Intermittent Electrical Issue

[smutny]

Trying to diagnose a strange issue.

Last week I stuffed my rain pants under the seat on top of the air box, up against the battery. The next morning when I tried to start up to go to work, the starter clicked, then I lost all power. Dashboard went dark. Remembering the pants, I popped the seat, pulled them out, physically checked the battery connections and tried to start again. She fired right up. Figured the pants put pressure somewhere and nixed that idea for storing them.

A few days later, same thing. She didn't start on the first try, on the second press of the starter button, click and dead. Popped the seat, physically checked the connections, tried again and she fired up.

Today, it happened three times. Once once leaving work, at the gas station and just now as I wanted to move the bike into the shop. Each time, popping the seat and giving the battery a shake allowed me to fire up the engine.

I ride daily and did notice over the last week that she wont' catch on the first try anymore, it's always the second press of the starter button.

The battery is a Westco, supposedly installed just before I bought the bike June 2013.

She did sit from February through mid August as I was doing some work, the battery was not hooked up to a trickle charger, but never failed to fire up during testing.

Surfing I get mixed reviews on the Westco batteries. Thinking that may be the issue. However, does this sound like any other electrical issue common to Oilheads?

[CycleRob]

The symptoms you describe . . . works, does not work, click then dead, jiggle battery then it works - - - they all describe 2 types of a poor connection.

1--A cracked inter-cell strap/bar connector inside the battery.
2--Corroded/loose/fuzzy battery terminals.

On number 1, that type of failure is a combination of an inter-cell connector casting defect combined with a very high current draw (starter + cold engine that doesn't start for 10+ seconds).

On number 2, the corrosion or maybe a dull, uniform, oxidized layer covering the battery cable terminals that "looks Ok" but actually is a poor conductor. Try disconnecting the terminals to wire brush them until shiny metal shows on the tightening contact surfaces. Include the battery posts tightening surfaces too. Then apply a waterproof or dielectric grease to all those surfaces before tightening them up.

If it still behaves the same after that clean-n-grease procedure, it is the battery that needs a warranty replacement.

[smutny]

It's been a while since I posted, didn't follow up here as I progressed through the issue.

The battery terminals are clean, I inspect them monthly.

During one of the bouts of "panel blackout", I noticed the lights flashed when I aggressively (out of frustration) slammed the side stand up. A couple more movements and the lights stayed on and I was able to start.

So, I figured the issue might be the side stand safety switch. Once home, I focused on that area, it was really grimy and dirty, moved to a rural farming area and didn't increase my frequency of cleaning the bike. While cleaning out that side stand pivot area, I noticed the protective sheath around the wire leading to the oil pressure sensor had deteriorated and the wire was in contact with the metal retention clip and engine. No metal of the wire was exposed, but after cleaning the side stand I re-wrapped the oil pressure sensor wire.

Since then, no issues. The first day I only used the center stand, then went out of town for a couple days, but now I'm using the side stand.

We'll see what develops.

Edit: I think the battery was a red herring, as I always put the bike on the side stand to take the seat off to access the battery. Moving the stand, not the battery, may have been the "fix".