Late for work

karl

karl

Site Supporter
Joined
Dec 13, 2010
Messages
700
Location
Hampden, MA
Bike
2010 Silver NT700VAA
The clock on the dash said I had plenty of time. Had stopped for fuel and the mileage on the trip Odometer was 10.something rather than 200+ that should have been a warning... I typically leave the LCD display on instant MPG. Last month I noticed the display on total miles after starting the bike and thought maybe the battery was going off and put it on a charger. Seemed OK. Reset the clock and moved on.

Seems just the items you can change with the buttons on the cluster are affected. Gauges all seem to be working normally. Bike starts normally. It did rain yesterday and the bike was outside and as usual uncovered.
 
If your battery is suspect then when you start the bike the clock can reset...
 
The bike starts fine. The "resets" are happening when the bike is parked.
 
When my battery first started to get weak, while it still started the bike, I did noticed that it started to jump between the variable screens. It had dropped from 12.8V to 12.6V when that started.
 
When the battery is suspect, the bike will still start OK. The tell-tale signs are jumping between settings and the clock resetting.

I would think about a new battery soon...
 
If you don't use your bike in the winter, you're ok until next spring.

If your winters are mild, not below about 5C/41F then you might make it over the winter. If your winters are below that, you ride and you don't replace the battery, I'd take a jump-start battery with me. I use the DBPower 300A and it worked brilliantly while I was waiting for my replacement battery to arrive.
 
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took the seat off and put a meter on the battery and it read 12 volts. Will drive to work today and get a new one.
 
12v is not good as in "panic" bad. It's only holding about 40% charge.

Any battery below 12.1v is, to all intents and purposes, dead.

A fully charged, resting battery which has a voltage of 11.5v is totally dead. Any fully charged, resting battery reading 12.3v or below at 25?C/77?F is probably not going to survive the winter. Certainly not a cold winter.

A fully charged, resting new battery will show between 12.6v and 12.7v depending on the internal resistance (a specific gravity of 1.277 per cell).

Note: Voltage and specific gravity are temperature dependent. The lower the temperature, the lower the voltage reading, the higher the specific gravity reading. Also, the specific gravity can vary slightly by manufacturer.

Specific Gravity is the best way to check a battery except that you can't open an OEM NT700 battery!!

I replaced mine with a Lithium battery and will highly recommend it provided your winters are mild. If you experience cold winters regularly well below 0?C and still ride, lithium is probably not for you.
 
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The closest Honda dealer is about an hour away. Same for another source of non dealer gear. There is a Victory Yamaha Kawasaki guy around the corner from where I work. Bought a Bike Master brand battery for 99. bucks. Ouch. Thinking five minutes should have it done.

Stuck the little nuts into place and tilted the new battery into place and plink plunk the positive nut falls into the maze of wires in the bike. Screw the little nut in place and add some masking tape to hold it in place. Back off the screw and pull it out with a fingernail. Attempt to put it all together and the screwdriver keeps turning ... Take it apart again and look.
the end of the stock wire end id just a wee bit too long and needs to get filed down. Naturally have to find the file and a pair of needle nose to hang on to it. that done (for full discloser I have three hot wires coming off the positive terminal making the screw too short) try once again to screw it all together and still no joy. The nut just cocks in the cage and the screw will not start. Language unfit for a forum of this nature ensues and I stop to think. Strip some wire from an other project and then snip the insulation in two. Slip them under both sides of the nut and Walla. "we be jammin" The negative is no problem. Will not insert any political commentary here. Rode to work, Met the mother of my children at a local Pizza place and bought her lunch. Rode home in 40 F weather with the grip heaters set to melt plastic. I am smiling, Life is good.
 
The stock Yuasa bolts are slightly too short. An extra 1mm is all that's needed. The bolts that came with my Lithium battery are slightly longer so installation was very easy.
 
It was really nothing, just took me more time than I had planned.
 
JQL said:
12v is not good as in "panic" bad. It's only holding about 40% charge.

Any battery below 12.1v is, to all intents and purposes, dead.

A fully charged, resting battery which has a voltage of 11.5v is totally dead. Any fully charged, resting battery reading 12.3v or below at 25?C/77?F is probably not going to survive the winter. Certainly not a cold winter.

A fully charged, resting new battery will show between 12.6v and 12.7v depending on the internal resistance (a specific gravity of 1.277 per cell).

Note: Voltage and specific gravity are temperature dependent. The lower the temperature, the lower the voltage reading, the higher the specific gravity reading. Also, the specific gravity can vary slightly by manufacturer.

Specific Gravity is the best way to check a battery except that you can't open an OEM NT700 battery!!

I replaced mine with a Lithium battery and will highly recommend it provided your winters are mild. If you experience cold winters regularly well below 0?C and still ride, lithium is probably not for you.
Click to expand...

A fully charged AGM battery should be 12.8-13.0. My new AGM has been holding at 13.0. My old AGM had starting issues when it got down to 12.6.
 
My first bike had a magneto and a kick starter, now my "old" grey Honda has computer controlled fuel injection ABS and an electric leg. New battery fixed the dash display problems and the ECU is probably much happier with with a clean voltage signal. Thank You to all that pointed out the problem to me.

Thanks again.
 
Yes, in general ,AGM batteries have a higher voltage.

Note, to properly charge an AGM battery, you should have a charger which is rated for AGM batteries as the input voltages need to be more tightly controlled.
 
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