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Iron Butt
Posts: 804
Perry Hall, MD | I've had my 08 for just over a year and at 17k miles have started having a battery problem.
Started with sluggish start with the low battery light staying on for a couple of seconds. Tightened the neg terminal and it was fine for a few days, then sitting in stop and go traffic the light would come on whenever I was sitting still (using throttle without moving had no effect). Required a hot shot for next start and no low battery light showing.
Charged it, cleaned and tightened terminals and everything was fine for several days. Dash volt meter shows that the system is charging (usually 12 - 15v). As I hit the curb pulling into the driveway yesterday the light came back on. Parked it and tried to restart only to find that it wouldn't (lights, radio, all come on). Volt meter shows approx. 11 volts in battery.
I can turn a wrench, but the electrical system is something I am nearly clueless on.
Do I just replace the battery or take it in for diagnostic? Thanks!! |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 741
Central New York | Do a search here on the word "stator". |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 804
Perry Hall, MD | Will do, thanks. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 742
North Orange County CA | You might also check to be sure that the connections to the main circuit breaker have not loosened up. It is found under the plastic cover on the left side of the bike between the front of the engine and the oil cooler.
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Visionary
Posts: 8144
New Bohemia, VA | Also, I would get it resolved quickly as bike electronics don't like low batteries. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 226
on the edge of Los Angeles | Don't hesitate to change the Battery. Its an 08 and my Battery on my 08 died 1 year ago. Granted I have more miles on mine but I think the OEM Battery was not so good.
When the Battery is weak or dying these bike tend to do strange things. Under $100.0 for battery to eliminate one of the more probable issues. |
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Visionary
Posts: 1632
Jasper, MO | Sounds like a battery to me. My original took a dump on me not long after I got the bike. The replacement is still going strong. I think a lot of the '08's had old batteries in them, that is, they may have been on the shelf for a while.
Ronnie |
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Visionary
Posts: 4278
| You say you hit the curb. Did you hit the regulator all so?? Check the wire from the regulator to the battery make sure you didn't brake the wire in half. Get a meter and after you have a full charge fire the bike up and see what amps
your putting out. At idle it should be around 12 and when you rev it up you should be 14. Use star washers on all bat terminals victory still
uses the old stiff battery cables and they all ways come lose. The after market world sells flexible cables and by using them problem solved. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 804
Perry Hall, MD | Replace battery, check connections, have dealer run diagnostics (stator a bit over my head), if necessary, see what the extended warranty will cover, then get back to the honey-do-list. Wife isn't going to be pleased with the order. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 88
Nova Scotia , Canada | Check with your dealer to see if all of the recalls were completed on the Bike. There was an issue with loose terminal connections.
Don |
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Visionary
Posts: 1290
Ruskin, Fl | Ditto on the bad battery. My origional crapped out after about six months. It either had a short or a bad cell. It started doind odd stuff. The bike would fire right up after sitting all night and been stone dead after a 30 min. ride, and a everything in between. Let it sit and the lights would come back on. Most auto part stores will load test it for no charge. |
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Cruiser
Posts: 162
Northern NJ | Interesting.
My 2009 Vision was having an intermittent high idle (1,500+ RPM) situation, and often sounded weak cranking.
The dealer said the radio software was outdated, and may have been causing a battery drain, and subsequently making the bike idle higher to charge the battery. |
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Iron Butt
Posts: 804
Perry Hall, MD | Replacement battery and checking the connections didn't help. Ends up that the regulator isn't working.
Dealer just replaced several undercarriage items damaged in an accident and believes this is a residual problem from sliding into the curb. Of course they didn't have one in stock and I'm doing multiple 70 mile trips just waiting to get stranded along the way.
Now, do I throw the original battery back in? If so, how do I keep a very slightly used battery fresh until I actually need a replacement? |
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Visionary
Posts: 4278
| Charge the heck out of the bat and then go to a batteries plus and they can do a load test and tell you if its good or bad.
At the top of this page under forms there is vision tech I put a photo in there on star washers you can get at the hardware store
for about a 25 cents a piece. Put on each bolt and I'll bet they will not loosen any more on you.
Victor uses a hard battery cable when they should use a flexible one and they wouldn't have this problem. In the old days we could cut a cable open and find coarsen in side the cable. |
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Low Battery