at the battery with the engine running. Should be above 13.2 volts at idle rising to about 14.5 volts at 5000 rpm.

If the above checks out, then your battery is suspect especially if it's the OEM and it is a "wet" type where you can add liquid. Sealed or AGM batteries give much better service than the OEM wet types.

When the key is turned off, all lights are also turned off.

[Cruiser]

Make sure the battery will hold a charge of at least 12.8 volts measured a couple of hours after being removed from the charger. If the battery will not accept a full charge then any troubleshooting of the charging system will not be accurate. A common problem with low or no charging is the connectors at the regulator being loose and making a poor connection. Also, make sure all grounds at the engine and the frame of the scoot are clean and tight.

[runningslow]

Thanks again for the input! I've topped off the battery with distilled water. After popping the caps off, it was virtually dry. Soooo... we'll see. Its on the battery tender now, so we'll see what happens.

I'll probably start shopping around for a good AGM battery, just in case.

[kr10k50]

I really like the LED bulb switch out on the tail lights. If you do much city driving and your still running the OEM bulbs, you probably aren't charging the battery much in town or under 30mph anyway.

Since the tail light comes one when you crank her up, any less juice being used then is a good thing too!

I've not seen an LED head lamp set up that has me hooked yet, but d instrument cluster lights, can usually be done with just a bulb switch as well. Every little bit helps as marginal as the 50's charging systems seem to run.

[runningslow]

Oct 11, 2010 22:46:19 GMT -6 kr10k50 said:

I really like the LED bulb switch out on the tail lights. If you do much city driving and your still running the OEM bulbs, you probably aren't charging the battery much in town or under 30mph anyway.

Since the tail light comes one when you crank her up, any less juice being used then is a good thing too!

I've not seen an LED head lamp set up that has me hooked yet, but d instrument cluster lights, can usually be done with just a bulb switch as well. Every little bit helps as marginal as the 50's charging systems seem to run.

Thanks for the input!

The bike already has an LED taillight, but I could probably switch the indicators to LEDs. This bike isn't a 50cc, its a 169cc with an 11 pole stator, so my charging system is a little less marginal than most. Most of my riding is in the 45-55mph range for some longer distances of 15-30 miles at a time.

The bike has about 9000 miles on it (only about 350 on the new motor) and the OEM bulbs were never an issue.

Bike was on the battery tender all night, and I found it with a nice green light this morning. I haven't checked the voltage, yet, because I want to wait a few hours to see how it reads. Maybe I should have gotten a baseline reading, but too late for that.

I didn't bother with the electric start this morning and just used the kick start.

Chances are I'm just looking at a questionable battery at the moment. Its less than a year old, but it has sat for 9 months, without being used. I would periodically put in on the battery tender to try and keep it maintained, but never thought to check the fluid levels in it.

[jct842]

a battery that is lft on a charger will out gas and the liquid level will go down. your battery tender if it does much charging will do the same thing. john