[Drummerofthedale]

I've been having some rough starts lately, where I've had to lay hands on my 1800R and ask for divine intervention. Luckily I haven't had to push it very far...yet. I'm thinking I just need a new battery, but was hoping someone could confirm it for me. In the past week I've done 3 separate rides, consisting of about 150 miles each. I assumed that my battery would have plenty of charge in it after all the time spent with the alternator on, but midway through the week it's been intermittently struggling to start. Is it possible that my starter is going out?

When I put a meter on my battery today it read 12.82, which doesn't quite meet the definition of "undercharged."
:-?

Feather in the cap is that as I'm writing this, I've attempted several "on-start-off, on-start-off" sequences, and now I can't get it to struggle or fail.

 

[Chicago-Spike]

1. Tighten the battery connections

 

[jjohn2308]

:agree: i agree with spike . i had problems like that-plus cutting out-buck-jerk on acell. battery cables will work themself loose:thumbup:

 

[NAPHZA]

:agree::agree:Tighten cables.

 

[Battman]

how old is the battery

How old is the battery

 

[Drummerofthedale]

How old is the battery

This is a 2002 vtx1800, purchased about a year and a half ago. It appears to have the original battery in it. How in the .... would it last that long. I dunno... I do know that I bought it with less than 5 thousand miles on it, and it sat in a garage for several years...lonely....and unloved. Probably time for a new battery regardless of the outcome of the connections.

ALSO....I have noticed the "out-buck-jerk" on acell....I thought it was transmission related, but now that I think about it that makes more sense. Thanks team.

Adam

 

[Drummerofthedale]

update...

I took the battery out and cleaned it up...low and behold it's an aftermarket battery. Dirty...Cleaned off the terminals and retightened. We'll see how she holds tomorrow. I'm gonna check the chassis ground as well, as I suspect it could be less than stellar

 

[tnvnl]

The best thing you can do is toss it and get the OEM Yuasa battery, and have many yeas of trouble free service.

 

[biker.chef]

Be aware the the starter switch on this bike can give problems that feel a lot
like a bad battery.
Here is a post on how to "fix" it. (The Valkyrie switch is the same as the VTX)
http://www.rattlebars.com/mtz/starter.html

 

[dhillis]

This is a 2002 vtx1800, purchased about a year and a half ago. It appears to have the original battery in it. How in the .... would it last that long. I dunno... I do know that I bought it with less than 5 thousand miles on it, and it sat in a garage for several years...lonely....and unloved. Probably time for a new battery regardless of the outcome of the connections.

ALSO....I have noticed the "out-buck-jerk" on acell....I thought it was transmission related, but now that I think about it that makes more sense. Thanks team.

Adam

Hey I have an 02 C 165,000 K on the original battery - some times it is slow to turn over but hasn't let me down yet. Tighten the battery cables and keep as much of the "stealers" profit in your pocket.

Dennis

 

[bikealoticus]

i have an 02c, with original battery, i plug it into a tender every night before bed. works fine, fails safe......

 

[biker.chef]

Hey I have an 02 C 165,000 K on the original battery - some times it is slow to turn over but hasn't let me down yet. Tighten the battery cables and keep as much of the "stealers" profit in your pocket.

Dennis

That over 100,000 miles! :congrats:

I have an 03 with only 42,000 miles but I still use the original battery.
Some guys talk about getting a new battery ... just in case. Seems like a waste to me.

 

[callen0942]

take your battery to get load tested.