Hitchcocks Forum

hi guys, think my battery is goosed, bike is running awful even after an expensive service. had a chat with the fella that was doing her mot and he noted the battery was in poor condition so i charged it overnight and bike still not running right, so then i hooked her up to a spare car battery and just like magic she starts first time and idles much better. im not sure what the ammeter should sit at when riding so dont know for sure if its just a new battery i need or if i have a charging fault thats fried my battery. and advice please. thanks. wolf (2008 electra x)

Hi Wolf,


Do you mean an expensive service by a qualified motorcycle mechanic. If so you were robbed and I should demand my money back. If some backstreet cowboy, publish his name...


Seems like you should replace the battery anyway. When the battery is fully charged, the ammeter needle hardly deflects from center, but after you stop at the traffic lights with the engine ticking over and your lights on, it will show a quite possitive charge that quickly drops back to normal. otherwise,you may have a faulty regulator.


Cheers 

Hello Wolf ----------- we must stop meeting like this !!! Ho--Ho.  Could you be a bit more accurate with your descriptions please ??  You say the battery is "fried"----do you mean it's become dry very suddenly?? Its an Electra X---so that's electronic ignition as standard. These are usually voltage sensative so a battery that's on its way out will start to show signs such as reduced ability to keep a full chage. As a rule of thumb----I usually reckon at 5 years to be the service life of the wet-cell type anyway. There's nothing magic about the car battery's performance-----the bike is just responding to a better state of charge, that's all. I bet it's the original battery still on your bike ?? Out of interest how does the MoT examiner come to be commenting about the battery anyway?? The Ammeter only ever shows what's actually happening at that time---and these are very basic meters at best.  

hi trevorch thats exactly what my ammeter is doing, so that looks good, hi alan i was just talking to the mot guy bout the bikes poor running and he said to check out my battery as this could be my problem, think he got it spot on. wolf.

 Wolf


   I got 6 months out of my original Electra battery, replaced it with another wet cell battery, got another 6 months, bought a glass matt battery and never looked back. would never buy another wet cell battery and I usually buy 3 or 4 a year

thanks norm, yea i will go down that road and give the wet cell a miss, thanks. wolf.

Hi guys

Please pardon my ignorance - what is a "glass matt" battery? Sounds useful. And can you get them in the UK?

Cheers
TimG

Hi Tim, yes you can get these in the Uk.. just Google AGM battery ..
here is some some blurb on one of the websites..
AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) batteries are designed specifically for motorcycle use, incorporating robust construction and high cold cranking Amps (CCA) to ensure excellent starting particularly in cold conditions. Once fully charged they can be left for long periods without discharging or needing recharging. These are not to be confused with ordinary 'Gel batteries' which have to be charged as often as ordinary lead acid batteries.

Hemant