[Vinish]

Many of us know that bad connections of wiring to battery is a common cause of a wide range of problems. I encountered this again this past weekend. A friend was out on a ride when her bike would not start after a stop somewhere. I was not on this ride. Friends that were with her diagnosed the problem as a bad battery so they bought a new one and installed it while out on the ride. The original problem was a bike that would not start. After the battery replacement, the problem was different - an intermittent loss of all electrical power to the bike. They had to get the bike towed back to my friend's house.

This past weekend I went to her house to see if I could fix the problem. When we turned the key and kill switches on, the headlight lit up. When we pressed the start button, the bike started but seemed to almost not start. While running, the dashboard lights were flickering on and off and the bike wanted to die. Only by revving it to high rpm could we keep it running. After the bike died, we could not get it to restart. When turning on the key, sometimes we would get power to the dash/headlight and sometimes not.

I looked at a bunch of things including fouled sparkplugs (they looked pretty clean), ECM wire integrity (no problems found), and spark from the plugs (inconclusive).

Finally, when trying to start the bike, I saw a weird flash of light from a spark in the battery compartment - that is, under the plastic battery compartment cover. I removed the plastic cover and quickly realized that the problem was with the battery connections. Whoever had installed the new battery had tightened the terminal bolts well. Unfortunately, these bolts were too long such that when tightened firmly, the bolts were bottoming out and not putting any force on the wire lugs through which the bolts passed. Both the positive and negative wires to the battery were circular loops through which the battery bolts passed but which were not actually tightened down against the battery terminals. This was very obvious as soon as I removed the battery cover so I am disappointed in the folks that installed the new battery. On the rare occasions where a connection was maintained long enough to start the bike, the vibration would cause the battery wire lugs to bounce around and make/lose contact with the battery in a rapid and repetitive manner. I got new shorter bolts, tightened these down such that the wire lugs were not tightly secured to the battery posts, and the bike started up and stayed running.

So let this serve as a lesson to others. If you are having any sort of electrical problem, the first thing to check is the security of the wire connections to the battery terminals. Even if someone else has told you that these were checked, do yourself a favor and check them again yourself.

 

[DadMan]

Thanks Vinish. One of the reasons that can happen is that the adding of non-stock wires to the battery terminal necessitates a longer bolt (I'm guilty as charged) and when they're not there, the bolt bottoms out. AKA make sure you didn't miss any terminal wires.

 

[Vinish]

While what you describe could happen, it was not what happened in this case. The new battery (bought on the road when bike died) was installed with the new long battery terminal bolts. The new battery would have fixed the problem on the road if they person installing it did a better job noticing that the bolts were bottoming out without tightening down on the wires. Unfortunately, they did NOT notice this and the bike had to be towed home which probably cost my friend a "pretty penny". My guess is that the new battery came with long and short bolts and, if it only had long bolts, it probably had a spacer that could be used to make the long bolts work.

Let this be a warning to anyone reading this. Tightening the battery terminal bolts is necessary but not sufficient. You also need to make sure that this bolt is tightening down on the wires.

 

[jjdonovan]

Many of us know that bad connections of wiring to battery is a common cause of a wide range of problems. I encountered this again this past weekend. A friend was out on a ride when her bike would not start after a stop somewhere. I was not on this ride. Friends that were with her diagnosed the problem as a bad battery so they bought a new one and installed it while out on the ride. The original problem was a bike that would not start. After the battery replacement, the problem was different - an intermittent loss of all electrical power to the bike. They had to get the bike towed back to my friend's house.

This past weekend I went to her house to see if I could fix the problem. When we turned the key and kill switches on, the headlight lit up. When we pressed the start button, the bike started but seemed to almost not start. While running, the dashboard lights were flickering on and off and the bike wanted to die. Only by revving it to high rpm could we keep it running. After the bike died, we could not get it to restart. When turning on the key, sometimes we would get power to the dash/headlight and sometimes not.

I looked at a bunch of things including fouled sparkplugs (they looked pretty clean), ECM wire integrity (no problems found), and spark from the plugs (inconclusive).

Finally, when trying to start the bike, I saw a weird flash of light from a spark in the battery compartment - that is, under the plastic battery compartment cover. I removed the plastic cover and quickly realized that the problem was with the battery connections. Whoever had installed the new battery had tightened the terminal bolts well. Unfortunately, these bolts were too long such that when tightened firmly, the bolts were bottoming out and not putting any force on the wire lugs through which the bolts passed. Both the positive and negative wires to the battery were circular loops through which the battery bolts passed but which were not actually tightened down against the battery terminals. This was very obvious as soon as I removed the battery cover so I am disappointed in the folks that installed the new battery. On the rare occasions where a connection was maintained long enough to start the bike, the vibration would cause the battery wire lugs to bounce around and make/lose contact with the battery in a rapid and repetitive manner. I got new shorter bolts, tightened these down such that the wire lugs were not tightly secured to the battery posts, and the bike started up and stayed running.

So let this serve as a lesson to others. If you are having any sort of electrical problem, the first thing to check is the security of the wire connections to the battery terminals. Even if someone else has told you that these were checked, do yourself a favor and check them again yourself.

As I always try to approach an unknown problem! am reminded too always do two, (2) things! First is K.I.S.S. Acronym for Keep It simple stupid!! It is not the off in outer space problem usually, more so it is something simple and overlooked. Secondly, when asked to, hey could you take a look at my bike because and I did ........... Stop them in mid sentence . Do not let them tell you what the tried to solve the problem. This action tends to taint the problem solving process for me! If you get boxed in and cannot find the solution ,ask for help ! Again this is just me..... K.I.S.S.!!!!

 

[PaXman11]

Thanks Vinish. One of the reasons that can happen is that the adding of non-stock wires to the battery terminal necessitates a longer bolt (I'm guilty as charged) and when they're not there, the bolt bottoms out. AKA make sure you didn't miss any terminal wires.

One great reason to run ONE hot wire from the battery, to a multi-circuit fuse block below the battery and under the left side cover to power all accessories. Eliminates clutter around the battery.

 

[Vinish]

One great reason to run ONE hot wire from the battery, to a multi-circuit fuse block below the battery and under the left side cover to power all accessories. Eliminates clutter around the battery.

This is exactly how this bike was configured. There were only two wires leading to the positive battery terminal. One was the stock bike wire and the other was a heavy gauge wire leading to a "multi-circuit fuse block". The issue was not wire clutter at the battery terminals. The issue was the use of batteru terminal bolts that were too long and bottomed out before they clamped down on these two wires. This coupled with inexperience by whoever installed the battery and the lack of checking their work to see that these wires were loose on the battery terminal was the cause of the problem.

Then, a few days later I spent three hours looking for more complex causes for the bike's problems because I made the mistaken assumption that whoever installed the battery terminal bolts did it correctly. This is the real lesson from this situation. Always check the battery bolts/wires as the first step in addressing any electrical problem.

 

[PaXman11]

This is exactly how this bike was configured. There were only two wires leading to the positive battery terminal. One was the stock bike wire and the other was a heavy gauge wire leading to a "multi-circuit fuse block". The issue was not wire clutter at the battery terminals. The issue was the use of batteru terminal bolts that were too long and bottomed out before they clamped down on these two wires. This coupled with inexperience by whoever installed the battery and the lack of checking their work to see that these wires were loose on the battery terminal was the cause of the problem.

Then, a few days later I spent three hours looking for more complex causes for the bike's problems because I made the mistaken assumption that whoever installed the battery terminal bolts did it correctly. This is the real lesson from this situation. Always check the battery bolts/wires as the first step in addressing any electrical problem.

Murphy's Law: If something can go wrong, it will.

 

[iridewithjc3024]

As I always try to approach an unknown problem! am reminded too always do two, (2) things! First is K.I.S.S. Acronym for Keep It simple stupid!! It is not the off in outer space problem usually, more so it is something simple and overlooked. Secondly, when asked to, hey could you take a look at my bike because and I did ........... Stop them in mid sentence . Do not let them tell you what the tried to solve the problem. This action tends to taint the problem solving process for me! If you get boxed in and cannot find the solution ,ask for help ! Again this is just me..... K.I.S.S.!!!!
[/Quote
I've Shot myself in the foot several times before I learned to K.I.S.S. It ! Even though it's got four letters, HELP is not a dirty word. Realistically even the best mechanic gets boxed in every now and then. Keep the shiny side up brother.