No speedo, no lights, no start.

[JDPnTN]

Hey guys, it's been a bit since I've been around but finally started getting a little time to ride again. Haven't had issues until the other day. Roll my bike out to take my daughter for a little spin. Started right up with no issues. Had a nice little ride with issues. Stopped for a little pizza, and went to leave. Light and speedo (Dakota Digital) came on normal. Gave it the crank and got the clunk. Mashed the compression valves and nothing. Not even the click. Then speedo and lights went out. Trailered home and have been looking up threads but just didn't see any with my same problem. If there is one please direct me there because I don't want to waste someone's time rehashing old stuff. My battery is less than a year old. I have 12.7 volts. One of the big issues and maybe biggest clue is SOMETIMES the lights and speedo MIGHT come on when I turn the ignition on or while messing with moving some wires. I cross my fingers and give it a crank and all I get is the compression valve click then all electronics shut down again. EHC lights are showing on power(steady) and controller (flashing). Ignition stays red when run pushed in. I've checked connections at battery, put more grease on the ehc pins, and checked voltage at solenoid. There I also have issues. The other day I checked it and had 12 volts coming through. The speedo and lights came back on for first time when testing this. I was relieved the ehc seemed to be doing its job. Today however I'm only getting 9 volts. It's like when I think I'm going in the right direction something else happens to pull me another. Really don't think it's my starter or solenoid because I don't think that would interrupt my electronics the way it is. By the way not much of a wrencher unless obvious things, but even less of electrician. If someone could send me in right direction it would be very appreciated. Never had it happen like this before. Thanks!

 

[Mickmorris]

Hey guys, it's been a bit since I've been around but finally started getting a little time to ride again. Haven't had issues until the other day. Roll my bike out to take my daughter for a little spin. Started right up with no issues. Had a nice little ride with issues. Stopped for a little pizza, and went to leave. Light and speedo (Dakota Digital) came on normal. Gave it the crank and got the clunk. Mashed the compression valves and nothing. Not even the click. Then speedo and lights went out. Trailered home and have been looking up threads but just didn't see any with my same problem. If there is one please direct me there because I don't want to waste someone's time rehashing old stuff. My battery is less than a year old. I have 12.7 volts. One of the big issues and maybe biggest clue is SOMETIMES the lights and speedo MIGHT come on when I turn the ignition on or while messing with moving some wires. I cross my fingers and give it a crank and all I get is the compression valve click then all electronics shut down again. EHC lights are showing on power(steady) and controller (flashing). Ignition stays red when run pushed in. View attachment 81102I've checked connections at battery, put more grease on the ehc pins, and checked voltage at solenoid. There I also have issues. The other day I checked it and had 12 volts coming through. The speedo and lights came back on for first time when testing this. I was relieved the ehc seemed to be doing its job. Today however I'm only getting 9 volts. It's like when I think I'm going in the right direction something else happens to pull me another. Really don't think it's my starter or solenoid because I don't think that would interrupt my electronics the way it is. By the way not much of a wrencher unless obvious things, but even less of electrician. If someone could send me in right direction it would be very appreciated. Never had it happen like this before. Thanks!

Dang that’s a bummer for the New Year. I am sure you will get the help you need here!

 

[Mikeinjersey]

Hey guys, it's been a bit since I've been around but finally started getting a little time to ride again. Haven't had issues until the other day. Roll my bike out to take my daughter for a little spin. Started right up with no issues. Had a nice little ride with issues. Stopped for a little pizza, and went to leave. Light and speedo (Dakota Digital) came on normal. Gave it the crank and got the clunk. Mashed the compression valves and nothing. Not even the click. Then speedo and lights went out. Trailered home and have been looking up threads but just didn't see any with my same problem. If there is one please direct me there because I don't want to waste someone's time rehashing old stuff. My battery is less than a year old. I have 12.7 volts. One of the big issues and maybe biggest clue is SOMETIMES the lights and speedo MIGHT come on when I turn the ignition on or while messing with moving some wires. I cross my fingers and give it a crank and all I get is the compression valve click then all electronics shut down again. EHC lights are showing on power(steady) and controller (flashing). Ignition stays red when run pushed in. View attachment 81102I've checked connections at battery, put more grease on the ehc pins, and checked voltage at solenoid. There I also have issues. The other day I checked it and had 12 volts coming through. The speedo and lights came back on for first time when testing this. I was relieved the ehc seemed to be doing its job. Today however I'm only getting 9 volts. It's like when I think I'm going in the right direction something else happens to pull me another. Really don't think it's my starter or solenoid because I don't think that would interrupt my electronics the way it is. By the way not much of a wrencher unless obvious things, but even less of electrician. If someone could send me in right direction it would be very appreciated. Never had it happen like this before. Thanks!

Hey JDP Couple of things. First what bike do you have? Next 12.7 is not enough 12.8 is what you are looking for. Even though your battery is only 1 yr it could be bad. Charge it up and get it load tested so you can remove the battery as a possible cause of your problem. Make sure all your battery connections are clean and tight. You mentioned wiggling wires to get the lights to come on. Check the headlamp plug it may be damaged ( a known issue ).
The only time you should get 12v at the starter is when you press the start button. Disconnect the green wire at the starter to read the voltage. You may see a voltage on the wire before hitting start but what happens when you hit the start is what counts. You will also hear the compression releases click at the same time. If you seem OK with the green wire disconnected, reconnect it and try to start while reading across the battery to see how much the voltage drops. If the starter is failing it can suck the life out of a battery in no time or a bad battery will drop excessive voltage and loose the ability to crank the engine.
A bad ground or low voltage can make the EHC do almost anything. The lights on top of the EHC are fault lights but yours seem to be Normal showing Yellow (ignition sw on) and Green ( controller on). Look for additional ones to light up while you troubleshoot for possible clues.
For now , double check battery connections and the headlight. Also check where the battery grounds to the bike it can easily be overlooked. Follow the negative (black) cable to the frame or starter mounting. It could be dirty or loose.
Where does that heavy upper red cable go to on your bike?
Come back with your findings and we can continue if necessary. Good Luck!

 

[Sven]

I'd pull the battery. Why? Might have to change it anyway. Get it pro-rated for a year's worth of service. So the battery is out of the bike and can be bench tested, or bring to an auto center to have it load tested. The home-school load test is with a set of jumper cables, where you fix the (+) clamp to the starter's stud, then stab the (-) jumper cable ground to a hidden bolt that you know is grounded to the frame. And I mean jam the (-) clamp as quick as you can so less sparks fly. You have to make sure that stab is going to instantly turn the starter motor over, or heat will build at the clamp and you'll feel the heat.

Spins over it ain't the battery. Burn your hand, it's the battery.

 

[JDPnTN]

Sorry guys I knew I forgot to add some info. I have a 2005 Ridgeback. Mikeinjersey yeah I did get the 12 volts from the green wire after pushing the run/start. It was reading maybe 3-4 volts prior to pushing start. Sven I'll get it tested to make sure just never thought 12.7 would be considered low but seen several posts state that. I had it on the charger the other day for a while and 12.7 was as high as it got. Lots of good dudes on here I know we can figure this out.

 

[Th3InfamousI]

I would put my money on it's just the battery.

Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

 

[Sven]

My experience has been stabbing the posi side of the charger connector and see it pumping out over 14v. Then when I disconnect I see plus 13v and after it cools, I get something like 12.7v. But it would probably cool at 12.8+ if it were not an 8 year old battery still in service.

So if you pull the charger off and it reads 12.7, not 13 and change... it can't hold a charge. So instead of chasing battery posts, say the battery says 12N14a.
12 = the voltage capacity
N = lead post placements at the top
14 = the amp hours
Whereas, formula says to use a charger with 1.4 amps read at the back of the charger.
Where formula says to move the decimal point over to the right to see what amp rating you need to charge the battery.
That says to go look at the sticker and read the amp rating. 1.2a on a 14a battery says you lower the full charge by 0.2v. Short life is that trickle not pushing higher.

So I have a 1.5a rated charger, and for ease of math, formula says to charge the battery for literally 14 hours using a 1.4 amp battery charger. Whereas, I would use the formula of .1a overcharged, and shorten the charge by what, 1 hour 4 minutes or 14 minutes? The point here is not to over cook the plates. Sure, you can run a 10a battery charger at it, but the hours are much shorter to get up to a higher cook level. That means you want the acid and water back in solution. Low amp produces champagne bubbles that ooze between the pleats. High amp produces boiling water and that kind of bubble blows out the plates and renders it useless.

This 8 year old battery went thru 3 cycles of discharge down to 2v, then back up to 14 hours on the charger, then high beam and brake lights draining the battery down 2 more times, and the 3rd fully charged battery now goes into service = 8 years later and counting.

Signed,
NOLTT

 

[JDPnTN]

Tested the battery and came back bad. Never thought it would go bad that quick and make my electrical act the way it is. I'll be checking on a new battery and hope that takes care of things.

 

[Mr. Wright]

Tested the battery and came back bad. Never thought it would go bad that quick and make my electrical act the way it is. I'll be checking on a new battery and hope that takes care of things.

Those everstart batteries will not hold up to the vibration these bikes have. Put a Deka battery in it. You can get it from Amazon or pick one up at a Harley shop

 

[JDPnTN]

Replaced the battery.Didnt even activate the ehc this time.

 

[JDPnTN]

Forget the above post. My dumbass just realized I didn't have one of the smaller cables connected. Fired right up and barking again! Thanks for the help guys. Never thought my battery would have gone bad that quick on me.

 

[avatharv]

My 06 K9 had the same issue when it was shipped to me. Turned out to be a faulty connection in the handlebar to the kill switch. If I turned my handlebars real hard to the right, I could start it. It was kinda funny once I figured out what was going on. Fixed now.

 

[HMAN]

Forget the above post. My dumbass just realized I didn't have one of the smaller cables connected. Fired right up and barking again! Thanks for the help guys. Never thought my battery would have gone bad that quick on me.

Thanks for the heads up. Glad you got it figured out now. You n your Dog had a bonding moment. So touching....lol. Happy you rolling man.