[w1smc]

My bike has been in the garage foe the last 5 days (with the key in the ignition) and I got a day off so I'm going to go for a ride.

I pull her out of the garage, follow normal starting procedure ....

All I get is a very minor attempt of the starter kicking off, just for a second, and then she stops.

I checked the fuses ..... they are ok.

I checked the battery voltage ..... it reads 12.52.

Reading some of the previous posts I see the voltage should be at 13.7?

I'm charging the battery now.

Two questions .....

1. Can leaving the key in the ignition for 5 days discharge the battery?

2. Can I get away with my charger positive cable connected to the battery and the negative cable not connected to the battery? There is not enough room to connect the negative cable of the charger to the battery so I just connected to part of the frame.

 

[varium]

Take the battery out if you need to.

When you checked to volts was this under load(i.e. cranking the motor) or with the battery just sitting there? You'll need at least 12 volts under load to kick a motor over for any period of time long enough to start it. 12-14 volts is the range a battery should read out while running an engine.....as long as the electrical system is set up for 12 volts. Some cars and boats run 24/36/48 volt systems which we aren't talking about, but wanted to clarify for the sake of being clear.



BTW, it sounds like you should be able to bump start the bike fairly easily. Put in second gear and have a go at it. Ride around for a while making sure to get over 4k rpm often and come back home to shut down. The alt. should have put enough charge back in the battery to be good to start with starter switch.

 

[w1smc]

Take the battery out if you need to.

When you checked to volts was this under load(i.e. cranking the motor) or with the battery just sitting there? You'll need at least 12 volts under load to kick a motor over for any period of time long enough to start it. 12-14 volts is the range a battery should read out while running an engine.....as long as the electrical system is set up for 12 volts. Some cars and boats run 24/36/48 volt systems which we aren't talking about, but wanted to clarify for the sake of being clear.

The bike was sitting there turned off.

It's a 2010 with less than 300 miles on her and has been riding fine.

However, the last few times I did take her out were just for 15 minute rides. Plus I was having a difficult time setting my speedo to change it from kph to mph so I was turning her on and off.

I'll see how the trickle charge take after about another 1/2 an hour and try her again.

All I was getting though was a quick 1 second attempt and then nothing.

 

[w1smc]

Success!

I went out to check and the charger indicated the battery was fully charged.

I checked the voltage and it was reading 13.10 volts.

So I pulled off the charger, and she started up right away.

Interesting .......

My bike has been in the garage foe the last 5 days (with the key in the ignition) and I got a day off so I'm going to go for a ride.

I pull her out of the garage, follow normal starting procedure ....

All I get is a very minor attempt of the starter kicking off, just for a second, and then she stops.

I checked the fuses ..... they are ok.

I checked the battery voltage ..... it reads 12.52.

Reading some of the previous posts I see the voltage should be at 13.7?

I'm charging the battery now.

Two questions .....

1. Can leaving the key in the ignition for 5 days discharge the battery?

2. Can I get away with my charger positive cable connected to the battery and the negative cable not connected to the battery? There is not enough room to connect the negative cable of the charger to the battery so I just connected to part of the frame.

 

[MV_bel]

Had exactly he same voltage on my R312, 12.52V is not enough I noticed,when you start the bike the voltage drops to below 12V, you need at least 12.7V. The watch of the bike is also draining the battery if bike is not used for a long time

 

[w1smc]

Had exactly he same voltage on my R312, 12.52V is not enough I noticed,when you start the bike the voltage drops to below 12V, you need at least 12.7V. The watch of the bike is also draining the battery if bike is not used for a long time

Well I took her out for 1/2 hour ride and then let her cool off for an hour.

I checked the voltage and it was 12.93, down from 13.10.

I think for a while I will leave my trickle charger out and charge her up after I get through with my rides.

This bike was born on 5/2010 and I purchased her less than a month ago. So this battery was sitting in this bike in a warehouse for over a year before it was fully charged at the dealer. I'm wondering if this battery may have issues?

I'm going to keep a tight watch on this for a bit ..... I hope I don't get stuck.

 

[theknurl]

low voltage?

its the charging system

download the manual here;
http://my.agusta.us/

page E-17 there is a trouble shooting guide for the charging system
with a warm motor...regulator @ 25 degC
connect a voltmeter to the battery
start the motor, at 2,000 RPM the voltage should be 14.5V +- 0.6V

bet it isn't:stickpoke

:f4::brutale:

 

[w1smc]

its the charging system

download the manual here;
http://my.agusta.us/

page E-17 there is a trouble shooting guide for the charging system
with a warm motor...regulator @ 25 degC
connect a voltmeter to the battery
start the motor, at 2,000 RPM the voltage should be 14.5V +- 0.6V

So, if the voltage is less than 14.5 volts while the engine is at 2K RPM ...... then there is a possible charging system issue?

 

[Capo]

First you can hook up the battery charger to just the positive lead and then someplace on the frame or motor. Just be sure it is a good ground not some painted surface.

Second you can leave the key in the bike, it is very helpful to thieves. Seriously as long as it is turned off there should not be a problem.

Third Charge the battery and see how many volts is shows. It should be higher than 13. Let it sit 24 hours and check it again. If it had dropped below that I would suspect the battery. To test the charging system the battery should be a good one and fully charged. As was mentioned you should see above 14 volts with the bike running. Some of the modern bikes actually will show that at idle but as was mentioned take it to 2K to 2.5 K and look for the voltate

When starting the bike you should see 13.5 with the bike off. When you put the key on the headlight will draw that down some. When you hit the starter it will go down again but should stay above 12 but I have started bikes that showed as low as 10.5 and they started. Not happily but they did.

I hope this helps.

Jim

 

[w1smc]

First you can hook up the battery charger to just the positive lead and then someplace on the frame or motor. Just be sure it is a good ground not some painted surface.

Second you can leave the key in the bike, it is very helpful to thieves. Seriously as long as it is turned off there should not be a problem.

Third Charge the battery and see how many volts is shows. It should be higher than 13. Let it sit 24 hours and check it again. If it had dropped below that I would suspect the battery. To test the charging system the battery should be a good one and fully charged. As was mentioned you should see above 14 volts with the bike running. Some of the modern bikes actually will show that at idle but as was mentioned take it to 2K to 2.5 K and look for the voltate

When starting the bike you should see 13.5 with the bike off. When you put the key on the headlight will draw that down some. When you hit the starter it will go down again but should stay above 12 but I have started bikes that showed as low as 10.5 and they started. Not happily but they did.

I hope this helps.

Jim

Jim, Thanks for the reply .....

Here's what I have voltage-wise on the stock battery:

12.52 Voltage reading after bike failed to start. This was after 1 week of non-use sitting in my garage. However, I did turn the bike off and on a number of times (6) to change my speedo's MPH setting.
13.10 Voltage reading after full charge (took 30 minutes to charge) ..... bike started easily.
12.93 Voltage reading after ½ hour ride
12.82 Voltage reading 24 hours later after no rides

I would think a voltage drop from 12.93 to 12.82 after a 24 hour period of non-use would not be a good indication of battery health, but not knowing all that much about motorcycle batteries I could be wrong.

I did go out after work today and purchased a new battery but have not installed it. I took it home and checked the voltage and it was at 12.86 with my charger indicating it was only 85% charged. So I did a trickle charge and after 15 minutes the indicator was at 100% with a voltage reading of 13.14.

I cannot do any riding tonight so after work tomorrow my plan is to check the voltage on both batteries. If the stock battery drops again then I'd say the this battery has gone bad. This is the original battery and (I guess) has been sitting in this bike for over a year prior to my purchasing it and it being fully charged at the dealer (I hope).

Anyway, well see tomorrow.

I'm curious though what the voltage drop is when doing a cold start and a warm start of the bike. I think I saw these numbers in the shop manual ..... I'm going to check.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

 

[w1smc]

Jim, Thanks for the reply .....

Here's what I have voltage-wise on the stock battery:

12.52 Voltage reading after bike failed to start. This was after 1 week of non-use sitting in my garage. However, I did turn the bike off and on a number of times (6) to change my speedo's MPH setting.
13.10 Voltage reading after full charge (took 30 minutes to charge) ..... bike started easily.
12.93 Voltage reading after ½ hour ride
12.82 Voltage reading 24 hours later after no rides

I would think a voltage drop from 12.93 to 12.82 after a 24 hour period of non-use would not be a good indication of battery health, but not knowing all that much about motorcycle batteries I could be wrong.

I did go out after work today and purchased a new battery but have not installed it. I took it home and checked the voltage and it was at 12.86 with my charger indicating it was only 85% charged. So I did a trickle charge and after 15 minutes the indicator was at 100% with a voltage reading of 13.14.

I cannot do any riding tonight so after work tomorrow my plan is to check the voltage on both batteries. If the stock battery drops again then I'd say the this battery has gone bad. This is the original battery and (I guess) has been sitting in this bike for over a year prior to my purchasing it and it being fully charged at the dealer (I hope).

Anyway, well see tomorrow.

I'm curious though what the voltage drop is when doing a cold start and a warm start of the bike. I think I saw these numbers in the shop manual ..... I'm going to check.

Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

**********

Well here's the results of both batteries after another 24 hour period of zero bike activity.

After sitting in the box for a day, the new battery voltage reading is 12.91. This is a .23 drop from the last reading.

The Stock battery voltage reading is 12.76.

This is a .06 drop from the last reading.

After turning the key and going through the diagnostic cycle the voltage dropped to 12.44.

I started her and at idle for about 2 minutes the voltage was 14.14.

I then increased the rpm's to 2k for about 30 seconds and the voltage swung between 14.14 & 14.15.

I shut her down and watched as the voltage slowly dropped. After 5 minutes the voltage swung between 12.98 & 12.99.

I will go out for a ride later tonight and see what the readings are then .....

Things appear to be looking okay with the stock battery though.

 

[Capo]

w1smc

Sounds like your charging system is functioning correctly although I would have expected more like 14.5 Volts. Did you try any higher rpm? I am puzzled as to why both batteries are showing such low voltage after a full charge. I normally see around 13.4 Volts after a full charge. When was the last time you replaced the battery in your volt meter? Not sure that would make any difference for Volts but I know it will screw Ohm readings.

Of course you could tell the wife you need to ride more often.

Jim

 

[w1smc]

I went out this morning and she started right up. I took her out for an hours ride in and around the DC area. Put about 60 miles on her.

Man ..... this bike is sweet!!!!!

The voltage reading after I shut her down and let her cool off for 7 hours was 12.90.

So I think things are okay with the battery. I will continue to monitor my voltage readings until I get to a point where I feel completely comfortable that things are okay.

My guess is that during my zeal to change my speedometer setting from KPH to MPH I must have pulled to much juice from the battery turning the bike on and off like I did. Lesson learned.

Also, I received my Optimate 4 Battery Charger in yesterdays mail. I will be attaching the connector to my stock battery and charging her regularly to make sure she is always charged.

 

[mikef4uk]

Does your bike have an immobilisor/alarm? these can take varying amounts of milliamps and the MV battery from memory is only around a 9amp/hour battery.

An optimate is a good way of keeping the battery in tip top condition.

I think I would measure the current draw with the bike stationary and turned completely off, dead easy to do, disconnect one side and set the meter to DC mA, put one lead on the battery and the other on the removed cable, you should see virtually nothing, maybe 3 mA, some after market alarms can take 10-15mA or more, this soon adds up on a 9amp/hour battery

 

[gotojoe]

Does your bike have an immobilisor/alarm? these can take varying amounts of milliamps and the MV battery from memory is only around a 9amp/hour battery.

An optimate is a good way of keeping the battery in tip top condition.

I think I would measure the current draw with the bike stationary and turned completely off, dead easy to do, disconnect one side and set the meter to DC mA, put one lead on the battery and the other on the removed cable, you should see virtually nothing, maybe 3 mA, some after market alarms can take 10-15mA or more, this soon adds up on a 9amp/hour battery

and to put that in context Mike, my Laverda Jota sports a 27ah battery..over three times the capacity.
joe

 

[mikef4uk]

and to put that in context Mike, my Laverda Jota sports a 27ah battery..over three times the capacity.
joe

I guess a Ducati battery may be a similar size as well. Thats nearly Japenese car size !!

 

[w1smc]

Does your bike have an immobilisor/alarm? these can take varying amounts of milliamps and the MV battery from memory is only around a 9amp/hour battery.

An optimate is a good way of keeping the battery in tip top condition.

I think I would measure the current draw with the bike stationary and turned completely off, dead easy to do, disconnect one side and set the meter to DC mA, put one lead on the battery and the other on the removed cable, you should see virtually nothing, maybe 3 mA, some after market alarms can take 10-15mA or more, this soon adds up on a 9amp/hour battery

No alarm system .....

But I think it's a yes on the immobilizer ..... but not certain ..... When I was in the process of changing the speedo from kph to mph and before I entered the "Dealer" menu ..... the word IMMOBILIZER did show up on the display ..... I turned the bike off when I got to this point .... So, unless someone can fill me in on how to determine the immobilizer issue ..... I will say yes.

Also, when I did go out to remove the battery and install the Optimate 4 Quick Connect cable I could not get the bridge off to get the battery out.

I even used a pair of channel locks to grab and hold the bridge while I lifted, twisted, and pulled on it. But no luck. It didn't budge at all. And I didn't want to crack the battery housing so I stopped all together.

So does anybody know what the trick is to get this bridge off?

I removed the middle tank bolt at the center of the bridge and also the two bolts at each end of the bridge. I've read all the posts I can find on this and these bolts are all these posts say should be removed.

Note: There are two smaller additional bolts just forward of the two bridge bolts. But I did not fiddle with them.

Any ideas?

 

[shiggedy]

Glad to see that she's running again. You said you checked the fuses. Did you check the main cluster, or did you also check the recharging fuse located next to the battery (the 40A ATO Blade)? There should be two - the master, and a spare.

I experienced the same issues you did with my Brutale, and I also initially attributed it to the alternator. But it turned out to be a $6 switcharoo.

 

[w1smc]

Glad to see that she's running again. You said you checked the fuses. Did you check the main cluster, or did you also check the recharging fuse located next to the battery (the 40A ATO Blade)? There should be two - the master, and a spare.

I experienced the same issues you did with my Brutale, and I also initially attributed it to the alternator. But it turned out to be a $6 switcharoo.

Yes, I checked all the fuses, main cluster and the recharging fuse. All were okay.