Replacement Battery

Energy One

Nukeranger

Nukeranger
Supporting Member
Now I know the symptom and I carry the porto-jump-box in my tool case so I won't plan on getting a beefier battery for a couple years.
That's a great plan. I also carry a small jump start in my coat pocket when any battery on a bike shows a sign of weakness.:chopper:
 

No H2O

Active Member
I spoke way too soon :(

Bike wouldn't start this afternoon after work. The usual rattling/fluttering attempt but no turn over. Hooked up the jump box and it had to be there for a while to get 'er started.

Rode back home, hooked up the tinder, was down to red (brand new battery put in Monday).

I checked for loose wires, any wires I may not have put back onto the battery, and the terminal connections are tight.

Now I have had a bad battery before but assuming this isn't the case, it has to be something to do with the charging system, any ideas where to start or do I just take it to the shop?
 

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No H2O

Active Member
Crank it up and check the battery with a voltmeter. Should idle over 13volts. Good place to start
I'll do that tonight.
Since the battery is new and odds are against it being a defective battery, it's then either the stater and/or rotor.
In the interest of getting a head start on the research I'm going to try and look up some videos. Not surprisingly there's nothing on how to replace these on an 04 Ridgeback so what is the most similar Harley to the Ridgeback so that I can get a general idea on how to replace these components?
 

Mr. Wright

Knows some things
Supporting Member
I wish I had a buck for every new bad Napa battery I seen. Get a multi meter on that charging system.
 

No H2O

Active Member
The guy at the shop I usually take my bikes to told me he could figure out if it was the stater or the rotor.
I rolled into the shop, left the engine running, he brought out a sizable phallic looking device with tester leads on it and was able to determine that the battery, stater, and rotor were all good but that the rectifier was bad. I didn't want to explore details because my battery was draining as we spoke and he told me that even though it started, the bike is running off the battery to a degree and it could cut out at any time.
So I left, then it cut out, so I left it at the shop and he's going to order the rectifier and put it in.
Since having to jump the bike each time and also the possibility of it stopping in mid ride are unpleasantries I prefer to avoid, I'm thinking that I'll just keep it on the tinder each night and in the morning if it's below green that means the tinder couldn't charge it fully even with a full night and that something'ss rotten in Denmark.
 

TapioK

Well-Known Member
The guy at the shop I usually take my bikes to told me he could figure out if it was the stater or the rotor.
I rolled into the shop, left the engine running, he brought out a sizable phallic looking device with tester leads on it and was able to determine that the battery, stater, and rotor were all good but that the rectifier was bad. I didn't want to explore details because my battery was draining as we spoke and he told me that even though it started, the bike is running off the battery to a degree and it could cut out at any time.
So I left, then it cut out, so I left it at the shop and he's going to order the rectifier and put it in.
Since having to jump the bike each time and also the possibility of it stopping in mid ride are unpleasantries I prefer to avoid, I'm thinking that I'll just keep it on the tinder each night and in the morning if it's below green that means the tinder couldn't charge it fully even with a full night and that something'ss rotten in Denmark.
Bad Voltage regulator is pretty common and cheap to replace, +- $100. No worries there.


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No H2O

Active Member
Got the bike back, put it on the tinder overnight, fires up in the AM and then in the afternoon for the ride back, no issues.
Two things I'm curious about though:

1) My other bike's battery plugs in and within minutes goes to solid green on the left with a blinking green on the right, no more yellow.
This battery, and it's been a few days so it *should* be fully charged back to normal maintains the yellow bars all the way to the bottom. Does this mean I drained the battery to the point that it can't recover to it's intended capacity?

2) My mechanic recommended the blue tinder for any/all bikes. (it is able to maintain a charge while plugged in without overcharging so I can just leave it plugged into the battery), the gray tinder came with the bike so not sure if that's because it's better suited for BDMs, anyone have experience with both and can recommend?
 

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MossBerg590

Active Member
Got the bike back, put it on the tinder overnight, fires up in the AM and then in the afternoon for the ride back, no issues.
Two things I'm curious about though:

1) My other bike's battery plugs in and within minutes goes to solid green on the left with a blinking green on the right, no more yellow.
This battery, and it's been a few days so it *should* be fully charged back to normal maintains the yellow bars all the way to the bottom. Does this mean I drained the battery to the point that it can't recover to it's intended capacity?

2) My mechanic recommended the blue tinder for any/all bikes. (it is able to maintain a charge while plugged in without overcharging so I can just leave it plugged into the battery), the gray tinder came with the bike so not sure if that's because it's better suited for BDMs, anyone have experience with both and can recommend?
The shumaker brand is a cheap walmart tender. I had one,worked fine for a year then the float mode quit working right and would keep charging and not switch to green like you said. Tossed it and bought a deltran battery tender jr and works fine.
 

41bigdawg

Let the Big Dawg eat !
Supporting Member
The shumaker brand is a cheap walmart tender. I had one,worked fine for a year then the float mode quit working right and would keep charging and not switch to green like you said. Tossed it and bought a deltran battery tender jr and works fine.
Definitely get yourself a Deltran Battery Tender, I have two of the double bank systems and they work great, never have to worry about them. Anything else and you will be buying new ones over and over, jme :old2:
 
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