Bike won't start, battery good.

[Peteinnit]

Hi all,

Just brought my bike out for the summer and all was good. I went for 150 mile ride, got back to my garage, left it on the road not running, but ignition and lights on for 5 minutes whilst I opened the door, went to start it and got nothing except the clicks you get when the battery is dead. It wouldn't turn over, just click click click. Assumed the battery had dumped it's charge for some reason, but just put my battery on charge and it's full. Did a multimeter check and got 12.94 reading. I'm gonna check the fuses/wiring first thing tomorrow, but just wondering if anyone might have any suggestions. Just seems strange that it just stopped like that.

 

Any advice much appreciated.

 

Cheers, 

Peter

[onesea]

My first thought is try jump pack or jump start. 

 

Batteries can have voltage but no current to turn it over. 

 

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

As @oneseasaid....the battery voltage doesn't tell you how much charge is in the battery. If you left it with lights on for 5 minutes it has drained the charge. 

 

 

[Peteinnit]

Despite the charger telling me the battery was good, I left it on charge overnight and it started first time when I reconnected. Another lesson learnt :-). Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.

[onesea]

45 minutes ago, Peteinnit said:

Despite the charger telling me the battery was good, I left it on charge overnight and it started first time when I reconnected. Another lesson learnt :-). Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.

I would still be very aware of today battery, how old is it?  Could be battery on the way out.

[Peteinnit]

2, 3 years max. I will keep an eye on it though. Cheers

[RideWithStyles]

Give us help-  What bike, year, service history?

A weak battery first, then possibly reg rectifier.

 

I’m noting saying it is but it’s not the sole reason to believe so the charger put nothing in but said 12.9 v?
ThT doesn’t mean the battery isn’t goosed, it might say it is but has suffered a stoke and has as much might for the starter motor as a wet fart.

If its a triple they need a good battery, wiring and no corrosion in the wiring or starter and stator struggles.

If the fuse had gone for the electrics directly for say Relay, starter motor etc it wouldn’t even click.

so id go for the first few things, wiring, relay, starter. 

[Tinkicker]

As a battery ages, it's capacity reduces, right until the time it cannot produce enough current to start the bike.

 

Think of standing under a bucket with holes in it.  It is filled with water at 40 degrees.  You get a great shower.

 

Imagine that bucket half full.  You get a reasonable 40 degree shower.

 

Think of that bucket with a teacup of 40 degree water in it.  The water is just as warm, but you will not get a shower out of it.  The temp is the voltage. The available current is the volume available

[Hairsy]

Fantastic analogy. I’ll credit you when I use it!

[Mississippi Bullfrog]

Right....so you take a bucket, fill it full of battery acid, drill some holes in it, and the bike ought to start? 

[Tinkicker]

15 hours ago, Mississippi Bullfrog said:

Right....so you take a bucket, fill it full of battery acid, drill some holes in it, and the bike ought to start? 

Dunno. 

Since you are volunteering to give it a go in the name of science...

Just don't wear cotton undercrackers.  There are some sights that cannot be unseen.