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Hi, the Falco has starting probs again

I put a new Yuasa YTZ14S on a couple of weeks ago. It's performed perfectly until today - starting great. The bike has a Datatool alarm on, so I've been checking the battery by attaching the charger regularly. It's been spot on. However, the alarm did go off yesterday and the battery was a bit down this morning. I charged it back up, but it's not working correctly. I'm getting some turn over, but it goes to the buzzing noise fairly quickly. It would appear the battery has lost it's power already. Could the alarm have killed the battery so soon? I understand a battery won't fully recover if it goes under 40% charge, but I don't think mine's been that low. Perhaps the buzzing noise indicates a problem with the bike, but it only ever does it when a battery gets weak. Could it be a faulty battery?

Hi all,

When you got battery did you check it's charge before fitting? Some sit on the shelf for ages. Could of done with a charge before fitting, then ride the damn thing to keep it charged up....

Out steeds don't like a poor battery Take it off and give it a charge without the alarm affecting it...

I see others are not working either

Yes, the battery was great at first. I charged it up when I got it, but it was already good.

I'm commuting on the bike so it gets ridden a few times a week. It was clearly powerful when I got it, but today either something has changed on the bike or something has changed with the battery. The other possibility is my charger is not giving an accurate reading - maybe the battery is not fully charged? Seems odd the bike was faultless up until today - it does seem like the battery has lost a bit of umph.

Another possibility. Can the starter motor get lazy - ie it needs more juice to get into action. I don't think it can be that as the battery performed great so recently.

The starter solenoid contacts can become oxidised and therefore high impedance - as can other connections in the starting circuit. Make sure all connections are clean and tight.
The solenoid can be investigated by sticking a big screwdriver between the power terminals - and if it starts easily via the screwdriver, then you need a new solenoid.
Take care doing this - big currents will flow and you will probably get some sparks. Hold the insulated handle of the screwdiver .... and only do this if you are not of a nervous disposition and are sufficiently convinced you know what you are doing. Of course make sure all other contacts in the charging circuit are clean before you do this (including the ground-return path).

Make sure you use a BIG screwdriver, the current passed will be enough to blow a chunk off the tip of a smaller one. I once accidentally bridged across both sides of a capacitor on a small guitar amp and that left me with a snaggletoothed slotted screwdriver.

Check all battery leads are clean and tight including those going to starter motor/ starter soleniod BUT dont forget to disconnect battery before you start checking other connections

Thanks for the info; will do some investigation

Hi all,

Think your problem is with your charging unit. If the battery was ok when you bought it, then, after two weeks, it has failed. All leads on bike would be ok, maybe your battery charger or connection is at fault..

GregD-UK wrote:Hi all,

Think your problem is with your charging unit. If the battery was ok when you bought it, then, after two weeks, it has failed. All leads on bike would be ok, maybe your battery charger or connection is at fault..

Yep - that was going to be my next line of enquiry if the starting circuit was OK and still wouldn't start.

There again .... the word Datatool was mentioned ....... so that is another candidate ...

Have you been leaving it on charge or just connecting the charger to check the voltage?

I left the bike on charge past when the charger thought it was ready and the bike's been fine. So I'm going to replace my battery charger first. Any recommendations? I can't leave the bike permanently on charge, but can connect every week for a bit.

ReggieGasket wrote:I left the bike on charge past when the charger thought it was ready and the bike's been fine. So I'm going to replace my battery charger first. Any recommendations? I can't leave the bike permanently on charge, but can connect every week for a bit.

What battery charger do you have?
I've known people to get caught out not understanding how Optimates and some others work.
When they have charged the battery, they drop into a trickle mode. If you disconnect the battery charger and go for a ride (or leave it disconnected from the charger for a while) and then come and plug it back in to the charger, if you haven't turned the charger off and then on again, it will be stuck in this trickle mode. If the battery had become low, it won't charge it properly.
It is essential that every time you use it that you turn it off at the mains and then back on again.

Not saying this is what you have been doing but I think that not a lot of people know this and end up moaning about chargers and batteries just because they aren't using them correctly.

That's useful thanks. Mine is a Sparkrite, which has performed well but I can't really make any comparisons. It has an off on switch, but I don't switch off at the mains. Will experiment with that.

ReggieGasket wrote:That's useful thanks. Mine is a Sparkrite, which has performed well but I can't really make any comparisons. It has an off on switch, but I don't switch off at the mains. Will experiment with that.

I know nothing about Sparkright but turning off and on at the mains is certainly worth while.
BTW don't just flick the switch off and on - you need to give the capacitors time to self-discharge so that the electronics are reset properly.