# What is wrong with the battery on my motorcycle?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [September 9, 2006, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106 "2006-09-09T23:30:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2006, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/1 "2006-09-09T23:30:42Z")
Today my motorcycle would not start. The engine turned a few times when I pressed the starter button, then died - after that, pressing the start button only made the starter click. The horn, also, doesn’t work - it just makes a little metallic click instead of honking.
This would normally indicate to me that the battery is dead. But the bike’s lights work, including the headlight and the indicators. The turn signals light up but they don’t click and flash like they normally do.
So is the battery dead here? Or is there some other problem?
I’m sorry if I sound like an idiot, by the way. I’ve had this bike for only about 2 months, and it’s my first, so I’m not very experienced here.
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### Author:  [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2006, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/2 "2006-09-09T23:31:55Z")
**Moderator’s Note:** Moving to General Questions.
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/3 "2006-09-09T23:32:07Z")
Move this to General Questions, please. (I told you I’m an idiot…) :smack:
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### Author:  [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2006, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/4 "2006-09-09T23:49:42Z")
The battery is mostly dead. It takes a lot more juice to turn it over than to have the lights come on. Put it on a charger for a while and it should be OK. If after riding it for a while and it runs low again it’s time for a new one.
Don’t jump start the bike with a car. The volts are the same but the higher amps from the car will fry little things like the lights in your gages and instrument panel. I learned that one the hard way.
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### Author:  [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/5 "2006-09-09T23:54:49Z")
You can try push starting it as well, if you know how to ride that is, not something you’d want to try if you might fall over. I would say either charge it or get a new one. The same thing happened to my bike the other day and it’s a newer battery, so I charged it and it started right up. I can’t remember the type of bike you have, but mine is a four and sometimes when it’s cold it doesn’t want to start, my twin used to start no problem in the cold, so you might want to wait until it’s warmer out and try again.
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/6 "2006-09-10T01:02:27Z")
Thanks. I’ll go buy a battery charger ASAP.
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### Author:  [@The\_Surb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Surb)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2006, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/7 "2006-09-10T01:05:01Z")
Buy a trickle charger for bike batteries. They charge at a lower rate and won’t damage the battery.
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### Author:  [@The\_Surb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Surb)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2006, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/8 "2006-09-10T01:06:37Z")
Oh forgot, did you check the water level in the battery?
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### Author:  [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2006, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/9 "2006-09-10T01:42:00Z")
> [@The Surb](#):
>
> Oh forgot, did you check the water level in the battery?
Tell me about this. How far should the cells of the battery be filled up? Mine were about 90% of the way filled, except for some of them which were more like 85% of the way. To what level should all the cells be filled?
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### Author:  [@Nic2004](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nic2004)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2006, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/10 "2006-09-10T02:08:53Z")
> [@Argent Towers](#):
>
> Tell me about this. How far should the cells of the battery be filled up? Mine were about 90% of the way filled, except for some of them which were more like 85% of the way. To what level should all the cells be filled?
It should just cover the plates inside that you can see the tops of when you look in.
If you can spare a couple of extra bucks, get a battery charger with multiple amp settings. To $20-30 you can get one with 1 amp maint. setting (like in the winter if the bike will be sitting up for awhile), a 2 amp, a 10 amp for letting it charge for a couple of minutes before starting and a 50 amp that can jump start you car if need be (I don’t advise the 50 for your bike). I have one that’s many years old and have used it a million times. A good tool to invest in.
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### Author:  [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2006, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/11 "2006-09-10T02:45:48Z")
> [@Mr. Goob](#):
>
> Don’t jump start the bike with a car. The volts are the same but the higher amps from the car will fry little things like the lights in your gages and instrument panel. I learned that one the hard way.
This is incorrect. Asw long as they are both 12V systems no harm will come to the bike if it is jump started correctly.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/12 "2006-09-10T02:58:34Z")
> [@Rick](#):
>
> This is incorrect. Asw long as they are both 12V systems no harm will come to the bike if it is jump started correctly.
To back **Rick** up, I’ve started both of my bikes with my car on several occasions. Works like a charm.
If your bike will not hold a charge and you cannot start it the next day (or if the battery is weak the next day), then you do need a new battery.
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### Author:  [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2006, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/13 "2006-09-10T05:01:28Z")
Depending on how it is wired, a bad ground strap off the battery can also give a ‘bad battery’ indication. Sometimes the headlights work if they are wired positive to lamp and the high / low switch is grounding one element or the other. They do that so they only have to run one + wire to the lamp housing.
Really cheap to check the ground to see if that is all it is.
YMMV
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### Author:  [@robcaro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robcaro)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2006, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/14 "2006-09-10T19:30:12Z")
I suppose your motorcycle has an alternator. Perhaps the alternator is not functioning properly and is not keeping the battery fully charged.
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### Author:  [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/15 "2006-09-10T22:15:41Z")
Plenty of voltage under light load (headlight only) but large drop under heavy load (starter) indicates a poor connection somewhere. Either outside or inside the battery. So take the high current connections (ground, heavy lead from battery to starter solinoid, wire from solinoid to stater if present) loose, and give them a going over with a stiff wire brush. Coat them with adalox or similar anti corrosion compound intended for electrical connections.
If this doesnt fix it the problem is most likely inside the battery. Each cell consists of several sets (5-15) of plates connected in paralell. If some of the plates break loose, you still have enough capacity to lite bulbs nicely, but not enough to crank starter. To test this, you need to fully charge the battery, then use a carbon pile tester to see how much the voltage drops under heavy load. If it tests OK, then start trouble shooting the charging circuit. Motorcyle charging circuits are notoriously margional. Modern BMWs are the only ones I know of that I would discribe as anything near overkill, and with aux. lights and heated clothing, the overkill factor is illiminated.
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### Author:  [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2006, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/16 "2006-09-11T14:10:43Z")
OK, every doper with a carbon pile tester in their garage raise their hand.
::: Looks around:::
Me and **Gary T** anybody else?
Didn’t think so. 🙂
**Kevbo** Your fault tracing path is excellent, but you are asking for equipment that nobody but a professional technician owns (and then it usually a piece of shop equipment)
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### Author:  [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/17 "2006-09-11T15:34:32Z")
Many motorcycle shops have a carbon pile tester, and will test a walk-in battery for free, in hopes of selling a new one if it tests bad.
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### Author:  [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)
#### Post date: [September 11, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/18 "2006-09-11T16:13:44Z")
> [@Rick](#):
>
> OK, every doper with a carbon pile tester in their garage raise their hand.
> ::: Looks around:::
> Me and **Gary T** anybody else?
> Didn’t think so. 🙂
I’ve got one (at work), if you mean a load tester. 😉 Ok, it’s the shop’s.
What kind of bike is it? The starter clutch - aka ‘sprag’ - on some bikes can be damaged by trying to start with a weak battery, and that can cost a _lot_ of money to fix. Batteries are usually fairly cheap, especially compared to the potential costs of not replacing it. I usually replace my Tiger’s battery every other year.
Definitely check the electrolyte level, topping off with distilled water if neccesary, and clean & tighten the connections. If you want to get the battery tested, it needs to be fully charged first, otherwise you won’t get an accurate reading from the tester.
Oh, and congratulations on getting your first bike. Did you know that there are at least [128 Ways to drop your motorcycle](http://www.klouseau.com/oops.html) ?
Wheelie, certified BMW Master Technician
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### Author:  [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)
#### Post date: [September 14, 2006, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/19 "2006-09-14T05:52:34Z")
Ok, it should be fixed by now. What was the problem?
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### Author:  [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)
#### Post date: [November 13, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-wrong-with-the-battery-on-my-motorcycle/372106/20 "2006-11-13T20:23:45Z")
I hate to revive a dead thread, and I’m sure the mods will give the me requisite backhand if this is inappropriate, but I’d like to hear from **Argent Towers** about the end result of this as well. I had pretty much the exact same problem on the way to the train station this morning, and I’m trying to figure out what I have to look forward to when I get back to it this evening.
It’s an '83 Honda Nighthawk 450, if anyone’s keeping score. Thanks!
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