Dont know what's wrong

[LFReason]

Hi all,

Just curious on if anyone can explain to me what happened/is happening/if anything is wrong with my bike.

Scenario:
I went for a ride in the morning 5:30a and the bike was running fine.
I stopped for an hour and a half at a beach. The bike was still fine.
I started the bike around 8a. The bike was fine.
Five minutes into the ride I noticed that the check engine light was on.
I was worried so I started pulling over. Im glad I did because all of a sudden my console that shows the mph went blank. The engine was still running.
I stopped the engine.
I tried restarting the bike. Check engine light was on. Bike wont start. Enough power for the accessories to light up.
I had the bike towed home.
8 hours of work later.
I came home and restarted the bike. Bike started ok. Check engine light was on for 10 seconds and then turned off.
I turned off the bike.
Restarted the bike, and the check engine light didnt come on this time around.

Can anyone shed some light on what happened and if I should be worried?
Also, recommended steps for me to take from here?

Additional information, new battery added just last week.

Thank you for all of your input. And I will try to reply as soon as I can for any clarification questions or anything that might help.

Thank you again!

 

[Scott_Thomas]

Hi all,

Just curious on if anyone can explain to me what happened/is happening/if anything is wrong with my bike.

Scenario:
I went for a ride in the morning 5:30a and the bike was running fine.
I stopped for an hour and a half at a beach. The bike was still fine.
I started the bike around 8a. The bike was fine.
Five minutes into the ride I noticed that the check engine light was on.
I was worried so I started pulling over. Im glad I did because all of a sudden my console that shows the mph went blank. The engine was still running.
I stopped the engine.
I tried restarting the bike. Check engine light was on. Bike wont start. Enough power for the accessories to light up.
I had the bike towed home.
8 hours of work later.
I came home and restarted the bike. Bike started ok. Check engine light was on for 10 seconds and then turned off.
I turned off the bike.
Restarted the bike, and the check engine light didnt come on this time around.

Can anyone shed some light on what happened and if I should be worried?
Also, recommended steps for me to take from here?

Additional information, new battery added just last week.

Thank you for all of your input. And I will try to reply as soon as I can for any clarification questions or anything that might help.

Thank you again!

I'm guessing you didn't get any error codes? Sounds weird, if you didn't say you changed the battery that would've been my first thought. Could be a lose connection somewhere. Hopefully someone can shed more light on this.

 

[Blue-Sun]

I have two thoughts...
(1)
Could it be a "bad" new battery??

Can you check the voltage of the battery with a multi meter??

(2)
Connections at the new battery are dirty or loose?? (as mentioned above)

Clean and tighten connections at the battery.
(I had the ground connection on my truck battery back off and loosen, I scratched my head trying to figure out why the terminal backed off from the battery, but never came up with a reason... Just cleaned it and reattached)

Just my two cents...

Best of luck.

 

[abyss1406]

Sounds like a loose connection.

 

[latony007]

I was going to say battery too until I saw you replaced it, loose connection certainly a good place to start. It certainly sounds electrical in some manner.

 

[buzzbomb]

OK. I'm no guru, but check my logic. The bike was fine until you installed the new battery. After installation, given time for the battery to run down, you've got minimal electrical power.

If we're checked so far? I'd say either you didn't tighten the wires on the posts enough, or you've got a wire that is no longer attached.

Don't feel dumb. Get up in there and look for a connection that was missed. Strangely enough, a run down battery will actually gain a little juice, given time.

If something is loose or missing, your battery just isn't charging. Honestly, that's the most likely scenario I can think of.

 

[LFReason]

OK. I'm no guru, but check my logic. The bike was fine until you installed the new battery. After installation, given time for the battery to run down, you've got minimal electrical power.

If we're checked so far? I'd say either you didn't tighten the wires on the posts enough, or you've got a wire that is no longer attached.

Don't feel dumb. Get up in there and look for a connection that was missed. Strangely enough, a run down battery will actually gain a little juice, given time.

If something is loose or missing, your battery just isn't charging. Honestly, that's the most likely scenario I can think of.

I think you're right that my battery isnt charging. The only two connections the batter are the red and black wires right? A kind bike shop nearby recharged the battery for me. One week later, I'm back in the same situation. Hahah

A guy at a bike shop also suggested that my short commute to work and back might not be a long enough time for the battery to recharge. Is there a minimum amount of time for my bike ride to offset the amount of charge used to start the bike?

Thank you thank you thank you everyone!

 

[Insure Gal]

Get yourself a battery tender and permanently attach the leads to make it convienient to plug in the bike and unplug instantly when coming or going

 

[latony007]

I think you're right that my battery isnt charging. The only two connections the batter are the red and black wires right? A kind bike shop nearby recharged the battery for me. One week later, I'm back in the same situation. Hahah

A guy at a bike shop also suggested that my short commute to work and back might not be a long enough time for the battery to recharge. Is there a minimum amount of time for my bike ride to offset the amount of charge used to start the bike?

Thank you thank you thank you everyone!

im not buying that one, unless you commute is across the street. I would def. put it on a tender though. I have both my bikes on tenders all the time and thats with riding them both every weekend.

 

[dart1963]

I think you're right that my battery isnt charging. The only two connections the batter are the red and black wires right? A kind bike shop nearby recharged the battery for me. One week later, I'm back in the same situation. Hahah

A guy at a bike shop also suggested that my short commute to work and back might not be a long enough time for the battery to recharge. Is there a minimum amount of time for my bike ride to offset the amount of charge used to start the bike?

Thank you thank you thank you everyone!

bike doesn't start charging until about 5K rpm... just make sure you keep up the revs or yeah, it isn't getting a charge...

battery tender is a good thing for piece of mind... I got the "jr" which is more just for maintenance than charging a dead battery (though it did just fine over this long winter when my kids unplugged my extension cord and had no charge on it... brought it right back)

 

[latony007]

bike doesn't start charging until about 5K rpm... just make sure you keep up the revs or yeah, it isn't getting a charge...

battery tender is a good thing for piece of mind... I got the "jr" which is more just for maintenance than charging a dead battery (though it did just fine over this long winter when my kids unplugged my extension cord and had no charge on it... brought it right back)

i have the jr. too, 2 of them. i just love looking over on the wall and seeing those 2 green lights, makes me thinks all is ok

supposedly takes about 50 cents worth of power per month to keep them plugged in. Someone posted all the math on it.

 

[SixRFixR]

bike doesn't start charging until about 5K rpm...

I temporarily mounted a voltmeter to my bike when I first got some heated clothing just to check the drain. The bike was charging at anything off idle, so it's more like it starts charging at 2K than 5K.