Dead Battery?

[Fritzc]

Beautiful warm (45 degrees F) sunny day here in central Michigan and couldn't resist the urge to get in a little ride, my first of February so I could maintain my status as a Rounder!
All dressed up with no place to go!! DEAD BATTERY! :banghead
Headlight is bright, turnsignals work but not a click when pressing the starter!
I forgot to try the horn. I have never had a dead/low battery on a vehicle that did not at least get a click, whirr, or buzzing sound. With all this computer jazz is there something I don't know? Anyhoo, I have the battery tender on it and will try it in the morning. By the way it is only 2-3 weeks since I last rode it. Prolly will be a blizzard in the morning. Chicago, what's it like? We usually get your weather a day later.
FWIW the bike is a 2001R1100RT-Police.
Thanks

[BubbaZanetti]

not that it needs to be said, but all the "dumb dumb" stuff check out (killswitch, sidestand, etc........)???

[PETDOC]

Borrow a volt meter and check the battery to see if it is really dead. If not problem may lie elsewhwere.

[Fritzc]

not that it needs to be said, but all the "dumb dumb" stuff check out (killswitch, sidestand, etc........)???

Boy do I ever feel stupid! :gerg Alzheimer's is setting in.
It was the sidestand!!! :doh Stilll not used to this new fangled modern bike stuff.
Also need to get out and ride some more. Blah! Winter. Well I tried.
Thanks to those that responded. False Alarm!! :bolt

[BubbaZanetti]

whoa! it actually worked this time, i didn't actually have to start thinking about a "real" problem :stick

[riderR1150GSAdv]

whoa! it actually worked this time, i didn't actually have to start thinking about a "real" problem :stick

:laugh :thumb

[Mika]

:D :wave

The main thing is you are riding again.

[pmdave]

If anyone tells you they have never done anything dumb, they are, uhh, "prevaricating".

More than a few riders have had their bikes trailered to the dealer for a "battery failure" because they forgot to switch on the "kill switch".

The K1 had an interesting sidestand/starter setup. With the sidestand down, everything would light up and the starter would crank, but the engine wouldn't fire. (until you retracted the sidestand) Who knows why the German engineers do what they do?

BTW, those sidestand switches can fail, or get a small stone lodged in the opening, so it's a good idea to clean and lubricate the mechanism from time to time.

I'm a fan of automatic battery chargers. I just plug a charger into the pigtail on each bike after the ride. One excellent charger is the small Schumaker from Wal Mart (about $17)

pmdave

[widebmw]

As I remember on my R100R while checking my lights the brake light would not come on. It took a few minutes but, the brake light will not come on when the kill switch is on.

[PUDGYPAINTGUY]

My most embarassing was when I was trying to start my bike on a ferry with traffic backing up and then the guy next to me lifted his visor and asked "should your kill switch be over to the left?"...lol. I thought that the fact it was cranking (UJMs often won't crank with the kill switch on) meant that I did not have to glance at that but boy what a lesson that was...after all what are good friends for if not to wait until you are thoroughly flustered as horns begin to honk in a steel cavernous structure eh?...lmbo

[soffiler]

Yeah, I've done plenty of dumb stuff in my life. Today at least, so far so good, but...

Anyway, here's a hint. Bright headlight and dead battery don't belong in the same sentence. Sure, there is such a thing as a compromised battery with just enough juice to run the headlight yet not the starter. But in this case you'll always get the "click" from the starter. Dead silence means something else... as you've learned. Glad to hear it's "fixed" anyway. Now get out there and get your Rounder credit for February!

(They say 50F and partly cloudy this Saturday in southern New England... this will be the THIRD IN A ROW!!!)

[Kev95GS]

I usually figure it out when I don't hear the fuel pump running when I turn the key. If it's doesn't come up then the side stand or kill switch is probably the culprit.

Kevin

[BubbaZanetti]

i sat in a parking lot at a euro bike night last year and held my friends up for 10 minutes before one of them pointed at the sidestand, it happens to everyone i think

[Fritzc]

I usually figure it out when I don't hear the fuel pump running when I turn the key. Kevin
I wondered what that noise was!! Wow! I learn something every day on this forum! Thanks. :kiss