Street Bob Battery

BigAlEly

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At the risk of ridicule, and general piss take, I have gone to my Street Bob 2019 today and got that clunk clunk when trying to start it up after the winter lock down… been on trickle charge since October.

Same in 2019 and 2020…. But no dice today… won’t turn over. Guess the battery is fecked.

Quick question, can I try using jump leads to start it off the car, or will that feck the bike completely?

Oh, and as the HD dealership is now closed until Tuesday, how much is a new battery… the one I find online is £259 for a lithium battery. Any suggestions on an online source or a battery that’s better than an HD one?

I know I should know this shit stuff, but I don’t. So I thought I would I ask the wise ones.

Cheers,
Al
 
At the risk of ridicule, and general piss take, I have gone to my Street Bob 2019 today and got that clunk clunk when trying to start it up after the winter lock down… been on trickle charge since October.

Same in 2019 and 2020…. But no dice today… won’t turn over. Guess the battery is fecked.

Quick question, can I try using jump leads to start it off the car, or will that feck the bike completely?

Oh, and as the HD dealership is now closed until Tuesday, how much is a new battery… the one I find online is £259 for a lithium battery. Any suggestions on an online source or a battery that’s better than an HD one?

I know I should know this shit stuff, but I don’t. So I thought I would I ask the wise ones.

Cheers,
Al

You can jump them off the car battery.

I assume you have checked both connections? It's unusual for a battery on a decent battery tender to discharge like that. I would whip it off and get it tested at a garage before you take the plunge. If it is fecked, Motobatt are pretty good, I get mine from www.tanya.co.uk The lithium batteries are also good, and are lighter than oem. They don't like the cold though and sometimes have to be "woken up" (turn ignition/lights on for 30 secs before cranking). They are more expensive than lead acid and you would also need a specific lithium charger/tender if yours doesn't do them already.

(edit.) I had exactly the same thing on my Goldwing. The tender hadn't connected properly and the battery was fecked or so I thought. I took it off and force charged it on the bench with a starter/charger. Back on the bike, went for a spin and then back on the tender and touch wood it has been fine ever since.:thumb

(edit again!) I had a 2018 Heritage and it was a bugger for draining batteries, sometimes in a few days when not on the tender. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the M8 softails of that era were well known for it. I bought a HD "Hogbooster":rolleyes: battery booster to carry on the bike just in case.
 
You can jump them off the car battery.

I assume you have checked both connections? It's unusual for a battery on a decent battery tender to discharge like that. I would whip it off and get it tested at a garage before you take the plunge. If it is fecked, Motobatt are pretty good, I get mine from www.tanya.co.uk The lithium batteries are also good, and are lighter than oem. They don't like the cold though and sometimes have to be "woken up" (turn ignition/lights on for 30 secs before cranking). They are more expensive than lead acid and you would also need a specific lithium charger/tender if yours doesn't do them already.

(edit.) I had exactly the same thing on my Goldwing. The tender hadn't connected properly and the battery was fecked or so I thought. I took it off and force charged it on the bench with a starter/charger. Back on the bike, went for a spin and then back on the tender and touch wood it has been fine ever since.:thumb

(edit again!) I had a 2018 Heritage and it was a bugger for draining batteries, sometimes in a few days when not on the tender. I seem to remember reading somewhere that the M8 softails of that era were well known for it. I bought a HD "Hogbooster":rolleyes: battery booster to carry on the bike just in case.

Thanks for the comprehensive reply… Will take your advice… tomorrow, evening hopefully. I was surprised this has happened. It’s an optimate can bus charger, which has served me well over the years. Much appreciated Si
 
As mentioned check the battery first, if ok then I would also check the starter relay, I had a Streetbob and it had a habit of the relay failing without warning. A tap with a spanner whilst trying to start it usually worked until a new one was sourced.
 
Jump your bike from a car battery only as a last resort, it’s not really recommended as car batteries have much bigger amperage, better to do it with another bike battery really 👍
 
Jump your bike from a car battery only as a last resort, it’s not really recommended as car batteries have much bigger amperage, better to do it with another bike battery really ��

Doesn’t matter. It’s the same voltage. The current is decided by the voltage and the impedance of the load.
 
Regarding the above posts about jump starting from a car battery.

Do it without the car's engine running.
If you start the car while the bike's connected, or connect to a running car, big damage can occur.
 
I’ve jumped my Harley a few times from a car.. as mentioned I do not have the car engine running.

I had a Motobatt … it was ok…. But struggled sometimes…..

I gave in and bought a genuine HD battery, I’m on my 4th winter …. It gets a top up every two weeks for 48hours on an optimate…

Always starts
 
Thanks for all of the feedback, fellas.

I have decided not to jump start it… mainly because getting the leads to the battery doesn’t seem possible :blast but also because if it decked the bike, it will defo happen to me… call me lucky :D

So, got a mate coming on Thursday with a voltmeter and a mains charger, so will test on the bike, then remove and give it a good charge, hopefully put it back and all will be good. If not, then it’s off to Harley for new one.

Will update later in the week.

Looking forward to getting out on the hog asap…can’t wait.

Thanks again, all.

Love following the Harley threads on here!
 
Regarding the above posts about jump starting from a car battery.

Do it without the car's engine running.
If you start the car while the bike's connected, or connect to a running car, big damage can occur.

That’s what I was worried about… thanks for the heads up :beerjug:
 
Minus 5 points for calling it a Hog……
 
Update: battery out, charged on the bench, back in this morning, all good so far! Hoping I got lucky.

The drop test read 4.6 vs so it was well low. Problems with the fob followed… but three different batteries in the fob sorted it. Getting the battery out and in was tricky, especially given that the strap was tucked under the battery. Good old YouTube sorted me out.

Minus 5 points for calling it a Hog…… Can I claim mitigation, as the bike is a bit of a pig…:D:blast maybe 2 points back? :D

More happy today and now on the trickle charger for a look next week, after 3 or 4 rides. 16 hour night shift tonigh, and short ride out tomorrow.

Thanks to all for advice.
 
Pig is fine… they can all be pigs…
 
Pig is fine… they can all be pigs…

Let’s see if it starts up this weekend when I get to it, that will when I know if it has been saved… cheers Twizzle
 


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