Ran fine, then quit??!!

[xprof]

This morning my bike ran fine; in fact, I was bubbling to my wife at lunch about how well it was running. Afternoon I head for work, turn the key, no sweep, no nothing. The bike has only been sitting about an hour, maybe two, max. I put it on the Battery Tender and took the truck to work. 6 hrs on the BT and still nothing, zero, zip. I plan to leave it on the BT overnight, and if no joy in the morning, switch the BT to my old AGM battery for 6 hrs or so, then swap batteries and see if that helps. I live 60 miles from the nearest dealer, and I have no trailer. That's a long push...

Any ideas? Am I doing something wrong? Something I should try? Something I didn't think of? This has NEVER happened to me before!

[zackvis]

Take a mustimeter and test battery .if it reads 12v or higher it should be ok .then leave the meter on and switch the bike on the voltage should still be 11 volt plus.if it dips to lower than say 10volts when you switch the bike on it is stuffed.if the battery is ok .start checking fuses and connections.
hope this helps

[dbrick]

Mike,

I too suspect the battery; sudden complete battery death (usually a physical fracture inside the battery case that breaks the electrical path) is possible with any battery.

In the meantime, try a jump-start from the truck, a known good 12v source. If the instruments dance, and the bike starts, you know the battery that's installed in the bike is history.

Last May, my R12R's second BMW/Exide began getting weak. I'd had a series of Odysseys in my prior Oilhead, but thought I'd try something different. On eBay, I bought a Yuasa Motocross YTX14H-BS Powersports Battery, an AGM, for $63 delivered. The bike springs to life very briskly, and I'm quite pleased.

[SDMAX2]

Probably gotta be the battery; a battery tender will not bring a bad battery back to life. BT does not put out enough to bring battery up to over 13 volts where it needs to be at full charge; 12 volts flat is nearly dead. With key on and BT disconnected there has to be a strong 12.4 at least to get it moving. Jump from the truck will tell you what you need to know. Good luck. John

[mogu83]

If you jump from a car/trunk or any other high amperage source be careful not to crank the engine too long. The wiring isn't designed for the high amperage that the average car/truck battery is capable of, if it doesn't start in 5 seconds stop, it's safest to let it set for a while before trying again.
BTW: Unless you added some aftermarket wiring you'll have a hard time finding a fuse in a R1200R.

[xprof]

Thanks, team, that's what it was: "sudden battery death". A trip by the dealer, a new battery, and all is restored. Funny thing that I never experienced it before! Just lucky, I guess...

[mogu83]

That's the way these new AGM batteries go. Good one minute and dead the next, no warning. I'm noticing the new ION type batteries for battery powered tools go the same way, no warning - they just stop working. Welcome to the 21th century.

[xprof]

Actually, this one was a Shorai lithium, quite pricey, and I only got 3 years out of it. I replaced it with a BMW AGM, only because that was what was immediately available to me. I don't much care; for me if it starts the bike it is OK.

[Steve H.]

Just after a year and a half,my battery went weak i.e. hard starting.Fortunatelly the dealer replaced it -no charge,bike is under warranty-.Now it fires up like a machinegun.New batry is BMW OM.But...it is white colour,not black as original batery was.I don't know is there any difference in bateries if the colour is different??

Steve H.from Northumberland,ON