Battery issue

[Valhella]

Greetings! My '99 Interstate has a starting issue. I keep it on a trickle charger — so it typically will start right up. I might ride once a month or so. The last few rides it started right up. But after a half hour or so on the ride it will have trouble starting after a pit stop. It will turn over fine— with battery power— but take a while to fire back up. I at first suspected the Cigarette lighter connection on my battery (I had just installed it to charge my cellphone). And the starter started acting up intermittently not kicking in. So I stripped that lighter and some other not used wires on my battery— cleaned the terminals and recharged the battery. I took it out for a 1/2 hour ride and when returned it again had trouble restarting. The battery drained significantly— as it took a few hours on the charger to solid green again.
Question: will a battery that can turn over the motor  nicely potentially not have enough spark to start the   Bike up? An aside question— can a bad battery ground affect horsepower/performance? Once I cleaned up the ground issue— the bike seemed to gain some acceleration... really noticeable.

[Mooskee]

Check to see if your alternator is working. Sounds kinda like you are running on battery.

[Gideon]

Check to see if your alternator is working. Sounds kinda like you are running on battery.

Do as Mooskee suggests. Check the alternator!

[PSUbag]

It's also possible that your battery is shot, but as was already mentioned, check the alternator.

[Madmike]

Question: will a battery that can turn over the motor  nicely potentially not have enough spark to start the   Bike up? An aside question— can a bad battery ground affect horsepower/performance? Once I cleaned up the ground issue— the bike seemed to gain some acceleration... really noticeable.

I happen to have my 2003 Valkyrie apart.  Battery is 6 months old and recently charged by riding this weekend.  Using a multimeter, battery voltage readings are:  Parked turned off = 12.68V  Cranking = 9.19V  Running = 14.26V.  Check yours for similar results.  It is possible for a Honda to crank but not have the voltage required by the ignition system.  Cranking while reading about 8V is an indicator.  I had that on a different bike.  The battery failed altogether soon after that.

Lots of times it seems the Valk will fire just as you release the "start" button, I speculate that the surge of power as cranking stops may be enough to give a hotter spark.  when voltage is much below 12 v it doesn't seem to fire.  I,m sure that someone may have some actual numbers for this.

The 14.26 is your alternator output voltage.

The battery's ability to hold a charge will depreciate over time.

[Valhella]

I tested the battery and alternator— battery about 13.5 volts. Starting up the bike it reads about 14.2.

[sandy]

Val; You mentioned a "trickle charger". There's a big difference between that and a smart charger. The trickle never shuts off and will cook a battery in time. You might have a weak battery. Have a shop put a load test on it to see if it has power under a load.

[RonW]

I tested the battery and alternator—

• battery about 13.5 volts.

• Starting up the bike it reads about 14.2.

Also, the voltage reading at the very moment you press in the start button (as stated). Voltage shouldn't drop below 9.5v.