| Author | Message | ||
     Skinstains |
My new as of 12/2008 Uly (the superfast extra tuff orange one) has left me stranded for the fourth time today. I was thinking there was something I might have been doing to cause it (I should've known I wasn't). At any rate, It has been on a smart trickle charger giving me a green light since Monday. Today I am psyched to take it out to a family gathering on Long Island. So I get geared up and set up my tunes and am ready to warm her up and all I get is that emmeffing 'clk clk clk' ! Ok so I go get the Fluke to see what is actually happening. I leave the charger off and measure static voltage from the battery 13.something (I don't remember). Ok now I try to start the bike with the meter wired in series across the terminals so that I may see the actual voltage drop that is occuring during attempted start-up. That POS battery was dropping down to 8.something volts with a load on it. I go over to one of the other bikes that has an old battery in it and see it has 12.1 volts standing. I put that one in the Uly and she fires right up and is charging at 14.1 / 14.3 volts. I'm wondering how the dealer treats new dead batteries. This one obviously has a bad cell or some other major flaw inside of it. Will they give me a new one under waranty or am I effed ? (Message edited by skinstains on April 12, 2009) | ||
| Froggy |
Wow that is odd, it never had any issues starting the few days I had it. I don't see how they would have any issue warrantying a battery thats 5 months old. | ||
| Ullygan |
I had the same thing with the battery not holding charge. Had them mail me a new one and returned the old one no charge! I live 95 miles away so didn't want to drive there for that. | ||
| Skinstains |
Yeah Froggy, it did it to me at the IMS show but I chalked that one up to it being in the single digits. It did it to me at that show I was working a few weeks ago. Then it did it to me at a bike shop and now this morning. I know that a lot of places (if not all) won't let you return electrical parts because they don't know what you did to them while you had them. I figured that they might think that I was doing something stupid and fried the battery. I'll find out this week and post my results. | ||
| Froggy |
Perfect excuse to upgrade to the speedcell! Let me know, I can get you one  | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Just saw that SEARS is now carrying AGM batteries. They are sold under the diehard label, but manufactured by Enersys (which I believe makes some well known brands)here in the good old U S and A. The Buell compatible one was $87, combine that with a 10-20% coupon if you can find one. I think you'll get a great battery for a great price. I am going to try one in my Kawi Drifter. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Walmart had one labelled "absobed glass mat" that sure as heck was nowhere near as good as the HD factory battery, fwiw. It cracked and leaked all over my KLR... would have been ugly on the Buell. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Reepicheep, I would hope SEARS quality is better than Wally world (which is probably Chinese-made junk). You never know though. I think the SEARS ones are relabeled Odyssey's, which have a good reputation. | ||
| Crusty |
In years past, Diehard motorcycle batteries weren't worth a damn. They died prematurely and without warning, or they leaked. I had one that ate the paint off the frame of my '78 Superglide. Another H-D rider that I knew had a Diehard that leaked around the terminals. It only leaked when the bike was running. Then it leaked a fine mist of acid that ate everything in the vicinity; including his pants leg. A Gold Wing riding friend went through three in less than two weeks. There were more stories that I heard from other people, but these are my personal experiences. They're also in the past; Sears might have gotten their shit together on motorcycle batteries, but I'll let somebody else be the Guinea Pig. | ||
| Tootal |
Odyssey does not make one the correct size for a Uly, unless you modify the battery box. East Penn makes one that will fit and so does Westco. Westco's seem to be as good a an Odyssey but made in Viet Nam. East Penn is USA made last I heard. East Penn makes batteries for several folks so you might check your diehard and see if it says East Penn anywhere. If you like Odyssey's you could do this:  | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
Sears press release: http://www.searsholdings.com/pubrel/pressOne.jsp?i d=2007-02-28-0004536634 | ||
| Reepicheep |
I think Wal mart batteries are American made junk... Johnson Marine maybe? | ||
| Tootal |
Sears press release: http://www.searsholdings.com/pubrel/pressOne.jsp?i d=2007-02-28-0004536634 That's cool. The odysses is made in Missouri so maybe Sears is making them make more sizes. Too bad they didn't do that last year, it would have saved me a lot of work! | ||
| Skinstains |
I've ben around for a minute or two and we always used to buy the HD batteries. It was one of the few things we would buy from the dealers. They were good stuff, simple as that. I put an Odessey in my 04 12R and it was a PITA to make it fit and connect to existing wiring. With proper maintenance the HD batteries provide great service and service life. I know that BFN batteries can be bad and apparently my Uly has one of them. I will talk to the dealer tomorow about a new one. Hey Froggy, doesn't that fancy thing come with a defined number of 'starts' ? | ||
| Froggy |
Skin, he never mentioned anything about it in the emails. Here is the one with all the juicy info:
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| Skinstains |
Ok boys, guess who went to the dealer with their dead battery today ? It was me ! I gave it to the salesman who sold me the bike and he took it to someone in the back somewhere. He said that SOP dictated that they charge said dead battery and then run it through some fancy machine that put's it through it's paces (load tester). Fair enough. Aparently the mother ship wants all sorts of paperwork and sack prints of all people who ride the bike regularly. So I'm hanging around waiting for the line at the parts counter (poor Chris) to go away. All of a sudden my salesman comes up to me and tells me that the battery charger went green already (maybe 15 minutes). I told him "of course it did" but that doesn't mean it's a good battery. Put it in a bike and then let me know how it does. "I'm tellin' you I've been at this sshhiitt for a while and when that POS battery gets introduced to a load it makes like a French Infantryman (runs for the hills), I've tested it, trust me. So I'll be going back on Thursday to see what conclusion they came up with. I'm sure they will realize that it's a bum battery and treat me right. They are a good bunch of people and has done so so far. | ||
| Blk_uly |
not to stir up any poo but, what about the grounds to the frame and tail section? (Message edited by blk_uly on April 15, 2009) | ||
| Skinstains |
All I did was put in a four year old HD battery and she fires up and runs like a champ. |
