Bike won\'t go..... battery issue.....
 

I know i should be answering all of my questions here myself.... but i think i'm missing something.

Fired the bike up yesterday after giving the bike a charge and pootled round the huge car park for 10 mins to warm it up and run for a while. Didn't take the multimeter reading at the time as i wanted to start it again from cold.

So got in today and fired it.... Not even close.... everything turning over, but simply far to slowly and without enough power to get close to starting. MM is reading 12.61v

Now i was under the impression that anything over 12.5v would be fine for cranking it over ?

I'll charge it up in a bit and get it running again about lunchtime just to check with a MM that it's charging when running.

Battery is 2 years old and has only been ridden once, but i get the impression it was well looked after in garage with Optimate.

Hello weeksy2

I had a simular problem, would put the bike on the optimate over night,
all was well the next day, went out for a spin then the bike would die a death. I could not understand why as it was charging ok. After checking the wires from the regulator (replacing them with heavier grade wire (maplins do a good selection of wire) I then decided to purchase a new battery, (over 2yrs old) and hey presto all well. One thing I did notice you must be careful how you connect your Optimate up if you get it the wrong way round ie connect to bike while on at mains this will distroy your battery.

hope you get it sorted

PS I am trying to contact Marlon is this number correct? 017083797721

regards

TopiToo


[Edited on 15-07-1968 by TopiToo]

Hello

Damm just realized to many "7's"

regards

TopiToo

hmmmmm maybe 12.61 simply isn't enough. Can't really get a new battery right now.

Did try the Mrs' 748 battery but that was a pathetic little excuse for a battery :)

Don't know on Marlons number fella sorry.

Either the battery isn't supplying enough current or too much current is being lost in the circuit path. Steve's idea of replacing the wiring with a thicker guage is an excellent one - even if the battery is a bit weak it will give it an easier life with the thicker guage wires.

steve thats a digit to long


Have you tried the old Tecmoto number
01708 343916.

Weeksy I suspect the battery needs replacing, 13.2 Volts is a fully charged battery although 12.6 isn't bad. The smaller battery on the 748S is also the one they use on later 996s and the 998 so should be up to the job of starting your 916

[Edited on 30-12-2005 by skidlids]

Two quick thoughts

1 - temperature makes a big difference to a battery thats not quite at its best - which is why leaving it on charge could make a difference cos the internal temperature will rise when charging.

2 - if you measured the volts at the battery terminals, thats not necessarily what is getting to the bike ! Measure the voltage from the frame to the starter solenoid input terminal to get a better picture.

(I've banged on about the battery earth terminal bracket before - the stupid little bolt on the right-angle bracket is a spline fit which can loosen and cause a duff connection. I centre-punched the back of mine and then soldered it up.)
Its this kind of duff connection that makes 'smart' chargers cook batteries too !

got a pic of where that part is exactly mate.... i know roughly, but which end etc, i dunno.

No pics here at work :D
I'll try and describe it ...
looking at the battery from the right side of the bike, on the left side of the battery is the earth terminal, with a right-angle bracket bolted to it with the bolt pointing up.
The earth wire which goes to the frame is connected to the bracket with a bolt pointing to the back of the bike. Except its not a bolt cos theres not enough space, so they splined a stud onto the bracket, and if you tighten it up the splines slide and you get a worse connection.
There is enough resistance on this connection alone when its bad to stop the starter working properly.
A new one isnt a fix, cos its just the same, and as soon as you tighten it its will get worse.
The solution is in 2 parts :
take it off, knock the spline back through a mm or so, centre punch the back of the stud, knock it back flush so it wont pull out again when you tighten the nut.
Then solder it up at the back (where you centre punched) to get a good electrical connection.

Of course, it wont fix a battery that is past its best, but it all helps :D

well i never got a chance to do that bit and after tomorrow the bike is on a trailer off to go see Nelly for fettling.

Will have a discussion with him about it.

thanks for the adivce chaps.

i'd check the optimate weeksy, ive heard that they dont mix well with older dukes. i had a few issues with battery problems when i first got my 748 then ditched the optimate and all was well after a good charge and ride

i've tried 2 chargers now, and while charging both batteries go up to about 14v.

But after left sitting for a few hours in the kitchen my battery is showing 12.61 and Ceris showing 12.78.

So i guess they are both not the best ever.

I'm going to try both on hers tomorrow first of all and then on mine.... it's irritating me now.

Warm the bike up around the engine with a hair dryer first steve,...........:D......not that ive got one er um....

a. you serious or kidding ?
b. no-where to plug it into.

You must have an extension lead? Blow some warm air in to the air intakes as well. just to get its temp up a bit!

is it April 1st ?

extension lead would need to be 70m in length mate.

better get 5 or 6 extension leads then weeksy

thought you were an athlete................push the cocking bike to the electric then!:lol::lol:

No wheels fitted.


seriously, are you kidding here or what ?

It will help warming the bike....if your up for it take the plugs out and warm/dry them in the gas flame on your hob................

the hob is 4 miles from the bike :)


(seriously)

wheres the bike in relation to your house and electrics weeksy

Hello weeksy2

I picked up one of these little batterys for about £20/£30 if I remember rightly. . . as recommended by Keefer.

regards

TopiToo

Hello

here's another one

regards

TopiToo

First of all, here’s the spec for the 916 battery:

Standard battery 1994 - 2000 model years:

Yuasa YB16AL-A2 (16 AH, 200 CCA, 11.5 lbs.)

The principal advantage of using a larger battery is to be able to restart repeatedly and to deliver sufficient current to turn the starter motor. If you regularly don't ride long enough to recharge fully between restarts, stay with a larger capacity battery. A lower amp-hour battery will need to be trickle-charged more often. The chance of a deep discharge (that reduces battery life) is greater with smaller batteries. Further, the lower the temperature, the lower the current that can be supplied by any battery. Battery voltage is only an indicator of charge level, and has no relationship to a battery's ability to deliver an adequate starting current.

So early-916 batteries are rated at around 200 CCA, the current it can supply for 30 seconds at freezing temperatures. More at comfortable riding temps.

Consider also, that the early pre-1998 bikes have an alternator with a lower charging current output, so they'll take longer to fully recharge the battery. A prolonged 30 amp charging current is one contributing factor to why Ducati voltage regulator/rectifiers and stator wires fail prematurely.

I don’t know the exact specs on the Ducati starter motor, but in general, motorcycle-size starter motors draw around 30 amps under no load (max rpm) and around 85 amps under typical starting torque loads for unmodified motors. However, this figure can briefly rise to 300 amps under a stall condition typical of the initial start requirements of a high compression motor.

In 2001, all the superbikes were fited with a revised starter motor gear ratio that drew less current and made it possible to start the bike using a smaller battery. The starter gearing on the early bikes are not well suited to the smaller batteries.

Standard battery 2001 - 200X model years:

Yuasa YT12B-BS (10 AH, 125 CCA, 7.6 lbs.)

For the later bikes, and for track use of early bikes, the weight-saving battery-of-choice is the sealed and non-spillable AGM maintenance-free Yuasa YTZ7S. It's the same size as the later stock battery.

Yuasa YTZ7S (6 AH, 130 CCA, 4.6 lbs.)

So if you decide to replace a 916 battery that Ducati engineers say should deliver 200 amps with a battery that delivers 125 CCA, expect to stress your charging system and keep it on a trickle charger.

You shouldn't live in such a big house. Do what Rattler does and get the butler to do the running around ;)

Bike is in work. It's 4 miles from my house. Underground carpark, aprox 60-70m from the doors and electricity supply.

okay for some,mind you mines all wrapped up nice and warm in the garage next door. ideal :roll::roll:

well it appears the battery is good, the rectifier is also good, the fault is with a pice of loom from somewhere down there :) didn't ask all the specifc questions as i wouldn't know whatt Nelly was on about.

Anyway, section of loom has now been swapped out.