2001 Vulcan 750 Battery Problem?

Hello Everyone.

I own a 2001 Vulcan 750. I went out this morning and tried to start it,
after only sitting for a couple day and it acted like the battery was dead,
just clicked once and everything went dead. This evening, I cleaned the
terminals and jump started it. I started right up. I let it run for about
15 minute, then took it for a quick ride. Within 1 mile of the house, all
of a sudden, it lost all power, looked like I lost most of the
electrical.Funny thing was, when I wasnt giving it any throttle, the lights
were brighter. I looked at the RPM gage and it was jumping from 3000 to
7000 rpms, but the engine wasnt doing that, it was lopping. Finally it
died. I got it towed home and checked the battery with a DVM. After
sitting for about 10 minutes, the voltages was 12.25, but trying to start
it, it dropped
to about 6 volts. Could a bad battery do all that happened to the bike or
is something else in the works. I am going to take the battery down
tomorrow to get it checked out, but have a feeling they will tell me it is
bad, but not sure if that is the finally answer. Hate to go on a long ride
and it dies on me again.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Richard

 

Richard, it is not at all unusual for a motorcycle battery to turn to toast
in two to three years. I've never had one last more than about 30 months,
if memory serves. Do you keep it properly filled and on a battery tender
when not riding regularly? I needed to replace the battery in my 2000 BMW
at exactly two years - and I ride quite a bit.

You're lucky you discovered your dead battery in your garage instead of,
say, down in the Big Bend with the temperatures at 110 degrees...LOL

Bill1100 - Dallas, TX
2000 BMW R1100RT

 

electronic tach will do that when the voltage is irregular/low, the
charging system is straining to charge a battery that won't hold juice
and the voltages for the systems are marginal. makes for funny stuff
happening.

i want to say the battery should be closer to 14V at full charge.

the battery isn t going to regain electricity by just sitting, the
energy to recharge it has to come from somewhere as in a battery charger
or the elec. system on the bike. it dropping to 6V that quickly shows
you've got dead cells that won't hold a charge. batteries will croak
with little warning this time of year, the heat gets to them. a 2 year
old battery is probably due for a change, especially if it sat for
periods without being charged up by riding or hooked to a battery tender.

the rule of thumb i've understood is a ~1% loss of charge for each day
sitting idle. age and heat then combine to reduce the capacity of the
charge it can hold. even maintained, batteries still go after a while,
it's a regular replacement item like tires. just replaced a 3 year old
battery on a ford truck a couple of weeks ago, had the same symptoms as
your bike. runs like a champ now.

simply amazing, aint it... if it was a flashlite, you'd replace the
batteries and never give it a second thought...

--
jm

'73 R75/5 Toaster (not for sale)
'99 R1100RT (in use)
'00 FLHRCI (sold!)
IBA, EIEIO, IOU, PDQ etc blah blah

 

I ride a 800 Vulcan.. '96 model.. My battery is the no maintenance and
dry cell type.. Last year the electrical problems commenced and since
the battery was original equipment, I immediately changed it.. That's
a lot of years for a motorcycle battery.. Never had that kind of
service for a battery before.. Then we went to Austin for the ROT
rally and it was an all day hard run since we drifted down through the
back highways.. That night during the stage out for the parade of
bikes, while sitting at an idle for an extended time.. Clonk.. my
engine died and the battery was dead as a hammer.. Push started and
made it back to the motel.. Next morning, still dead battery.. I was
mad as hell because my brand new battery "died" on me within two weeks
of installing it.. Got it into Woods and their tech took a look at
it.. After a good quick charge on the battery and tightening the
terminals, I was on my way.. No problems since.. Don't just jump and
buy another battery until you have explored all possiblities..

Your friend in Irving
Bill Walker

 

I took the battery to woods and their test machine showed it had a bad cell
in it. So I bought a new one. Now it will be time for the test. Hopefully
it all works out..

Thanks everyone

 

Well, new battery in and the bike starts and runs good. I checked the
charging circuit and it is reading 14.5 vs. So now the test, a ride

Talk to yall soon
Richard