Weird starting issue

StewMcGrew · Sep 4, 2019

2012 R1200GSA , 49K miles

Last weekend, I started the bike which had been sitting for a couple weeks. It started, with no issues and off I went on my travels. About 15 miles later, I stalled the bike at some lights and the bike wouldn't start, it was turning over very slowly like it had a dead/ dying battery.

Fortunately a nice chap gave me a jump and the bike fired right up and so I rode the 15 miles back home. When I got home, I purposely stalled the bike and again and then went to start it just like before - whoosh it fired up immediately.

I have since bought and installed an Optimate 4, and set it on the CAN-BUS mode, and the charger says that the battery is in a good state and is currently in maintenance mode. I put a new battery in about 18 months ago.

Does anyone have any ideas what may be wrong with it?

Thanks

Andi_archer · Sep 4, 2019

What is the charging voltage reporting, that said it does sound like a dying battery?

StewMcGrew · Sep 4, 2019

I thought it might be a dying battery too - Same thing happened before I replaced to this current one 18 months ago but I thought that with it only being 18mths old it would be OK. There is no alarm on the bike, just the factory immobiliser.

I bought the Optimate with the hope that it could save it.

I've not checked the charging voltage yet. Is that just a case of start the bike and then place a volt meter across the battery terminals?

Andi_archer · Sep 4, 2019

Yes, when reving the engine it should rise slowly and read around 13.5 volts or so

squibb34 · Sep 4, 2019

Whilst it could well be the battery starting to fail, it may be worth checking over the neg/earth leads, battery leads & starter pos lead given the symptoms. Any loose or corroded connections?

buncobooth · Sep 4, 2019

I think I had this with the previous battery. Fired up from cold no problems and Optimate said it was fine, but starting while hot would do the same.

NicD · Sep 4, 2019

https://www.triumphrat.net/speed-tr...-diagnostics-rectifier-regulator-upgrade.html

Have posted this previously. Worth a read

1) Ignition off, unloaded battery.
2) Ignition on, headlights on, not running
3) Bike started, running at idle

For condition 1, should be at least in the high 12.x range if fully charged.

In condition 2, your voltage should not drop much below 12.0 at worst. (It may continue to drop – hopefully slowly! – as your lights will be discharging it. However this should be a slow decline)
If it does drop immediately into the 11’s, your battery is insufficiently charged – if it was just charged from a battery charger however, then it indicates your battery no longer has sufficient capacity to retain charge/supply current to load and should be replaced.

Condition 3 is what we are most interested in with respect to charging capability.
Voltage should be at least in the 13’s at all engine rpm

I get about 14.3v on GS when running

AberdeenAngus · Sep 4, 2019

Hexheads struggling to restart when hot is not uncommon.
Mine has always done it and no amount of fault finding has revealed the issue.
Rest assured, although struggling, mine has never actually failed to start.
Fit the best battery you can afford, and keep it fully charged.

StewMcGrew · Sep 5, 2019

AberdeenAngus said:
Hexheads struggling to restart when hot is not uncommon.
Mine has always done it and no amount of fault finding has revealed the issue.
Rest assured, although struggling, mine has never actually failed to start.
Fit the best battery you can afford, and keep it fully charged.

Ah, the old "They all do that sir!"

Thanks for the info. Will prob get a new battery and just keep the new optimate on it.

Mac One · Sep 5, 2019

AberdeenAngus said:
Hexheads struggling to restart when hot is not uncommon.
Mine has always done it and no amount of fault finding has revealed the issue.
Rest assured, although struggling, mine has never actually failed to start.
Fit the best battery you can afford, and keep it fully charged.

I've got a 2011 twin cam it was struggling to turn over sometimes when it was hot, I put a new battery in it, it's still the same, but it's never failed to start.

There's been a few threads on here about it, some guys thought cleaning and lubing the starter motor improved things.

Slipperyeel · Sep 5, 2019

My 2011 also seemed to struggle to start, hot or cold to be honest.

Switched to a lithium battery and it has fired up, on the button, instantly ever since...

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

Santa-2512 · Sep 6, 2019

AberdeenAngus said:
Hexheads struggling to restart when hot is not uncommon.
Rest assured, although struggling, mine has never actually failed to start.
.

You must be lucky, when my Hexhead starter & battery were on the way out, it would give me one or two hot restart attempts before throwing in the towel

Weird starting issue

StewMcGrew

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Andi_archer

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StewMcGrew

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Andi_archer

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squibb34

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buncobooth

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NicD

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AberdeenAngus

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StewMcGrew

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Mac One

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Slipperyeel

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Santa-2512

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