Intermittent Starter Stall, Looking for Ideas

[sraney]

My 2001 B12 has begun to stall out occasionally when starting.  I haven't done much trouble shooting yet, so I only have basic data at this point.  However, on the off chance someone else has seen something similar, I'll go ahead and post early and solicit ideas.

Symptoms:  Both cold and hot, sometimes hit starter and it stalls out, can't turn the engine.  Drags battery down so far that the clock loses its setting.  Try again, same thing (wait, it's not what you think).  Put on battery tender for 15 minutes, and it spins its little heart out.

Conditions:

1.  New battery (11/2016).
2.  Battery takes and holds charge (~13.2 VDC, ~12.8-12.9 VDC a few days after full charge while installed in cycle).
3.  Typical cranking voltage (i.e., when it cranks) 9.6-9.8 VDC.
4.  Voltage at terminals with engine running ~13.9-14.2 VDC, ~3000 rpm.
5.  Low mileage bike, ~10,000, no accessories or modifications.

Naturally, I first thought of some kind of battery or charging system problem, but now I'm not so sure.  If it's not the battery or charging system, what is it?  Anybody ever had something similar?

Thanks for your thoughts.

[asskickinpeanuts]

Starter?
One thought, try running a bigger gauge wire to the starter motor.  Just a thought.

[sraney]

Update:  Now it looks like it may have been the obvious battery problem after all, notwithstanding it's a relatively new battery.  The tester at a local shop yesterday showed good voltage, but only 90 out of 170 CCA when fully charged.  That qualifies as "bad" on the tester, so perhaps it's just a bad cell on a new battery after all.  We'll see what the warranty replacement battery does in a couple of weeks....

[asskickinpeanuts]

Had a SG1100GK.  New battery, charged overnight, went on a trip.  Regulator/rectifier died (I was told) miles from home.  The reason I was given was the battery!  Shop put on a used R/R to get me home, charged the battery, everything was fine after.  So who lnows.

[sraney]

Well, the new battery seems to have solved the problem.  Note to self:  Even though the battery tender brings on the green light, and the voltage holds at 13.2, the battery can still be bad.  (Cranking voltage just above the 9.5 minimum called out on the Yuasa web site.)

As I think back, I suspect the cell was bad when I installed the new battery, but I just couldn't think of that possibility since I'd never had that happen before.  The local shop load tester did the trick.  Chrome battery replaced it with no hassle (though it did take about 10 days for RMA processing and mail turnaround).  Hope my experience is useful to someone else.

[Smoky14]

Had the same problem with a two season old Yuasa good voltage but no capacity. Talked to Yuasa and they blamed my charging system
The original battery lasted 9 years no problems the Yuasa replacement not so long; seems like Japan builds a better battery.
I just got a cheap one and will give it a try, can't be much worse than Yuasa.
Smoky