Still not starting in cold whether. Anyone have idea what I can try next.

OK this morning 27 deg. Wouln't start. I established that there is voltage drop. Guess I am going to have to take to dealer, this is over my head. For now I will try disconnecting negative wire and putting back on after work. Thanks for all the impute but their is too much info for me to process in the small amount of time I am willing to give it.
 
Dawg68 said:
Just depends on what you are referring too as cold?
Click to expand...
On a bike - or generally. On a bike - much lower than 5ºC below zero is about it. Will chill gets to me after a while.

On foot outdoors - in the right gear - perfectly happy at 25ºC below. 40below is about as cold as I've been.
I've a mate in Russia who's offered to take me to a customer's place in Siberia - 80ºC below zero in winter. Ermmmmmm - maybe not.
 
Barbagris, I charged the battery fully yesterday morning, then disconnected the negative cable from battery. When I got home from work, I checked the volts and it had dropped from 14.50 volts to 13.20 volts. I connected the negative cable to battery, tried to start and it clattered, barely turned over and then went dead. I charged battery 1 minute on trickle 2amp, hit starter and it started right up. Temp was 25 deg F.
 
I've never done this on a bike before, but I've done it plenty on cars and hotrods so take it for what its worth. One way to identify a short or parasitic drain on the battery is to use a multimeter between the negative battery post and the negative battery cable. With the key in the off position, disconnect the negative battery cable. Turn the multimeter on and set it to read amps. touch the leads to the cable and the negative battery post. If you read anything at all you either have a short somewhere (like a wire with the insulation rubbed off of it grounding against the frame) or some other parasitic drain on the battery (i.e. something is always on even though you have turned off the key). I have no personal experience with batteries discharging that much on their own in such a short period of time unless they were bad...not saying it can't happen...just that I don't have any personal experience like that
 
I don't remember if you mentioned it or not, but do you have the factory alarm system on your Touring? One of the members had a significant problem with it while on a long distance tour.
 

sounds like you have a bad battery.
when checking voltage with meter you need to check while cranking.
that clatter you are talking about is when you engage the starter the engine turns over till the voltage drops and then the starter relay disengages because of bad voltage. after the starter disengages the voltage comes back up and the relay engages and it just keeps repeating giving you the clatter for the lack of a better word.
sounds like battery will only hold a surface charge and needs replaced.
herman
 
Yup - sounds like it. 95% of the time - chattering is a dead battery. That or the internal electrical gubbins in the Shorai is preventing DUMP DISCHARGE or proper charge. Are you using a Lithium battery charger? - Yes - it matters!. Is the battery under warranty?

The 14.5 - 13.2 seems a lot but 14.5 is charger voltage and 13.2 is 4*LiFePO4 cells stabilised voltage.

But there is always that other 5% - so before we get panicky:-

Next test - CHARGE - and leave the battery stood idle inside (in the warm) during the day. See if cold affects the situation.
 
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If the battery is bad it is the 3rd one from shorai. I bought the 24 amp in the summer and it worked fine till it got cold. I talked to shorai about it and they gave me a free upgrade to a 27 amp battery and it couldn't stand the cold either. I talked to them again and they offered me a upgrade to a 36 amp battery which I think is there most powerful one, but it still is not starting after being in the cold for a number of hours. The battery is still under warranty. I don't have a Lithium battery charger except for my drill/impact. I hate to return the battery after they have tried so hard to fix my problem. I will probably keep it and not ride the bike when it has to be in cold weather for extended time.
 
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