Having Difficulties with Battery or Electronics

phantom10 · Sep 17, 2014

My 2010 ST has had a rough patch this year. I purchased the bike new in 2012, it has about 11K miles on it and is 100% stock, no modifications. Went on a 2.5K mile journey to NY and back last summer. I let the bike sit for a month around the fall and it still started up good. Here is the story:

The battery died during the harsh Missouri winter temps down to -10F and was replaced under a battery warranty this spring with a WPS CTZ14S 12V 11.2Ah battery (not lying it's a discount battery and I thought this may be the culprit. Read a few threads about "discount" batteries). Dealership charged it up, installed it and I took it home. Let the bike sit for two weeks and the engine turned over, after a few harsh turn overs it made a loud "POP" noise and then had to have it towed to the dealership. It was unresponsive to even turning the key on after that

Checked all the fuses before they took it, none blown. They did a battery drain test, couldn't find any issues so I took the bike back home, it failed to start a few weeks later.

Dealership replaced battery with the same battery, I charged it on a Deliran 12V Battery Charger/Tender. Installed it in the bike, took a few trips down to the lake, about 80miles round trip. I figure the bike is good to go? I bring it to work the day after a 60 mile trip and it turns over, makes that terrible noise when you know it's not going to start, doesn't start. Took the battery out guessing it HAS to be the culprit, it reads 12.41V, very close to 100% charged! Now it's back on the battery tender and out of the bike.

Any suggestions or a helpful thread would be greatly appreciated. I am not that motivated to take it back to the dealership after paying and it came back with the same symptoms -_-

veefore · Sep 17, 2014

I'd bite the bullet and get the Yuasa.......

Avtrician · Sep 17, 2014

Unfortunately, voltage isnt an indicator of the health of a battery, unless the battery is under load. Put a multimeter on the battery, and measure the voltage when cranking. If its less than 10 volts, the battery capacity is low.

If your bike is often left for long periods without starting, then a battery tender should be connected. Lead acid batteries hate doing nothing.

970mike · Sep 17, 2014

First thing I would do is have the dealer get me a stock battery not some off brand one which they should have done as the bike is under warranty still. the ST's are hard on a good battery. Good luck.

st1300r · Sep 17, 2014

+1 on checking the battery voltage for state of charge and then checking the voltage while cranking to verify capacity. No load voltage only tells you half the story.
Check clean reinstall both ends of the battery leads simple cheap to do.

As long as you're in there disconnect the ground lead and measure no load drain on the battery. Should be 2.5mA or less.

What was the loud POP noise? Afterburn from the muffler?
Could be electrical either the battery or starter wire crimps or inside the battery.

When it died did any of the lights stay dimly lit with the key off?

jmcarruth · Sep 17, 2014

phantom10 said:
My 2010 ST has had a rough patch this year. I purchased the bike new in 2012, it has about 11K miles on it and is 100% stock, no modifications. Went on a 2.5K mile journey to NY and back last summer. I let the bike sit for a month around the fall and it still started up good. Here is the story:

The battery died during the harsh Missouri winter temps down to -10F and was replaced under a battery warranty this spring with a WPS CTZ14S 12V 11.2Ah battery (not lying it's a discount battery and I thought this may be the culprit. Read a few threads about "discount" batteries). Dealership charged it up, installed it and I took it home. Let the bike sit for two weeks and the engine turned over, after a few harsh turn overs it made a loud "POP" noise and then had to have it towed to the dealership. It was unresponsive to even turning the key on after that Checked all the fuses before they took it, none blown. They did a battery drain test, couldn't find any issues so I took the bike back home, it failed to start a few weeks later.

Dealership replaced battery with the same battery, I charged it on a Deliran 12V Battery Charger/Tender. Installed it in the bike, took a few trips down to the lake, about 80miles round trip. I figure the bike is good to go? I bring it to work the day after a 60 mile trip and it turns over, makes that terrible noise when you know it's not going to start, doesn't start. Took the battery out guessing it HAS to be the culprit, it reads 12.41V, very close to 100% charged! Now it's back on the battery tender and out of the bike.

Any suggestions or a helpful thread would be greatly appreciated. I am not that motivated to take it back to the dealership after paying and it came back with the same symptoms -_-

You need to have the battery load tested. I bet it will fail. Check your charging system too, while you are at it. It is probably OK.
Personally, I have not had good luck with either Yuashas or Scorpions. The replacement Yuashas are not at the same level of quality as OEMs in my experience with several Hondas. Scorpion AGMs have simply not been adequate in my ST1300.

In my opinion, the OEM battery size and capicity is inadequate for the ST1300. It pays to get the most powerful and durable battery out there that will fit.
ST1300s are hard on batteries anyway, especially with the heat they put out and power needs for starting cold. The physical size of the ST1300 battery is smaller than that of the ST1100 and it still must overcome higher compression and and a more powerful fuel pump when starting.

I have found that the best AGM replacement battery for ST1300s is the Power Sonic 230 CCA 12 AH PTZ14S. You can get them from the link below. You may be able to find them cheaper if you look hard enough.

http://www.batteryweb.com/motorcycle...m?model=PTZ14S

My last one lasted over 5 years. When I installed my newer one, I charged it up completely, THEN did TWO load tests, which it passed,THEN put it in the ST1300 and turned the switch on, it started instantly, cold. Ran the bike for five seconds, THEN shut off the engine and burned the high beams for two minutes.
The machine started instantly. Try this with a Scorpion and you will get nothing but clicks.

Once you get your new battery installed, put on a charger pigtail and keep it on a battery tender type device when not in use. Your battery will be much happier.

phantom10 · Sep 18, 2014

Thanks for the recommendations. I should have the bike home in a day or two and will post my results as well as the eventual cure, which will hopefully just be a battery. If it is, it will be stock or one recommended by ST owners here.

As for the POP noise, it was fast and came from the right side near the seat, battery, engine area. Checked all fuses, bike was completely unresponsive so had it towed. Dealership claimed 'it started up there and they found no issues.' I just hope it doesn't resurface later on as a real issue. Next year I am planning a summer trip to the Badlands Park so I need it to be 100% =)

Just ordered a Battery Bug to have in the long run. Everyone on this site helps so much.

:

roadriderg · Sep 18, 2014

Pop near the battery area?? Check all connections in that area. Especially the starter relay just behind the battery. Could be a weak contact on this. Check all connections on the starter, battery, ground and relay.
Pop could be a loose connection or contact under the heavy load of the starter. Indeed a puzzle.

A weak battery would cause the starter relay to buzz and not turn over.

Reginald · Sep 20, 2014

Yea, I loose my batteries more often than most folks on this forum. I once had a battery load tested and it came back with 75% and within the week a cell went out. When I first got my bike I kept charging my battery with a 1.5 amp tender. That tender destroyed three batteries by boiling them. Now I have a .75 amp tender and my battery lasted almost two years and it still failed on a trip. So now to avoid trouble on long trips I just get a new one at the start of the season for the last two years, I haven't had a failure since. Something about the heat here in Central Texas eats my small batteries; some will disagree with this but it's my experience. I've had the bike 7 years.

There's another factor to consider with these batteries, They require a slow charge to bring them up when new; mechanics have told me 24 hours. If a dealer charges it fast it will fail too soon.

st1300r · Sep 20, 2014

Are you using a tender or trickle charger?
1/10C tender should be fine for maintaining a battery. The deltran tender+ at 1.25a should be fine or the .75a junior.

.02 the dealer shouldn't have dead batteries needing a 24 charge before being put into service. A flat battery sitting shouldn't be allowed to happen.

Yeah heat cooks batteries. Cold exposes the wear.

Al Gully · Sep 20, 2014

Guys, I know I'm always promoting this device, but I find it really handy to know where the status of my battery is at.
You may want to pick one up if you always are wondering where your at with your battery.
My battery is coming up to a year old and it still puts out 75% life left on the screen.
It also has a volt meter, nice to know where your volts are at when you have your heated grips on, electric coat and stopped at a light with the brake lights on and the 2 rad fans running.
My previous battery was reading 16% life left! that was a good enough indicator to pick up a new battery before having a failure.
eBay still has a few left, easy to install

See the write ups below.

970mike · Sep 20, 2014

Here are some reviews on the battery bug, some like and some don't http://www.amazon.com/Argus-BB-SBM12-Battery-Starting-Monitor/product-reviews/B000NV7OBE

Al Gully · Sep 20, 2014

A couple of videos on the battery bug technology.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayya5kOMmyY

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KaBfw77J7fY

phantom10 · Sep 25, 2014

Al Gully said:
Guys, I know I'm always promoting this device, but I find it really handy to know where the status of my battery is at.
You may want to pick one up if you always are wondering where your at with your battery.
My battery is coming up to a year old and it still puts out 75% life left on the screen.
It also has a volt meter, nice to know where your volts are at when you have your heated grips on, electric coat and stopped at a light with the brake lights on and the 2 rad fans running.
My previous battery was reading 16% life left! that was a good enough indicator to pick up a new battery before having a failure.
eBay still has a few left, easy to install.

Ebay has 1 less Battery Bug. I'm going to give it a try, have a brand new stock battery installed by dealership and everything checked out good under the load test. It started with only one to two turns of the engine! Am going to install the battery bug this weekend and keep it on the tender when it sits. Now only time will tell. With this beautiful weather sticking around another week I think I'll go to Eureka Springs and cruise around next week

970mike · Sep 26, 2014

Nice that you got the problem taken care of. Enjoy your ride before the weather turns on you.

MrB · Sep 27, 2014

phantom10 said:
Dealership claimed 'it started up there and they found no issues.'

We can all be wrong, when so we can learn something or blame it on someone/something else. Your now-fixed bike shows they may need a better understanding of testing batteries.
Fingers crossed we don't get more of that -10 garbage this year!

Having Difficulties with Battery or Electronics

phantom10

veefore

See you at my intervention!

Avtrician

970mike

Mike Brown

st1300r

jmcarruth

phantom10

roadriderg

Reginald

cyclepoke

st1300r

Al Gully

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970mike

Mike Brown

Al Gully

phantom10

970mike

Mike Brown

MrB