[Chisel]

Hi All

I noticed on a few occasions that after riding for a while and turning the bike off and coming back to it 5 minutes later that it hesitates to start, almost like the battery is struggling. The ignition hesitates, the dash flickers then it comes to life. All this happens in a split second but there is a definite struggle initially. I also notice that the clock skips a beat, last time it happened the clock set itself back a few hours.

This only happens after the bike has been ridden. Last time I jumped on the bike after it hadn't been ridden for weeks and it started perfectly fine. I rode it for a good half hr before I stopped to get fuel and thats when it did what it did.

Any ideas? Rectifier maybe?

 

[NewRedRider]

Once the bike gets hot the starter takes more amperage to turn over and the battery has less to provide. If you know the battery voltage is above 13.0 v when fully charged, then clean your battery cables and your main ground bolted to the left side of the frame. Put some dielectric grease on the cables and the ground wire bundle. If you still have starter drag when it gets hot your battery is probably the cause. It could be going bad or have a bad cell. Have it load tested or test the voltage to the starter while cranking it when it's hot.

 

[dannoxyz]

Timing with warm start-up might be coincidental. How many times have you observes this cold=Ok, warm=bad scenario? Do you keep bike on tender @ home?

Take these 2 measurements when it's warmed up and misbehaving:

1. measure battery voltage beforehand with everything OFF. volts = ???
2. measure battery voltage when pushing START-button, volts = ???

 

[tary preisser]

Also, how old is battery?

 

[Chisel]

Cheers for the replies.

The battery is maybe a couple of yrs old. The bike is dry stored and not used a great deal particularly in the winter. The last couple of years I've covered less than 1000 miles per yr.

Its hard to say how many times I've observed the issue but at least a half dozen times over a fairly long period. Less so in the summer months when the bike is being used more frequently.

Definitely points to a battery issue. I guess what spooked me is I had a car years ago that had a warped head which started fine when cold but struggled to start once the engine warmed up.

I'll take a multimeter to it at the weekend and see what kind of voltage it's pushing out.