• A few people have been scammed on the site, Only use paypal to pay for items for sale by other members. If they will not use paypal, its likely a scam NEVER SEND E-TRANSFERS OF ANY KIND.

Dead ‘15 NC700X!

AZRacer

New Member
Joined
May 24, 2019
Messages
8
Reaction score
2
Points
3
Location
Tucson, AZ
Visit site
Stopped in the McDonald’s drive through & shut the bike off with the kill switch on the right. Went to restart, got one revolution and the whole thing died. No display, headlight, no click or anything else. Assumed battery was bad, but it’s 13.3v and terminals are pristine. Main fuse and all other fuses are good. No power to the fuse box. I just had this thing on a 600 mile trip last weekend, and now this. Bike has just 3800 miles on it.
Got any ideas?
 
Already had the battery out and back in (terminals clean & tight), and had already checked the main fuse.
Put the voltmeter in it and turned the key on, voltage dropped to 0.24. Attached battery charger and everything came back to life. Going to buy a battery tomorrow...
 
Another “sudden death” battery failure............seems more common, not an NC thing..........but........a battery failure mode in all bikes and cars these days.
 
I noticed the member is in Tucson, Arizona. Anecdotal data gleaned from this forum tells me that battery life is shorter, sometimes much shorter, in hot climates. I wonder if that played a roll in this failure.
 
I’m a firm believer that the AGM batteries are far more subject to sudden failure than the older designs... and this rings more true in hot & dry climates such as mine. I also agree that this is not just our bikes, as the original AGM in my car failed in a similar manner just a few months ago. The weird part for me with years of working on stuff was the “normal” static voltage that made me look away from a possible battery failure...
 
Hate to burst your beliefs -
"The weird part for me with years of working on stuff was the “normal” static voltage "
A batteries voltage does mean it has the power, amps, to turn the starter/engine over.
As a battery ages the power it has in reserve goes down.
As posted above it can read good voltage at rest, but under load drops a ton, and does not have the power, amps, to turn the engine over.
If you get 3 years out of your bike battery - you've done good.
 
Hate to burst your beliefs -
"The weird part for me with years of working on stuff was the “normal” static voltage "
A batteries voltage does mean it has the power, amps, to turn the starter/engine over.
As a battery ages the power it has in reserve goes down.
As posted above it can read good voltage at rest, but under load drops a ton, and does not have the power, amps, to turn the engine over.
If you get 3 years out of your bike battery - you've done good.
3 years battery life for me would have been a very early failure. I live in a colder climate. My NC battery is coming up on 8 years old. The OCV on my battery shows it is still fairly healthy, and I started the bike normally two days ago in sub freezing temperatures. At least for now, it's still in good shape.

If my batteries lasted only 3 years, it would not be good at all. As always, "your mileage may vary".
 
Hate to burst your beliefs -
"The weird part for me with years of working on stuff was the “normal” static voltage "
A batteries voltage does mean it has the power, amps, to turn the starter/engine over.
As a battery ages the power it has in reserve goes down.
As posted above it can read good voltage at rest, but under load drops a ton, and does not have the power, amps, to turn the engine over.
If you get 3 years out of your bike battery - you've done good.
Anything is possible, but I think most will agree that having a 13+ volt static reading on a crap battery is not normal. In my experience, a clapped out battery (sulfated/ shorted cells) will start at 10-11v and then drop substantially under load, but still light up the dash and such. Starting at 13+ and literally dropping to “0” under load was a new one on me. I should also mention that although my bike is a ‘15, it was purchased new in February of ‘18. I do not know if it’s the battery that was shipped with the bike in ‘15 or not, as there is no date code.
 
My ST and newer NC both use the same battery, and , even though I live in a warm part of the country, I got 7 years out of my AGM Scorpion brand battery. I do keep it on a Battery Minder quite often ( has a desulphating setting too). When not riding for a while, i alternate the two bikes on the Minder, which is on a timer - 1.5 hours in the AM, 1.5 hours in the PM. I did get 9 years out of one battery in my Helix. It was an off-brand battery also.

YMMV.
 
I knew I'd get those responses.
WHY do you feel good getting a lot of years out of your battery, when you are putting a possible no start condition in your face.

Here the winters are long and get below zero.
I learned young that a poor battery will leave you with a car not starting.
If my car battery is 6-7 years old and winter is on the way I'll replace it so I KNOW when I go to start it in ANY negative temps it will start!
Had it happen two winters ago - my mistake - battery was 7 years and I forgot to get new. One night stopped to fill gas and car wouldn't start!

Had it happen in Mid July on the bike. Stopped at a store, came out and no start. Battery three years old.
Now if you have a clutch you can push start and your not stranded.

I'm just saying why give a battery the possibility to strand you because you've tried to get more live out it?
Bike battery 3 years old, I think I got plenty of use out of it.
I like peace of mind!
 
I knew I'd get those responses.
WHY do you feel good getting a lot of years out of your battery, when you are putting a possible no start condition in your face.

Here the winters are long and get below zero.
I learned young that a poor battery will leave you with a car not starting.
If my car battery is 6-7 years old and winter is on the way I'll replace it so I KNOW when I go to start it in ANY negative temps it will start!
Had it happen two winters ago - my mistake - battery was 7 years and I forgot to get new. One night stopped to fill gas and car wouldn't start!

Had it happen in Mid July on the bike. Stopped at a store, came out and no start. Battery three years old.
Now if you have a clutch you can push start and your not stranded.

I'm just saying why give a battery the possibility to strand you because you've tried to get more live out it?
Bike battery 3 years old, I think I got plenty of use out of it.
I like peace of mind!
Then WHY not replace your battery annually? That would give you extra peace of mind that your engines would start. But perhaps you try to get 3 years out of it, instead of 1, because based on your experience, your batteries last at least 3 years.

Likewise, based on my experience, batteries on average last maybe 7 years, so I base my planned replacement interval on that experience. I do replace the boat battery at 5-6 years because being stranded on the water is a lot bigger problem than being stranded on land. A couple of batteries may have died at 6 years, but I once did get 18 years out of a set of motorhome house batteries. A Goldwing battery was once in service for 11 years, 8 in the bike, then 3 more years after I transferred it to a lawn mower. A 3 year replacement interval would be uncalled for. As I said before, “your mileage may vary”. I realize everyone's experience may be different and there are no hard rules.

It’s not all just guesswork, either. Monitoring of resting voltages after charging, and noting the battery’s behavior gives you clues as to its performance and dependability. I keep a chart of the 19 batteries (yes, nineteen) that I currently have in use, to keep tabs on their age and to plan replacements. In rare cases a battery will fail before the planned replacement, but I’m aware of its age and I’m prepared to deal with it.
 
Another Zona here. 24 years. And yes the high heat here kills batteries. Your lucky to get 2 years out of one here. Doesn't mind what brand either.
 
My battery just failed...5 years. I"m ok with that kind of life. However, had no warning. Still showed about 13 volts. It did sit for a month recently.
 
For sudden no anything ,fuses ok ,battery ok ,then I suspect connector on the steering stem from ignition switch to some relay I guess...anyway it was my problem .
 
Battery is going on 8 years, still does fine, no problems. Past year and a half or two I've been using a smart battery maintainer, usually gets plugged in after every ride. Winter between 32F to below 0F in my uninsulated motorcycle shed, summers usually only get up to 95-100F. Never had to mess with the terminal connections.
 
Carrying a small lithium jump-starter solves the issue of being unable to bump start the bike when the battery dies.. It also provides emergency cell phone charging with the bike off and a flashlight. They cost about 70 bucks these days and are smaller than a paperback.

I do keep it in my bag so it comes in. 120-125F is murder on batteries. We desert mutants know.
 
All that is wrong with batteries these days can be summed up in 3 words "Hecho en Mexico"
I'm pretty sure the OEM Yuasa battery was made in Japan, and if you buy a replacement Yuasa in the US, it is made in Japan or Pennsylvania, depending on the battery model. Yuasa batteries have been known for rare sudden, unexplained battery failures, but I don't think Mexico was involved.
 
Back
Top