Dead battery, flickering dash

I went to start my bike up after it sat for a couple days, and the battery was totally dead. Jumped it off a friend's battery and the instrument panel was all flickery and engine light on... ugh.
Any idea what the problem/solution is? I checked the battery connections and they were tight.
(I'm very un-savvy with anything mechanical/electrical)

It sounds bad. What process did you followed for the jump start? Step by step please.

Assuming you didn't leave something on that could have drained the battery in that short of time I would say you have a bad battery and more than likely everything will be fine after replacing it.

I certainly hope your bike is okay and no damage has occurred. Perhaps you could try a reset.
I must admit on a personal level I'd be loathe to jump start a motorcycle. Always good advice to use a trickle charger to keep your battery topped up when not it use.

The same thing did happen to me with my previous 700X DCT. I found the battery flat after 3-4 days of not being used (which sure did surprise me). I charged it up on a trickle charger which took quite sometime. It only happened the once.

I would hook it up to a charger over night,put back in bike then wait a few days to see if it repeats.I had this happen over the winter,of course it was probley the cold that did mine,but after I put it on a tender I have has no other problems.

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When you say friends battery was it a bike battery or car? If it was a car was th he car running or off? I recently jumped my bike and had no issues as you mentioned. My bike was DEAD dead.

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Besides being 12 volt, you must watch the amps when jumping off of another vehicle. The amps are suppose to be close. Yes, I have heard all the stories how folks have jumped off a car with no problems, and I am quite sure they are true. Some folks are just lucky. However, over the years I have also rewired motorcycles from the head light to the tail light with every thing fried. One bike I rewired was one day old. He took it home and left the key on. Jumped it off his truck the next morning, and fried everything! The complete wiring system is not under warranty.

Most times I have seen this problem is with 4 wheelers and side-by-sides. You would not believe the amps some tractors put out. I carry motorcycle jumper cables in my tool tube, and jump only off of other motorcycles. As Bamamate said, it is not uncommon for small batteries that have set for a time to go bad. Ziggies's overnight battery charger is not a bad idea either.

If you fried something just trace the system. Most folks just fry the starter solenoid as that is the first thing off the battery with open system. However as stated, I have seen worst.

If the battery was very discharged the system voltage of your bike after the donor battery was disconnected is still very low and the instrument display is flickering or may be flickering for that reason. The low voltage might also trigger the check engine light. Do you have a 12 volt battery charger of 1.25 to 2 amp output that you can use to charge the battery for 8 to 12 hours then check the display and check engine light again?

CAUTION ahead:

We are slipping down...........the jump start slope.

dduelin said:

If the battery was very discharged the system voltage of your bike after the donor battery was disconnected is still very low and the instrument display is flickering or may be flickering for that reason. The low voltage might also trigger the check engine light. Do you have a 12 volt battery charger of 1.25 to 2 amp output that you can use to charge the battery for 8 to 12 hours then check the display and check engine light again?

Click to expand...

+2 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Like I said in another thread: whatever happened to kick starters...?


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The size of the jumper battery, will not hurt the bike, as long as it is 12 volts, and the connections are made correctly. If ever jumping from a battery in a car, to your bike do not have the jumping car or truck running. we use two large car batteries on a cart to jump all are shop bikes. Dale

Jump starting typically is not recommended for motorcycles. That's why there is no reference about it on any user manual.
The only official reference and instructions I've found are on H-D's manuals like this one: 2013 Dyna Models Owner's Manual (A-rev): Maintenance and Lubrication (scroll down)

If you follow the usual car jump starting procedure as described in a car's user manual there are many possibilities to damage your bike. As HONDABIKEPRO says don't turn the car's engine on for any reason.

Check the above link for the exact procedure.

The real danger in jumping from a car or tractor is high voltage with the engine running. If the engine is off then it is the same as Dale's cart with 2 car batteries. One other watchout is don't jump from a 24 volt system such as larger vehicles on road use. Don't know but maybe some tractors run higher voltage too.

There might be something going on here.he is having a battery drain problem.happens to me this winter,someone else on here spoke of it once,bemmerphil on the adv fourm seems to be having the problem.so maybe something going on it seems.???

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Hopefully the OP responds today with good news that after a 20 minute ride all was good.

I don't understand many of these comments. How can there be "high voltage" in a running car when the whole system is 12v? Typically low voltage is a greater theat than high. Also too many amps - that makes no sense as amperage is only current flow and if voltages are same (ie charged battery) then no flow will occur


In short other than sparking/shorting I see no reason why jumping from a car battery would be any problem at all.


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pprior said:

I don't understand many of these comments. How can there be "high voltage" in a running car when the whole system is 12v? Typically low voltage is a greater theat than high. Also too many amps - that makes no sense as amperage is only current flow and if voltages are same (ie charged battery) then no flow will occur


In short other than sparking/shorting I see no reason why jumping from a car battery would be any problem at all.

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Click to expand...

Go look at the amps on your auto battery, about 500 amps. Your motorcycle is at 16 amps! Just a bit of a difference.

pprior said:

I don't understand many of these comments. How can there be "high voltage" in a running car when the whole system is 12v? Typically low voltage is a greater theat than high. Also too many amps - that makes no sense as amperage is only current flow and if voltages are same (ie charged battery) then no flow will occur


In short other than sparking/shorting I see no reason why jumping from a car battery would be any problem at all.


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Click to expand...

The car jumping thread is first cousin to the oil thread, and this comment about frying your bike generates the most disputes.

The automobile electrical system works at the same voltages as the motorcycle. That fact that the car's alternator is capable of more current than the bike's is largely irrelevant since the voltage is the same.

One argument in favor of starting your bike with a non running vs running car is this:
When you start your bike, you start it with a battery sitting at about 12.6 volts. When you hit the starter button, that voltage drops due to the internal resistance of the battery. (Normally, with the internal resistance in the battery and the loss in the bike's wiring, the starter motor sees 10 volts or less, but that is what it's designed for). If you parallel a car battery with decent sized jumper cables, you are still working with the same static 12.6 volts, but there will be less voltage drop when the load (starter motor) is applied.

Now when you start your bike off the running car, it's alternator capacity will be capable of keeping the system voltage slightly higher than the 12.6 volts of a static battery, which, with all loss factors taken into account, will result in a slightly higher voltage at the bike starter motor than what would normally be present when starting off a good bike battery alone. The voltage applied to the rest of the bike's electrics will always stay within their normal operating range, so they are not at risk. The slightly higher voltage at the starter motor is very brief, so the consequences there, such as motor overheating, are nil.

So, technically, starting off a running vs non running car does make a slight difference, but nothing at all near the catastrophic scenario that some people pose. Ideally, if the car battery is healthy, it is more than enough to start a bike without the car engine running, so why have it running?

Old Can Ride said:

Go look at the amps on your auto battery, about 500 amps. Your motorcycle is at 16 amps! Just a bit of a difference.

Click to expand...

This may get ugly as the jump start posting do......

Sorry........but that's more bad info on the battery jump start situation amp size of the battery makes no difference.

670cc has it right on ^^^^^^^^

Many of the war stories jump start gone bad go back to the tow truck generator style quick charge, high output both amp and volts jump generator. Now days the hand held jump box is the tool of choice.
As discussed many times CROSS POLARITY is BAD for all involved in the jump process.