- Joined
- Mar 25, 2023
- Messages
- 31
Hi all,
I have been working out of state and as such the bike sat for over a month ('73 Commando Roadster). I have the battery on a tender, and after a few kicks I managed to get the bike started, but as I let the clutch out I stalled and have not been able to start it since. After several kicks with absolutely no ignition, I wondered if I was getting spark and quickly realized that not only was I not getting spark, but I had no power to anything, i.e., no turn indicators, horn, lights. I had other things to do so I hooked the battery back up to the tender and left it.
A week or so later, I was able to return to do the most rudimentary tests with the multi meter. My battery is at 12.5 volts, but when I turn on the ignition via the key switch, the voltage drops to 4 volts. When I try to use any accessory, e.g., flipping the toggle for one of the turn indicators, my voltage drops to zero. I also have an aftermarket kill switch wired directly to the battery, and when I use that switch in lieu of the key switch, I still drop to 4 volts. Once again I did not have much time to monkey around, but just looking around the battery, fuse, and capacitor, there was nothing obviously wrong/disconnected.
Next time I am home to look at the bike, where should I start my search? I was going to jumper my car battery to the bike's battery to see if the battery was bad, but after that I am not sure what I would do.
Thank you.
I have been working out of state and as such the bike sat for over a month ('73 Commando Roadster). I have the battery on a tender, and after a few kicks I managed to get the bike started, but as I let the clutch out I stalled and have not been able to start it since. After several kicks with absolutely no ignition, I wondered if I was getting spark and quickly realized that not only was I not getting spark, but I had no power to anything, i.e., no turn indicators, horn, lights. I had other things to do so I hooked the battery back up to the tender and left it.
A week or so later, I was able to return to do the most rudimentary tests with the multi meter. My battery is at 12.5 volts, but when I turn on the ignition via the key switch, the voltage drops to 4 volts. When I try to use any accessory, e.g., flipping the toggle for one of the turn indicators, my voltage drops to zero. I also have an aftermarket kill switch wired directly to the battery, and when I use that switch in lieu of the key switch, I still drop to 4 volts. Once again I did not have much time to monkey around, but just looking around the battery, fuse, and capacitor, there was nothing obviously wrong/disconnected.
Next time I am home to look at the bike, where should I start my search? I was going to jumper my car battery to the bike's battery to see if the battery was bad, but after that I am not sure what I would do.
Thank you.
