| Author | Message | ||
     Dmmblaze |
Hello everyone. Went to start the Uly today for the first time this year and all I get is a rapid clicking sound. Bike was on a battery tender all winter. Battery is relatively new and the connections were clean and tight. Pulled the battery and it has stayed at 12.9 volts when I test it with a ammeter. I am thinking I should clean all the grounds. Where are they all? Searching on here I came across "TT399 – December 17, 2008 -Buell Ulysses Ground Repair 2006 – 2009 " though there are no pictures and I am not sure if it covers all the grounds. I own a service manual and am wondering if it shows in detail all the grounds? Any knowledge or direction regarding my non starting potentially badly grounded bike would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. | ||
| Sayitaintso |
Even though it was on a tender it sounds like the battery is kaput. | ||
| Ratbuell |
What does voltage drop to when you hit the start button? | ||
| Union_man |
Put a jumper cable to a car battery. If it starts...it's probably your battery. | ||
| Dmmblaze |
Voltage drops to between 5 and 6 ratbuell. Must be the battery. I will try to jump it when I have time to ride it with a friend following me. I had the battery replaced under warranty in November 09. A many times older battery in my blast is still performing like a champ. Anyone think it could be the voltage regulator killing the batteries if not grounding issues? I was told by Saint Paul Harley that my battery was fine 11/09 but that the VR was kaput and so I took it to St. Croix harley since they had a VR in stock. They said my VR was fine and just replaced the battery... hmm | ||
| Sayitaintso |
I'm kinda ignorant when it comes to batteries but a thought occurred to me, is it possible that with the way the battery lays on its side (sort of) in conjunction with the vibrations of the Uly that the battery life is greatly reduced? (I'm just speculating here) | ||
| Dmmblaze |
Funny you say that Sayitaintso. A service guy at the Harley dealer in Baxter MN where I bought the bike said he thought that was a reason a lot of Buell's and v'rods have short battery life. | ||
| Ratbuell |
Kuryakyn voltmeter, thatll let you keep an eye on charging system status at all times. If you jump it from a car, MAKE SURE THE CAR IS NOT RUNNING. A running charging system will overload the bike. But my money is on the battery as well. And for what its worth...my 22k mile 06 Uly still has the battery they put in it on the assembly line. Sometimes you get good ones, sometimes not so good. | ||
| Dmmblaze |
Thanks for the tip Ratbuell. The manual is pretty vague under jump starting and makes no mention of having the car off when jump starting the Uly. Out of curiosity. How much of an overload potential is there if you were to jump with a car that was running? What could it damage? I have a "DieHard Portable Power 1150 Jump-Starter/AC-DC Power Source" I bought from sears. Think the 1150 peak amps could be an issue? | ||
| Froggy |
If the car is running, you will fry the voltage regulator. The way the charging system works on your Uly is that there are fixed magnets attached to the crack that generate electricity as they spin. The faster you spin, the more power they produce. There is no way to reduce power output when its not needed, so the voltage regulator comes in, and if your battery is charged and you have nowhere else to dump the extra power, it sends it to ground. A car has a real variable alternator, and it will increase or decrease the power output as needed. If your car is running and you go to jumpstart the bike, the power will make it to your voltage regulator. The regulator will shunt it, then the car will say "Hmm we are losing power, give it all shes got!". The regulator will eventually be overwhelmed and become damaged. | ||
| Dmmblaze |
That makes sense, thanks for the insight Froggy. I have never jumped a bike before, though I have jumped plenty of cars and I was taught to start the jumper car right before jumping the dead car. Learn something new every day. | ||
| 7873jake |
The "DieHard Portable Power 1150 Jump-Starter/AC-DC Power Source" (you) bought from sears" should be fine. In simplified form, the static battery (like one you might keep in your garage as a spare for jump-starting miscreant vehicles/mowers/etc or the one in the non-running car in this scenario) is not likely to wreak havoc. Peak amps means "if you need it or demand it, I could give it", not "I will blow your bike's charging system up." Crank the car and the betting odds change, like Froggy said above. I have two small, cheap WM batteries "in the wings" for use on things like jump-starting dead crap or building/testing DC circuits for lighting changes on the Buell or building wiring harnesses for other bikes I drag home. | ||
| Dmmblaze |
Thanks 7873jake. Hopefully it is just another bad battery which still seems strange since it's relatively new and has had a battery tender jr hooked up to it whenever it sat for more then a couple days. I still can't get past the thought that there is something else wrong with the bike causing the batteries to go bad though. | ||
| Union_man |
You do not want the car running when you jump the motorcycle. Sorry I wasn't more clear. With the car off you can jump your bike without injury to the bike. |
