Author Topic: my battery finally gave up. (Read 3195 times)

theroamr · « **on:** June 13, 2006, 07:41:20 PM »

I had my 98 b-12 battery finally die. I just pulled in home and it would not re-start. It had given me a few clues with some slow turn over starts recently so I wasnt surprised. My question is does the bike run off the alternator? Or does it run off the battery while the alterator charges the battery? Im asking this to figure out if a bandit can be push started and run with a dead battery in an emergency situation? I bought the new battery and it fired right up. Im just a little worried that maybe my charging system might be bad and dont want to get stuck far from home if the alterantor is bad.

tannerismyhero · « **Reply #1 on:** June 14, 2006, 01:53:02 AM »

I don't know the specifics of the gen 1's but here is what I would think. It should run off the alternator becuase those are ment to run the bike and charge the battery off the engines power. otherwise if you were running off the battery there is only so far you'd be able to go without a recharge. If your charging system was to go bad you would end up running off the battery till the battery was drained then the lights would dim and the bandito would not go till you were to get the battery charged up from an outside source to get you limping back home or you push it to the nearest garage and tear it down. If you are concerned about the charging system I am sure that youd be able to find a dealer that could hook your bike up to a machine that basically they take the charging system and put it under load to see what kinda juice the charging system try's to put back in. I had this done to my ford escort about 2 years ago...Midas wanted 600 bucks to change the alternator, and the serp and timing belts(it was their time) because the car didnt want to start...I limped it over to pep boys after a jump start and they said the battery was just bad and saved me $300 by just changin the battery and the belts I wanted done. Moral of the story is if you do that and they say your charging system is crap, get a second opinion.

tacoman · « **Reply #2 on:** June 14, 2006, 01:45:47 PM »

I would assume your charging system is fine, we don't get a whole lot of posts here about charging or bad alternators. If a battery goes dead enough your bike won't run. Plus, its really hard on your alternator. I bought an small battery tester for cheap that really works well. I would ride the bike awhile and see if the charge level goes down.

99er · « **Reply #3 on:** June 16, 2006, 04:49:44 PM »

The bike originally started but labored at it, right? You could have an alternator problem but it's unlikely, especially since these batteries are not supposed to last as long as yours (My 99 is on its first, too).

Key on - If there is a headlight, you have enough juice to light the coils and get her bump started. Once started, the alternator will run the bike and the battery will serve as a big capacitor, as it should. Once it's warm, take a voltage reading at the battery terminals and make sure you're getting about 13.8 volts with the high beams on at idle. That will prove the alternator's good. Buy a battery.
Marc/Atlanta