How to Deal with Your Bike’s Dead Battery

Does the word dead battery make your skin crawl? A dead battery can happen to anyone and it can happen for several reasons. The most common reason for a dead battery is simply that your battery is old and worn out. In other words, it’s out of juice!

Should you find yourself with a dead battery there are a few things you can do. The first thing would be to try is to jump start the bike, below are a list of things that will make that process easier.

1. Position the motorcycle that you are going to use to jump start you bike so that the batteries are facing each other.

2. Remove the battery covers from both bikes.

3. Examine the terminal connections on the bike that has a dead battery and look for any lose connections or corrosion on the terminals. If you find either of these conditions repair the problems before you attempt to jump start the bike.

4. If it is a non-sealed battery, you should check the fluid level.

5. Look for any damage to the battery case. If you see any fluid leaking from the battery do not attempt to jump the battery or an explosion may occur. If everything looks okay, then it is safe to attempt to jump the battery.

6. Carefully attach the red jumper cable to the positive post on the dead battery first and then connect to the good battery. Be carefully not to ground the connectors to any other part of the bike.

7. Now connect the black jumper cable to the negative terminal of the dead battery and the other black cable to the good battery if a good connection can be made.

8. Start the bike with the good battery and wait a few minutes. Then try to start the motorcycle with the dead battery. If the bike does not start up right away, do not just turn the starter over and over, because by engaging the starter for long periods of time you will damage the starter and it will also over heat. Instead, just give it a few minutes longer and try again.

9. As soon as the bike starts, remove the cables in the reverse order that you put them on, so negative (black) cables removed first and then positive (red) cables.

If you use a car battery to jump start, be sure to use the same procedure as above except you should not start the car. The excess voltage from the car will damage the charging circuit of you motorcycle.

In most cases, this procedure will work to start your bike, but if the procedure fails to start your motorcycle and you have roadside assistance, it’s time to call them. Most plans will tow the bike to the nearest dealer.

Good maintenance of your bike will reduce the amount of breakdowns you will have. A dead battery can be caused by something as simple as leaving your lights on while the bike is parked. It can also be a result of something more complicated, like a charging circuit that has a problem. If you treat your bike to a new battery then it will treat you to easy starting every time.