Strange electrical behavior

[pstelter]

So I have a Yuasa battery in my 85 Aspy. It was working really well until one day (about two years agao) I was cleaning some of the bright work with steel wool and the battery cover off...let's just say that I had a deep discharge. I was able to re-charge it, but it never really was the same after that.

Fast forward to Tuesday this week. The weather is finally clear in CT and I want to ride to work. However, the morning was chilly and the bike did not want to start. The positive post got so hot it started to melt the jacket on the battery-tender leads. I put a charger on the bike and when I get back from work, the light is green and it starts right up.

This morning, I go to start it and it is all the way dead. Battery reads 12.7V but no power is going anywhere. Wiggle the positive lead and I'm live again. Bike slams to life and I ride into work (probably not the smartest idea, but I am tired of caging it),

Bike starts right up this afternoon, but I'm getting lots of noise coupled to the speakers. Additionally, the instrument cluster starts to cut in and out, like when the key is first turned on. Eventually the taillight and fuel indicators came on for about 10 seconds and then cleared again. Ride home was normal other than that respect.

WTH happened?

[roscoepc]

First off the positive terminal, well, it should be tight enough so you can't wiggle it!! So the first thing I'd do is remove both cables and look for signs of arcing, (which can cause the radio noise), clean and reinstall. Also check the main ground to make sure that isn't loose. And while yer at it, check those battery cables for stiffness. That would be a pretty good sign that they need to be replaced because they are old, getting hot which can cause higher resistance and lead to regulator failure! I've only seen this happen once, on a Ltd Ed, but it CAN happen!

[neoracer]

i think roscoepc is on the right track.i'd just go ahead and replace both the positive and negative leads,if the battery terminals are corroded its most likely gotten into the cables,i remmember the case don is talking about,the positive cable was so badly corroded and would be fine one day and next day wouldn't start, all was covered by the plastic insulation on the cable

[pstelter]

So I took the battery out and cleaned up the terminals and connectors as best as I could and put everything back together. So far, things are working really well. I should point out that I did not use any terminal grease (to inhibit corrosion) this time. I'm planning on replacing the dog-bone fuse with an ATM-style fuse one of these next few weekends. I'll apply the grease as part of that effort.

The cables still seemed pretty flexible. I did need to bend the ear pieces on the POS connector back down. They had started to bend up, allowing the contact to rotate on the terminal surface. Also, most of the movement that I effected when I wiggled the POS lead was in the cable slack itself. Perhaps I have an intermittent open in that short stub of a cable?

With respect to replacing the cables...do I need to buy specific cables or can I fabricate them myself? The NEG cable is still available, but the short POS cable is not.

[neoracer]

had a similar issue lately,started SEI and ran to store,went to restart and battery just clicked,jumped battery and rode home,restarted and pulled into garage after opening garage,next day same thing,battery 12.7 until hitting starter,went to 10.5vdc and clicked,cleaned terminals,same problem,noticed inside positive lead appeared corroded,got a used cable and same problem,cut open old one and it was fine,its made of a woven style cable,no corrosion,final result two tear old Odyssey is toast,2nd one that only lasted two years,will try another brand agm this time
did fine one thing these new small style jump boxes are fine for starting a mc and bought ones for each mc i have
http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-20000mAh-Mul...r=&vxp=mtr

[SIR tricky]

Odyssey must be picking on you, both mine are still going strong. Ken had his bike all winter in the shed with the Odyssey connected to the bike (Interstate no drain) closed the choke, hit the starter and his fired on the first turn.

I would have a chat with the folks at Odyssey.