Dead Valkyrie ... Kind Of

[Draeger]

Hey everyone, I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas on what might be going on with my 98 Standard.

First off, I have to say this bike is brilliant. It just took me 5000km all around Washington, Oregon and California with nary a hitch, and held out long enough to bring me safely back home.

But a weird thing happened on the way back...

I have a Ride Scorpio tracker on my bike. Basically it's a little satellite receiver thingy that attaches to the bike battery with two leads. It enables me to see where I have ridden on a trip, etc. Kind of cool. And my wife can follow along on a her laptop as I'm riding.

When I got home, my wife said "I just looked online and you are still 100km away." Sure enough, the device had stopped working an hour prior to me arriving home. I didn't think anything of it.

Today, four days later, I went down to start my bike. As soon as I turned the key, I noticed something odd... all the little gauge lights were very dim. Pushing the start button did nothing, not even a click.

I pulled the battery and just put it on a charger on 2A and will keep it on for a couple hours and then test it to see how much voltage it's putting out.

I checked the ground connection lead that goes from behind the alternator to the negative terminal and it seems solid.

I pulled the cover off the alternator, and it looks kinda black and dusty under there, perhaps more so than I noticed previously.

So my strategy for tackling this is:

1) I have removed the Ride Scorpio device. If the battery doesn't hold a charge, I will get a new battery tomorrow. I will get a Honda OEM. The one in there now is aftermarket and looks cheap ( I have never heard of the brand).

2) How would I know if it is an alternator problem? Just ride it until it dies and the battery runs down and I can't start it?

Or should I just ride it to a mechanic and have them test the alternator, assuming I get it running?

I just can't help but think that somehow my tracker dying and this issue is related somehow... but I can't puzzle that part out.

Anything else I could be doing or should look at?

Thanks for all your help guys,

Draeger

[98valk]

the tracker most likely has a constant battery drain, so no battery after a few days.
Yuasa is th eOEM battery no need to go to dealer to get one.

[Hook#3287]

Get yourself a Olms meter and test the alt yourself.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/321466608734?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

Most likely you just need a new battery.

If the Tracker pulls a charge while at rest, you're going to have to unplug it when you're not riding.

[Draeger]

You would think so... but that tracker has been on for weeks on end on multiple bikes while they have been just sitting in the parking garage. I will have to get a new battery I think. Just going to look up where to get that Yuasa you guys mentioned...

[da prez]

  Alternator test , Test battery voltage with all power off. Start bike and rev up to about 1100 rpm and recheck battery voltage. It should be higher. Let it return to idle and rev it up and watch the voltage.
  It should go up to about 13.8 volts. Be sure to use a DC volt meter. BTW , as I tell everyone , remove and clean ,and dia-electric all the connections for the battery. 

                                     da prez

[saddlesore]

Advance auto will test the battery and alternator on a car.  Maybe they'll do it on your bike too.
They saved me from buying a battery a time or two. 

[Ricky-D]

13.8 volts from the Valkyrie alternator would be indicative of a poor performing alternator on the road to failure. For sure! The manual wants it in the mid 14s to the mid 15s.

***

[zzed28]

To check the battery, slow charge it of course, when done, the minimum for use is 12.6 volts, a new batt should put out 13.2 volts when fully charged. Take it to auto parts and have it cca checked.  It should be, more than 200 amps, a new one may put out as much as 300cca.  For what its worth, not much,, hhaha, I have used batts, that read as low as 12volts fully charged, and as low as 150 cca, and gotten away with it temporarily, but , its best to replace with a great yuasa battery although there are others that are good too.  If the voltage falls lower than about ten volts when cranking, its not likely to start, since the juice required to fire the coils, is about ten volts, although, if you get off the starter button, it just may start as the pistons coast to a stop,  since the starter hogs so much juice and when its not being used, the voltage is likely to be above ten .

[rhinor61]

I went to the ride scorpion website.

I found this information.

The Ride Core harness has three wires.

You’ll need to connect these to your bike.

Red: Install the terminal ring of this wire
directly to the battery positive post.

Black: Install the terminal ring of this wire
directly to the battery negative post.

White: Install this wire to a 12 volt
switched source using the provided
Quick Connector.

[Draeger]

Thank you all - very helpful!

I charged the battery for a few hours and it never dipped over 12.2V using my meter so I figured a new battery was in order as some of you have said.

I installed a new Yuasa that put out 12.8 on my meter after cleaning all the connections.

Then I fired up the bike, let it warm up and played with the RPM's and my meter... At just under 3000rmp it ramps up to 14.2V and when I ease off the throttle it dips down to the mid 13's. So I assume that means my alternator is working fine (whew!)

Thanks again for all your help. I'm going to leave the Scorpio tracker off for the winter. Maybe it glitched and started sucking power. It obviously has stopped working for the time being.

[Harryc]

You don't need to leave the scorpio off, just wire it to a switched source as previously suggested. How did you wire it?

[Gavin_Sons]

Thank you all - very helpful!

I charged the battery for a few hours and it never dipped over 12.2V using my meter so I figured a new battery was in order as some of you have said.

I installed a new Yuasa that put out 12.8 on my meter after cleaning all the connections.

Then I fired up the bike, let it warm up and played with the RPM's and my meter... At just under 3000rmp it ramps up to 14.2V and when I ease off the throttle it dips down to the mid 13's. So I assume that means my alternator is working fine (whew!)

Hey Draeger, get you a small relay and attatch it to your battery and to switched power behind the right side cover. I had the same problem when I had my bluetooth adapter for my phone hooked straight into the battery. I now run a distribution block with a relay for all my accessories. 0 power until the key is turned on.
Thanks again for all your help. I'm going to leave the Scorpio tracker off for the winter. Maybe it glitched and started sucking power. It obviously has stopped working for the time being.