2011 1200 GSA- died in driveway

[jfmoore430]

Just finished a 8 day WNC ride of 1500 miles. did the Dragon, Cherahola, BRP then 4 days of back roads. Pulled out of the garage after unplugging the tender and the test cycle finished so I turned the key. Click then everything went dead! New battery 1 year ago. Luck it didn't happen way up in the mountains. Where do I look first? Or after testing the battery.

 

[PGlaves]

Just finished a 8 day WNC ride of 1500 miles. did the Dragon, Cherahola, BRP then 4 days of back roads. Pulled out of the garage after unplugging the tender and the test cycle finished so I turned the key. Click then everything went dead! New battery 1 year ago. Luck it didn't happen way up in the mountains. Where do I look first? Or after testing the battery.

I would be fairly certain the "click" was a connector internal to the battery physically breaking. If you attach a voltmeter at the battery terminals, with no load you might see 12+ volts, but as soon as you turn the key on or apply any load the voltage is likely to drop to near zero. I once saw 12.7 volts until I attached a tail light bulb which caused the voltage to then read .04v.

 

[jfmoore430]

Just pushed it back into the garage and turned the key and the power came on for the test. When I pushed the starter it died again. It just goes dead, no attempt to start.

 

[jfmoore430]

The click is one I have heard before when the battery is low. But the bike just came off the charger and it runs a test on the battery when charging. I am using an Optimate4 charger.

 

[PGlaves]

It soulds to me like the battery is capable of delivering a few amps across a fractured connector but fails as soon as the load demand increases. It is possible there is a loose connection causing the same condition. Check the battery cable connections.

 

[jfmoore430]

Think you are right! Optimate now says there is a problem with the battery. One year of service ouch! Off to the store!

Thanks for your help!

 

[tinytrains]

Think you are right! Optimate now says there is a problem with the battery. One year of service ouch! Off to the store!

Thanks for your help!

If it was a Cycle Gear battery, that is longer than I got. 7 months in a bike (K75) that normally goes 5 years. I now stick with name brand batteries..

 

[jfmoore430]

What threw me was that when I took it off the charger the lights said the battery was fine. Then after the bike went dead I put it on and it showed a bad battery. Probably what PGlaves said, something just snapped. Can't complain, 5 days ago I was in WNC 2 miles up an ugly dirt/gravel road fishing and that would have been a pain to deal with.

 

[jeffkruger]

Glad you got it solved. I had the same thing happen a couple of years ago. All of a sudden pretty much a total open in the battery. Enough juice to run the test, just like yours. Anymore I replace the batteries in my traveling bikes every 18 months just to avoid a problem on the road.

 

[tinytrains]

The internal electrical paths develop cracks over time. Eventually, the remaining conductor area is too small for the starter current and poof. That is often why they turn over and die. My K75 usually starts that morning, and then dies when I stop for gas. I finally learned, to stop pushing the starter button at the first sign of trouble, and push start the bike. If you keep trying to start it, you run the battery so low it will not push start. Then you push it home.