Outdoor Wood Furnace Info
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Roger2561 on May 02, 2018, 04:05:50 AM
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Hi all - I have a 2007 Kawasaki Vulcan VN900 Classic LT. It's run great every year I've operated it. She has ~25,000 miles on her. I've maintained her per manual instruction (yes, I read the manual :) ) Anyway, early last week I took her out of storage, brought the battery from the basement in the house and tested the battery with a load tester. It "said" the battery was weak with the load applied. So, I pull out the battery charger and give it an hour of charge time. I again applied a load to the battery and it "said" it was good to go. So, I stuff it in my motorcycle, turn the key and she fires right up. Phew! When the weather breaks I can start riding again. Well, yesterday evening I decided to check to see if she would start. With the the weather to be in the low 80's and sunny I had plans on taking it to work. I put the key in her, turn it; the dash lights light come up as they should, the head light comes on nice and bright, the turn signals work as does the horn but the fuel pump only ran for about 1/2 the time it normally would before trying to start it. I pushed the start button and nothing, not even a clicking sound from the solenoid. Tonight I'm going to apply my load tester to see what it has to offer. If the battery checks out okay (it should, it's only 2 years old) where else would you suggest I look? Roger
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9 times out of 10 it's the battery. Just go buy a new one now. You're describing what sounds like a shorted cell in the battery.
Next winter, store the bike with the battery disconnected from the bike and the battery connected to a Battery Tender (float charger).
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9 times out of 10 it's the battery. Just go buy a new one now. You're describing what sounds like a shorted cell in the battery.
Next winter, store the bike with the battery disconnected from the bike and the battery connected to a Battery Tender (float charger).
justpaintballs - I tested the battery with my load tester earlier this evening and it showed under 9 volts, being Fuel injected, that's the definition of a dead battery. I hope the bike repair shop has one. The last time I looked around no in the immediate area had any in stock so I had to purchase it online; perhaps I got what I paid for. ;) I hear ya about the tender, I should have done that in the first place. Live and learn I guess. Roger
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Battery Tenders are awesome, in his younger days my Father had a Goldwing, only way he could get a battery to last more than a year was to keep it on a Battery Tender, even if it was just going to sit a week plug it in. Get an actual Battery Tender, lots of cheap knockoffs out there, but for what one of those crappy little batteries cost it’s worth paying extra for the name brand tender.
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Battery Tenders are awesome, in his younger days my Father had a Goldwing, only way he could get a better to last more than a year was to keep it on a Battery Tender, even if it was just going to sit a week plug it in. Get an actual Battery Tender, lots of cheap knockoffs out there, but for what one of those crappy little batteries cost it’s worth paying extra for the name brand tender.
These are a great tool for battery maintenance. Ive had one for 20+ years now. Rotate it every couple weeks between the RV, ATV, and boat batteries during the winter.
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Battery Tender brand is a good one. Don't discount Schumacher as a brand, either. They make good battery chargers and they do make float chargers just like Battery Tender. Wal-Mart carries Schumacher, or at least they used to.
This is the one I've been using for a while:
https://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SEM-1562A-CA-Charge-Battery-Maintainer/dp/B0009IBJAS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1525548985&sr=8-4&keywords=schumacher+battery
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Well, the battery is not the problem, it's brand new, fully charged and shows great voltage under a load. However, the motorcycle still will not turn over. I put the load tester on the battery while it was installed in the bike, turn the key and there wasn't any voltage drop when I pressed the start button. The weird thing is, at least with the bike, usually when I turned the key to the on position I always heard what is best described as a humming sound. My guess is it's either fuel pump priming itself or the injector pump coming up to pressure. Now, I only hear the noise for a very brief moment, maybe a half second, normally it makes it the humming noise for about 2 or 3 seconds. Your thoughts and suggestions are always welcome. Roger
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My buddy has the exact same bike and had the same problem last year. We took the starter push button apart on the handlebar and cleaned it. It was a dirty push button that wouldn't contact properly. No problems since.
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My buddy has the exact same bike and had the same problem last year. We took the starter push button apart on the handlebar and cleaned it. It was a dirty push button that wouldn't contact properly. No problems since.
Thanks for the tip. A co-worker of mine used to be a mechanic in his former life and mentioned to me that connections are usually the problem or a faulty fuse or relay. He's leaning toward to the relay giving the finger. Roger
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Finally found the problem; the connections on the starter relay were very corroded to the point they were covered with rust. I grabbed some emory cloth and shined them really good. She's running as she should now. Thanks all for the suggestions and helpful tips. I appreciate it very much. Now, if only I had time to ride. :-\ Roger