No signs of electricity-

[Dogfoo]

No signs of electricity-

I went to ride on Saturday and put the key in.  Nothing.  No dim lights, nothing.  The battery is only a month old and I did not have time to hunt down the problem.  I have read about loose grounding wires.  Where should I look for that?  I plan to crack into it this evening. 

Prior to this she was having trouble starting.  Turned over fine but would not start.  A quick bump start down the driveway would do the trick and than ran fine for the rest of the day.  Is that a symptom or am I just lame at starting the bike.  I have only had her for 3 months and 4,000 miles. 

[Valkpilot]

No signs of electricity-

I went to ride on Saturday and put the key in.  Nothing.  No dim lights, nothing.  The battery is only a month old and I did not have time to hunt down the problem.  I have read about loose grounding wires.  Where should I look for that?  I plan to crack into it this evening. 

Prior to this she was having trouble starting.  Turned over fine but would not start.  A quick bump start down the driveway would do the trick and than ran fine for the rest of the day.  Is that a symptom or am I just lame at starting the bike.  I have only had her for 3 months and 4,000 miles. 

Check the ground connections first, but I'm betting your battery is bad.

[Thunderbolt]

Several have had problems with loose connections or water that contaminated this connection and caused symptoms similar to what you describe.  It is behind the row of small fuses and the start solenoid on the right side underneath the side cover.  Some bikes have a rubber cover over this fuse/assembly put there to keep water out.
Could be that the alternator is not charging your new battery.  I would put a good charge on the battery and give it a try first.  If it runs, make sure that the battery voltage increases with the engine running at 2 to 3K rpm.

[sandy]

If your battery is 1 month old, I'd do the starter button maintenance as well as check alternator output.

[Moonshot_1]

Question I have is what prompted you to install a new battery a month ago?

Was there similar issues at that time or did you just want to get a new battery in there for piece of mind?

Possible things I'd look at

Connections to the battery. Tighten.
Integrity of the cables. Visually inspect from end to end.
Possible that new battery is just bad. Get it tested.

Any added electronic devices installed or electrical work done recently? Maybe a short there or something draining the juice.

It would seem to me that if your battery is unable to start the bike and you have no juice at all, yet you can bump start it and it runs fine, it shouldn't be your alternator. If you can start it with the battery and it won't keep running after a bit and lights dim and it sputters and dies. Then won't start again. Then likely an alternator.

It is possible that your starter button needs maintenance. It would leave you with the initial impression that you have no juice. You would have no headlight and it won't start but you can "bump" start it and it will run fine. You may have juice. Check your tail light and instrument cluster. If they are on but the headlight is out and it won't start, I mean nothing, nada, ziltch. Then it is likely the starter switch. If you "bump" start it and the headlight doesn't come on, it's likely the starter switch. Simple maintenance makes it right.

[Craig N. AZ]

I'm not sure what you have going on. Sounds like two different things. A new battery doesn't mean that it's good. I've had new batteries that would spin the engine but not start until you let off on the starter button because it used all the power to spin the engine and nothing left to fire the plugs. A good test is to try to jump start the bike off a non-running car. If it runs all day after starting, it's the battery. If you hit the starter button and it doesn't turn off the headlight and engage the starter, it's probably the starter button. Have the battery tested.

[Dogfoo]

Thanks all-

I have not had a chance to figure it out yet.  Raining in the south.  I bought the battery for peace of mind.  I bought the 2003 with 6000 miles on it so figured it had some sitting time.  It had worked fine up in tell this point.  After reading some post it looks like I have never really actually engaged the choke when starting it.

The current symptoms are:
When I turn the key on I have nothing.  No kick stand or temp light, no head light, nothing. 

Possible cause?:
It has become winter and it is in a none heated car port?
It sat in the rain while I ate dinner at a restaurant? Water in some where shorted something??
Bad battery after 6 weeks?

My goal is to trace it down Friday night and ride all weekend.  Please keep the ideas of what to look for coming.  I love her.  What an awesome bike.

Thanks again.

[Moonshot_1]

Had my Valk going on 5 years now. 99 tourer. Don't know how old the battery actually is but it is the same one that came with the bike. Never replaced it yet. This despite the fact that I have killed it what should have been beyond dead no less than 3 times, and within an inch of it's life a few more than that and yet even this morning at 18 degrees, it fires right up. I've been waiting for it to die on me but it just keeps on keeping on.

Choke thing gets everyone.
If not for this board, I still would be in the dark and complaining about the bike not running. It's amazing the first time you actually depress the lever ALL the way.

As to the present predicament

I'd try jump starting it off a non running car battery like Craig suggested.
If it starts, that pretty much narrows it down to the battery.
If you have bump started it before and it runs fine, and fine all day, I'm not seeing an Alternator problem. Just a battery problem. Obviously it would be generating enough juice to keep it running well.


If it doesn't start off a jump, then a connection problem of some kind.

Do you still have the old battery? If so, put it back in and bump start it again and see what happens.