Battery SLOWLY Dying

[Legionnaire]

Yes, any reputable auto parts can load test it for you for free.

Okay so I didn't get it load tested yet, but I put it back in and I don't have drainage problems anymore. Now even at 12v-13v I try and press the starter and absolutely NOTHING happens. No click, no attempt, no voltage drop, so it doesn't even sound like its trying to turn over at the slightest.

One time it did try which was weird, but it's seriously 1 to 1000 so basically the bike will not even click and try to start over? Any ideas? Do I need the starter grounded? Or the R/R grounded? I moved my electronics under my seat onto a aluminum tray any problems with this?

[Steve]

My question is, why would you pay twice as much for half a battery?

You can get a good AGM battery for about $80, and I think that is borderline too much for a battery.

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[Ice]

My question is, why would you pay twice as much for half a battery?

You can get a good AGM battery for about $80, and I think that is borderline too much for a battery.

.

I got an AGM battery from Fleet Farm, and it was so worth it. Just take it out of the box, and pop it in. It has a higher cranking amps, performs better under load, and will not leak.

As for your battery, it's possible there's an internal short caused by the plates touching one another.

[koolaid_kid]

Okay so I didn't get it load tested yet, but I put it back in and I don't have drainage problems anymore. Now even at 12v-13v I try and press the starter and absolutely NOTHING happens. No click, no attempt, no voltage drop, so it doesn't even sound like its trying to turn over at the slightest.

One time it did try which was weird, but it's seriously 1 to 1000 so basically the bike will not even click and try to start over? Any ideas? Do I need the starter grounded? Or the R/R grounded? I moved my electronics under my seat onto a aluminum tray any problems with this?

Let me explain it to you, please bear with me. A starter needs Power to turn. Power (measured in watts) is the product of current (measured in amps) times voltage (measured in volts). You may have volts but no amps. That is the exact point of the load test and why we have told you to get it load tested. Until you do this simple task no other assistance can help you. You must have it load tested.
Thanks.

[Legionnaire]

Yes, any reputable auto parts can load test it for you for free.

Let me explain it to you, please bear with me. A starter needs Power to turn. Power (measured in watts) is the product of current (measured in amps) times voltage (measured in volts). You may have volts but no amps. That is the exact point of the load test and why we have told you to get it load tested. Until you do this simple task no other assistance can help you. You must have it load tested.
Thanks.

Okay... but why would my old battery not work then? I will still go get it load tested I just feel like it's something else... especially since I opened up my starter button and a piece was broken in half.

Which brand AGM battery did you get for $80 I just always thought the cheap AGM ones were no bueno

[koolaid_kid]

The old battery may have been worn out, did you have it load tested? That is the only way to tell. It may not be the battery, but it is a piece of the puzzle you must put behind you so we can move forward.
I paid $65 for my MotoBatt a couple of years ago. They are all the way up to around $80 now. Got it on FleaBay from a company down in Florida.
Have you tried jumping across the solenoid terminals yet?
Are all your grounds leading to your battery negative terminal?
The starter is grounded to the engine, the engine is grounded to the frame. The frame is grounded to the battery.
The R/R has its own ground wire that should go to the battery.
The solenoid needs to be grounded.
These are also other things, but it is a process. You really should follow our suggestions, we have all been down that road and we know the path to take. To bypass steps is to leave yourself open to failure because you skipped steps.
There is a method to our madness, we do this stuff all the time.
Best of luck, and let us know how it goes.

[Legionnaire]

The old battery may have been worn out, did you have it load tested? That is the only way to tell. It may not be the battery, but it is a piece of the puzzle you must put behind you so we can move forward.
I paid $65 for my MotoBatt a couple of years ago. They are all the way up to around $80 now. Got it on FleaBay from a company down in Florida.
Have you tried jumping across the solenoid terminals yet?
Are all your grounds leading to your battery negative terminal?
The starter is grounded to the engine, the engine is grounded to the frame. The frame is grounded to the battery.
The R/R has its own ground wire that should go to the battery.
The solenoid needs to be grounded.
These are also other things, but it is a process. You really should follow our suggestions, we have all been down that road and we know the path to take. To bypass steps is to leave yourself open to failure because you skipped steps.
There is a method to our madness, we do this stuff all the time.
Best of luck, and let us know how it goes.

Okay so I went to Autozone even called ahead about Load testing my motorcycle battery and I brought it in and said it was too small and can't load test it... is this just a bunch of BS?

So I just tried to jump the solenoid and it cranked nice and loud, but never turned over and even after a few tries my battery stayed at 12v

My R/R has 4 cables and they all are bunched up and lead into the wiring harness none of which ground to the battery, they aren't ground colors. It is also under the aluminum tray, and it SHARES the same screws that go through the starter solenoid, would that be an issue?



Right now the solenoid in on an aluminum tray (I feel like this isn't ground enough, please let me know, thanks)--->



The all grounds into the negative battery terminal is something that worries me, I def think that some just go from their respected cables to a point on the frame, that is the same thing right? It is just cleaner/easier to make them all go to one point.

I am seriously so appreciative of the help, and am just so excited to wrap this project up it's been weeks! Sorry if I seem impatient I am here to learn!

[Steve]

So I just tried to jump the solenoid and it cranked nice and loud, but never turned over and even after a few tries my battery stayed at 12v

VERY confusing here.

If it's "cranking", it's also "turning over", but you say it's not.

WHICH IS IT???

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[Legionnaire]

VERY confusing here.

If it's "cranking", it's also "turning over", but you say it's not.

WHICH IS IT???

.

Wrong terminology hah! It is cranking, so I am making sure there is gas cause it can only be four things right?

[koolaid_kid]

I'm going to do a little interpretation here, Steve. I suspect he meant it turned over but never fired. Just my interpretation.
Your grounds are a definite issue. Aluminium is not a good ground.
Put a ring terminal on one of the mounting bolts for the solenoid and R/R. Since they share mounting you can use one bolt, but personally I would use one on each side so it physically touches the item. Use 16 gauge wire. Since we are checking grounds, look for the engine ground. There should be one running from an engine bolt on the top at the back of the engine to a bolt on the frame. Run your wires from the R/R and solenoid to the same bolt. Now run one wire from that bolt to the negative terminal of the battery. Now use your multimeter to check continuity from each ring terminal (R/R, solenoid and engine, to the battery. There should be continuity at each point.

And yes, they are giving you a bunch of bull. If they sell motorcycle batteries they must have a way to load test them.

[Legionnaire]

Okay I will definitely put a ring terminal/wire on both bolts just to make sure. But I have two bolts on the bottom of my engine one runs to the negative terminal on the battery and the other cuts into the same wire and goes to the negative terminal. So do I want to put my R/R and solenoid grounds onto that same negative wire or ground them anywhere on the frame? Just saying because the bolt on the engine does NOT ground to the frame it goes from the engine to the battery.
When I check for continuity, what should I be looking for, like what sort of voltage?
I am going to a battery store instead to get it load tested ASAP! Thanks again man… seriously!

[Legionnaire]

So I got my starter button to work miraculously... but now the battery is slowly draining again the second you turn the key. I actually got my bike to turn on too, but I need to tinker with the idle and probably replace the throttle cable. So happy things got to working, except the battery drain, it didn't do it and then it started to after literally changing NOTHING.

I am going to get it load tested ASAP in the morning.

[koolaid_kid]

Okay I will definitely put a ring terminal/wire on both bolts just to make sure. But I have two bolts on the bottom of my engine one runs to the negative terminal on the battery and the other cuts into the same wire and goes to the negative terminal. So do I want to put my R/R and solenoid grounds onto that same negative wire or ground them anywhere on the frame? Just saying because the bolt on the engine does NOT ground to the frame it goes from the engine to the battery.
When I check for continuity, what should I be looking for, like what sort of voltage?
I am going to a battery store instead to get it load tested ASAP! Thanks again man… seriously!

Sorry, I have been occupied and failed to notice this post.
It sounds like someone has been meddling with your grounds already. There is absolutely no need to have 2 ground wires from the engine to the battery. I suggest you start over. Since you have obviously been doing some wiring changes in order to move both your solenoid and your R/R, I will assume you are comfortable with doing the soldering, shrink wrap, terminal crimping tasks.
I suggest this (it will clean up all the grounds and be much neater looking):
Find a bolt on the frame that you will designate as the central ground location. You will be running all your grounds to this bolt, so you may have to get one a bit longer than is currently there.
Run a ground from your solenoid to that point.
Run a ground from your R/R to that point.
Run a ground from your engine to that point.
Now, using a larger gauge wire, run a wire from that point to the negative terminal on your battery.
Use ring terminals on all connections.
You have accomplished several things. You have cleaned up the wiring. You have run fresh wires/connections to minimize resistance. You are certain that everything important is grounded. You have created what we call the "star" configuration, which minimizes power loss through the frame.
When you check for continuity, simply put your multimeter in continuity mode. There is usually a little picture of a speaker emitting a tone. You can check by touching the red and black probes together. You will hear a beep. When you are in the correct mode, place one probe on the negative terminal of the battery. Move the other probe around and touch the bolts your ring terminals are attached to, such as the engine bolt, the R/R bolt, the Solenoid bolt and the frame bolt. You should hear a beep at each point.
Hope this helps.
And you are welcome. Hopefully this will help others who read this thread as well, which benefits GSR overall.

[koolaid_kid]

So I got my starter button to work miraculously... but now the battery is slowly draining again the second you turn the key. I actually got my bike to turn on too, but I need to tinker with the idle and probably replace the throttle cable. So happy things got to working, except the battery drain, it didn't do it and then it started to after literally changing NOTHING.

I am going to get it load tested ASAP in the morning.

Congrats. A suggestion: let's use common terminology to avoid confusion. When you press the starter button and the starter begins to operate and the engine starts to rotate, that is called turning over or cranking. When the engine begins to run that is called starting or running. So, you got the engine to turn over and actually run. That is fantastic. You are almost there.

[Legionnaire]

Sorry, I have been occupied and failed to notice this post.
It sounds like someone has been meddling with your grounds already. There is absolutely no need to have 2 ground wires from the engine to the battery. I suggest you start over. Since you have obviously been doing some wiring changes in order to move both your solenoid and your R/R, I will assume you are comfortable with doing the soldering, shrink wrap, terminal crimping tasks.
I suggest this (it will clean up all the grounds and be much neater looking):
Find a bolt on the frame that you will designate as the central ground location. You will be running all your grounds to this bolt, so you may have to get one a bit longer than is currently there.
Run a ground from your solenoid to that point.
Run a ground from your R/R to that point.
Run a ground from your engine to that point.
Now, using a larger gauge wire, run a wire from that point to the negative terminal on your battery.
Use ring terminals on all connections.
You have accomplished several things. You have cleaned up the wiring. You have run fresh wires/connections to minimize resistance. You are certain that everything important is grounded. You have created what we call the "star" configuration, which minimizes power loss through the frame.
When you check for continuity, simply put your multimeter in continuity mode. There is usually a little picture of a speaker emitting a tone. You can check by touching the red and black probes together. You will hear a beep. When you are in the correct mode, place one probe on the negative terminal of the battery. Move the other probe around and touch the bolts your ring terminals are attached to, such as the engine bolt, the R/R bolt, the Solenoid bolt and the frame bolt. You should hear a beep at each point.
Hope this helps.
And you are welcome. Hopefully this will help others who read this thread as well, which benefits GSR overall.

This is perfect, this is exactly what I needed just an overall checklist to run through!

What is weird to is why are there 2 bolts on the bottom of the engine in the first place in I only need to use one wire to ground onto it? Also the engine bolts go STRAIGHT to the battery itself when from what you said they should go to the bolt first then the battery goes to the bolt and connects them all.

When you say "larger wire" how large should I go cause I have 6 gauge wires running from the engine to the battery right now. Or can I get away with an 8 or a 10?

I will get working on getting this all built, one more thing since the solenoid and R/R share bolts I just grounds both screws holding them down and since they share screws that grounds them both right?