| Author | Message | ||
     Skifastbadly |
I have an 07 Uly. Several weeks ago, I experienced an occasional "skip" while at freeway speed. The engine light went on, then went off. This continued for a couple of days. I then left town for two weeks. On Saturday, I got on the bike to go for a ride and it started right up, but sputtered horribly. The light came on, went off, came on, went off. It misfired, it wouldn't run, it died....the battery is the original, and I bought the bike in Aug of 06. Thus, it's a three year old battery with 23K miles on it. I know there's a bunch of other things that this could be, but I figure the easiest thing to do would be to replace the battery...given that it's a likely cause. However, I'm open to hearing from the intelligentsia on this one. Thanks | ||
| Dr_greg |
Dunno about the symptoms, but three years is about all I seem to get from these batteries... --Doc | ||
| Thetable |
Have you done the TSB on the ground? | ||
| Hughlysses |
I wouldn't randomly replace a battery. My Uly age/mileage is almost identical and my original battery is fine. First check the tightness of the connections at the battery. If neither of those is loose crank the bike and check the voltage across the battery at ~1500 RPM (shop manual probably has a spec). If it's not 13 volts or so, I'd check the 77 connector first. If that checks OK, have the battery tested. Most auto parts stores will do that for free. Replace it only if the test says you need to. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
I have checked and tightened the battery connections. I don't have a 77 connector. (I did a connectorectomy when I blew my voltage regulator, I hardwired the thing and sealed it with 'underwater pump' crimps and shrink tubes.) I should check the voltage next, once I find the manual for my voltage meter... Thanks | ||
| Etennuly |
After you test the battery and check the grounds, do a codes check. An on line service manual is available at Buell.com. At least it was as of last Friday. | ||
| Mark_weiss |
The battery in my '08 just gave up. 22 months. The first symptom was the occasional failure to start on the first attempt. The second symptom was the clock and tripmeters resetting during cold starts. Mark SE AZ | ||
| Mnrider |
You may have to look at the spark plug wires,they may have rubbed through causing the missing. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
Not the plug wires, I replaced them this summer, less than couple thousand miles ago. | ||
| Dmmblaze |
I have recently experienced similar problems with my 07. Like Mark, my trip odometer and clock will sometimes reset when I start the bike (Happened for the first time a couple weeks ago starting the bike at a gas station after running it for over an hour straight). Sometimes I have to try a couple times to get it to start now and the engine light will flash for a few seconds after a failed attempt to start. In the owners Manual on page 100 there is a chart which details a test with a voltmeter to check the charge percentage of the battery. I am not sure how accurate the test is but I have been doing random tests and noting the number. I have a battery tender that was installed by the dealer on my bike so I usually plug it in when I am not riding. Yesterday I noted some numbers throughout the day. In the morning at 8am after being on the tender throughout the night, my test read 12.9 volts after I disconnected it from the tender and then quickly goes down to 12.69. At 12pm I did another volt meter reading on the still parked in a locked position bike and it was down to 12.62. At 4:45 my third test was 12.61. I then started it up and made a quick run to Menards ( actually took a long about way to run the bike for approx. 25 min) with no issues with a battery booster strapped down just in case. As expected, she hesitated starting up after my short shopping excursion and when she did fire up the clock and trip meter reset after the check engine light made another brief shine on. After charging back up, I left it off the tender throughout last night and am getting a reading of 12.56 now, which means its either the battery or I have a parasitic drain somewhere. I am pretty sure now my battery needs replacing. My local dealer said it is covered under warranty but that their tester may indicate the battery has to be charged for 48 hours and then retested again before they can authorize its replacement. Hopefully that's not the case, this Indian summer here in MN is nicely spent on my Uly. | ||
| Tootal |
It seems to me that if you have enough juice to start the bike then running issues are something else as long as your VR is putting juice out. Check the voltage while running, if it's charging well then the battery's fine. | ||
| Jlnance |
My experience is that when the battery starts diminishing, you will notice a hesitation when you crank the bike. You will hear the starter try to turn the motor over, and it will take it a noticeable fraction of a second before it will actually turn. With a new battery there is no delay. The stater will spin the motor as soon as you hit the button. I have never had problems with misfires due to battery problems. The only time that has happened was when I lost the stator, and the bike wasn't charging at all. It rand the batter down until the bike died. But you would obviously notice if that was going on. | ||
| Skifastbadly |
So, I tried to start it tonight it cranked ok but it would fire and then die. Then a really loud backfire. So it would appear that the battery diagnosis is wrong, and there's something else going on. I tried to read the error codes as follows: Took off the seat, removed the rubber plug from the outlet, and jammed some aluminum foil over pins one and two. Nothing. No flash, nada. Tried jumping the pins with a screwdriver, same result. Hmmm... | ||
| Dmmblaze |
My long winded evaluation (above) of what I thought was my dying battery apparently turned out to be the voltage regulator. I asked a service guy at the dealer today about some problems relative to your problems "skifastbadly" and it sounds like you could have a bad VR too. Especially since you experience your problems while riding. Since my battery checked out fine, the parasitic drain I was observing was most likely due to VR bleed I was told. | ||
| Natexlh1000 |
Loud backfire = fuel being pumped through engine and not being ignited. Poke round your ignition coil. Perhaps something is loose or chafed through. |
