Ive read a low battery will really wreak havoc on these bikes so heres my question. My bike is fairly new to me, however the previous owner said the battery was fairly new(I think) it will take a charge with my Battery tender and show a initial reading of 13+ volts and then within a short period drop back to 12.2 to 12.3 volts. I dont belive this is enough am I right? 12.6+ Is the correct voltage. The bike starts fine and it is charging as well.
Thank a bunch.
I've had my bike 3 weeks but within the first couple of days I did have some battery woes. The dealership didn't quite have my bike ready to go when I arrived to pick it up so they took a battery from another bike that had been on the floor for about 4 months and put into my Tiger. It started well for the first couple of days but on the third the starter just made a ticking sound. At this stage it was reading 10.6 V. The problem? The battery had dropped in voltage due to not being run in the other bike for four months and I had only done short trips (about 15 Kms) for the first couple of days, thus the battery didn't get a chance to recharge off the bike properly. I put it on the trickle charger (1.2mAh) for 12 hours and then it was reading 14.2V and has maintained around 13V to 13.1V with no further problems since.
So yes, it will even start with slightly less than 12 V but a battery in good condition should be reading somewhere between 12.5 to 13.4 volts on average. If it drops as low as mine did, it will trigger an error code and the engine light will illuminate. If this happens, just go through 3 heat cycles (start-run to operating temp-let cool to cold) and the light will go out as of the fourth start.
Also, some rapid/quick chargers will get the battery back to voltage very quickly but the battery my drop in voltage quickly aftwards. It does take longer but a trickle charger is always better for the battery and it will hold it's charge longer.[/i]