Dead cells in my OEM battery?

[Gadfly]

Had a bit of an issue on the bike at work the other day. Rode in started up fine it was 75 degrees F, got off of work the next morning it was 50 degrees F. The bike didn't want to start, it was like I didn't have the cold cranking amps to turn it over.

I had this problem earlier in the summer and put it on a tender only to show me that the battery was fully charged. So I took the battery to the dealer and they threw it on their charger for a few hours and when I picked up the charged battery it was substantially heavier than when I brought it in put it in the bike and it started up just fine and has been starting up just fine since that time until this last instance, luckily had some fellow co-worker bikers give me a push to clutch start it to get it home. Later that day went out and the bike started right up like nothing was wrong. Went to start it today and it would try and turn over once and that was it.

My question to you more well versed mechanical guys is. Is it my battery? Would a new battery hopefully solve the problem? Should I look for a battery with higher CCA? Finally, is this a common problem with motorcycles?

I checked the fuses to the starter and wires, all are good with no visible issues. My bike is brand new 1600 miles all by me, and all services are done on it. Any help or insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Trinith]

Take it to an Autozone or some other auto parts store and ask them to test it. They'll be able to tell you if it's got a dead cell or not, but it sounds like it does. It's doing what one of mine did a few years ago and that's exactly what was wrong with it.

 

[Stenno]

A new battery might solve the issue, but thats only if it is actually the battery, no surprises there! However it could be the alternator or reg/rec failing. You ideally want to test if its actually being charged first, at running temp it should be about 15V roughly. If so then it may well be your battery!


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[Trinith]

A new battery might solve the issue, but thats only if it is actually the battery, no surprises there! However it could be the alternator or reg/rec failing. You ideally want to test if its actually being charged first, at running temp it should be about 15V roughly.

Absolutely true, but I think you meant "at running speed" rather than temp. The temperature of the alternator doesn't make any difference, but how fast it's spinning does.

Most of the manuals I've seen mention testing the charge voltage at 5000rpm. The actual output will vary from vehicle to vehicle, but anything over 13 should be fine. 15 might actually be a little high.

 

[Gadfly]

Well it was a dead cell in my battery. I put it on a battery tender and 30 seconds into it charging I got a fault indicator. I'm pretty glad that the problem is solved, but it sucks that it isn't covered by my warranty.

 

[TrailChaser]

Most batteries from an auto parts store will have a couple of years free replacement warranty, but that may only be for car/truck batteries.
Try to never let your battery go completely dead,(unless it's a deep cycle) and check to see if it has removable caps on top. If so you should check the water/acid level every couple of oil changes and refill any cells that lost water. Noting that your battery acid will be slightly diluted.(not a huge problem)

Most "bad" batteries are actually not "bad"... They just get their plates covered in sulfate crystals that hardened. If you can get your battery desulfated and add fresh sulfuric acid it will be good as new for about $10.

If you keep your battery on a tender all the time it will last years longer because the sulfate crystals don't get a chance to harden on the plates.

Here's a pic of my setup. If I forget to unplug it... It'll just unplug itself as I pull away.

 

[Holy Diver]

Try getting a battery tender when you get this batt situation resolved and you will be amazed how long your batt will last, I am still on my factory battery on my 2004 Yamaha thanks to a tender that's 8 years and still going strong!!