Trouble starting.. Bad battery? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Trouble starting.. Bad battery?

xwilliams23

xwilliams23

Active member
My bike. (1988 cbr600 hurricane) was able to start when I got it. (Last week). It's been in my garage. And I've started it and let it run 3-5 times. One time I tried to start and it just wouldn't. The starter would turn but kinda slowly and the lights on the cluster would sort of dim out when I hit the starter.
So I bump start it and ride it around for a good 5-10 minutes but once I turn it off and try and start it again it does the same thing. And will not start. can anyone tell what's wrong?
 
10 minutes isn't enough to recharge a dead battery. You need at least an hour of riding (sometimes more) to charge the battery. At idle, many bikes do not charge the battery (and some probably actually discharge the battery).

It doesn't hurt to put in a new battery, but your current battery may not be as bad as you think, it just may have been the usage cycle continuously draining it. Charge the battery with a charger.
 
GreyGhost said:
10 minutes isn't enough to recharge a dead battery. You need at least an hour of riding (sometimes more) to charge the battery. At idle, many bikes do not charge the battery (and some probably actually discharge the battery).

It doesn't hurt to put in a new battery, but your current battery may not be as bad as you think, it just may have been the usage cycle continuously draining it. Charge the battery with a charger.
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Got! Thanks I'll try that. I'll also try bumo starting it then going for a nice long ride.
Also my cluster has a little digital clock that always stays on. (Even when bike is turned off) how bad is that for the battery?
 
xwilliams23 said:
Got! Thanks I'll try that. I'll also try bumo starting it then going for a nice long ride.
Also my cluster has a little digital clock that always stays on. (Even when bike is turned off) how bad is that for the battery?
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Not bad. The bike was designed with that clock. Think of how small a digital watch battery is and how long it lasts. The amount of current it draws is insignificant.

I would consider buying a digital multimeter. You can grab them for about $10 and it will tell you the voltage of your battery, so you can understand how much power it has and if it's within acceptable limits. It's a useful tool for any bike owner to have.

Also you will want to look into a battery tender if you don't already have one and aren't paying someone to store the bike for you. You'll want to take the battery out over the winter (especially if the bike is being stored somewhere that isn't heated) and keep it charged up on the tender over the winter.
 
spray____ said:
Not bad. The bike was designed with that clock. Think of how small a digital watch battery is and how long it lasts. The amount of current it draws is insignificant.

I would consider buying a digital multimeter. You can grab them for about $10 and it will tell you the voltage of your battery, so you can understand how much power it has and if it's within acceptable limits. It's a useful tool for any bike owner to have.

Also you will want to look into a battery tender if you don't already have one and aren't paying someone to store the bike for you. You'll want to take the battery out over the winter (especially if the bike is being stored somewhere that isn't heated) and keep it charged up on the tender over the winter.
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Well it is a custom cluster actually but thanks for the awnser. I will probably go get those today. as I was going to get a battery tender anyway to winterize my bike
 
Oh, well in that case I'm not sure. It could be slowly draining your battery. I used to have a bike with a cheap alarm and if I didn't run it for about a week the battery would be low enough that it would struggle to start.

A multimeter would help answer that question. The voltage will read misleadingly high right after you shut the bike off, but check it about an hour later and you'll get a good reading. Then you can check it every day or two and see if it's discharging your battery.
 
spray____ said:
Oh, well in that case I'm not sure. It could be slowly draining your battery. I used to have a bike with a cheap alarm and if I didn't run it for about a week the battery would be low enough that it would struggle to start.

A multimeter would help answer that question. The voltage will read misleadingly high right after you shut the bike off, but check it about an hour later and you'll get a good reading. Then you can check it every day or two and see if it's discharging your battery.
Click to expand...
Oh okay thank you I'll do those checks!
 
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