Wont start

My NC7 manual trans would start up this morning. Didn't have a chance to try and jump it yet but it was flat lined, absolutely no juice in the lights, fuel pump, etc.

I have a 65+ mile commute every day and parked it on Thursday after getting some gas. When coming to the bike this morning, now only 4 days later, as mentioned above, there was a complete lack of juice. The key cylinder felt strong but no juice anywhere.

The temps have since fallen considerably but considering the bike is getting lots of riding attention, any ideas on what the problem might be? Just a dead battery? If so, does anyone know what the warranty on our battery is?

Bike has < 6,000 miles and is about 7 months in my hands.

Thanks

Have you made any modifications in the last month or so that would have required messing with the battery connections? If so I would check there. I might check them anyway. One may have come loose.

SergeantChuck said:

Have you made any modifications in the last month or so that would have required messing with the battery connections? If so I would check there. I might check them anyway. One may have come loose.

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Good thought, I'll check it out tonight. More thoughts are welcome.

Welcome to the Yuasa Early Death Society. As the newest member, it's your time to bring the donuts.

Come again?

cfar said:

Come again?

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What he means is the NC is prone to early battery failure

SIlly me. I searched high and low but couldn't find aNything. Does anyone know the cause? Any success getting it covered under warranty?

cfar said:

SIlly me. I searched high and low but couldn't find aNything. Does anyone know the cause? Any success getting it covered under warranty?

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I didn't try. Some say the batteries get abused in the supply chain without proper initial charge and sitting idle in inventory somewhere. I am not sure, but it doesn't seem to be rare and it doesn't seem to be limited to the NC700 or Honda. Instead of replacing the YTZ12S directly, I substituted a fresh YTZ14S which has more capacity and is essentially the same size (it fits). Others have bought Chinese equivalents for half the price of the Yuasa. I wish there was an Odyssey that fit the space. I had bad luck with Shorai and won't try that again until the technology matures a bit.

cfar said:

SIlly me. I searched high and low but couldn't find aNything. Does anyone know the cause? Any success getting it covered under warranty?

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There maybe a few more but:
Beemer had a battery fail. Likely cause internal open or short in the battery itself????????
One other member ran his battery completely flat by leaving accessories on and was unable or unwilling to recharge after the incident.

A few others have reported loose connections at the battery terminals many after installing accessories and then sometime later finding the connection problem..............

I have experienced a one time flat battery on my NC even though I'd only used it a couple of days before. I charged up the battery and the same thing hasn't occurred again. A UK mag also had a similar experience with a 'one off' flat battery on their test NC. Likewise they charged up the battery up and it never went flat again while on long term test.

showkey said:

There maybe a few more but:
Beemer had a battery fail. Likely cause internal open or short in the battery itself????????
One other member ran his battery completely flat by leaving accessories on and was unable or unwilling to recharge after the incident.

A few others have reported loose connections at the battery terminals many after installing accessories and then sometime later finding the connection problem..............

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Thanks all, Ill get it checked out when I get home.

Do your battery and your self a favor and look into getting a good battery tender.

I use an Optimate 4 with a cigarette lighter plug connection so that both my son and I can easily maintain our batteries by just hopping off the bike and sticking the plug into our handlebar-mounted combo USB/12V power sources.

Mike Cash said:

Do your battery and your self a favor and look into getting a good battery tender.

I use an Optimate 4 with a cigarette lighter plug connection so that both my son and I can easily maintain our batteries by just hopping off the bike and sticking the plug into our handlebar-mounted combo USB/12V power sources.

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I agree with the practice, but it doesn't always help Mike. Mine was always on a good BatterMinder unit and died anyway. It would not take a charge even from a sophisticated battery rejuvenator. Graveyard dead.

(someone will now come along to state that it died because of the BatteryMinder and that theirs is still going because they do not use one).

Connections looked good but the battery itself was only registering .5 volts.

I was preparing to get a tender but as of late, the bike has been getting plenty of use and (in my opinion) shouldn't need it yet. Thanks for the suggestion though.

I had mine from day one and now it is 1.5 years. I ride not regularly and I leave the bike over the winter, say over 4-6 weeks without riding, and the bike still runs. Fires up the first time every time.

I am unsure which battery the Swiss shop supplied it with but it works all the time.

Beemerphile said:

I agree with the practice, but it doesn't always help Mike. Mine was always on a good BatterMinder unit and died anyway. It would not take a charge even from a sophisticated battery rejuvenator. Graveyard dead.

(someone will now come along to state that it died because of the BatteryMinder and that theirs is still going because they do not use one).

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When they're going to die, they're going to die. No getting around that.

But the rejuvenating feature on the Optimate rescued a battery on my previous bike, pretty much paying for itself in the process. Last week my son (brand new rider on a 25 year old bike) had a dead battery and I had to go help him get the bike home. When I went to check the battery fluid, I couldn't see where it came up to on the inspection lines. Small wonder, as opening the cells revealed he had turned it into a dry-cell battery. Not a drop in it anywhere. Filled it up, threw it on the Optimate overnight and so far all is jake.

Through the winter I commute on the bike, but only 15 minutes each way. Plan is for my son to ride to school (30 minutes) throughout the winter as well. So we both definitely benefit from having a nicely-featured tender with a cord right at hand to where we park at home.