Battery dead, push the bike, yes or no?

3968 Views 35 Replies 16 Participants Last post by emirharley, Jan 14, 2006

emirharley

Discussion Starter · Jan 12, 2006

If the battery is dead, is it OK to start an engine by pushing the bike or running the bike down hill? Can this activity damage engine (2001 H-D RKC EFI) or something? Thanks for your comments.

1 - 20 of 36 Posts

LittleBear

· #2 · Jan 12, 2006

Won't hurt the bike. Use 2nd gear to bump start it. One caution, it is best to know why your battery went dead.
If it because the stator fried, it may not start and if it does it will be running off of the battery. Same thing if the voltage regulator is dead, and if the voltage regulator is over charging, it could be what fried the battery.

wyodude

· #3 · Jan 12, 2006

LittleBear said:
Won't hurt the bike. Use 2nd gear to bump start it. One caution, it is best to know why your battery went dead.
If it because the stator fried, it may not start and if it does it will be running off of the battery. Same thing if the voltage regulator is dead, and if the voltage regulator is over charging, it could be what fried the battery.

Excellent points!

On the other hand, I've had a HD battery fail completely, that is, I rode to work, started it to ride home, got about 5 miles down the road, speedo went wonky (60 to 0 back to 60 then ...loss of all power).

I know some guys will ride 'em until they fail, but I swap out the battery every two years, period.

YMMV. :yes:

MegaGlide

· #4 · Jan 12, 2006

Um, what's going to run the fuel pump and injectors on that EFI w/o any juice?

emirharley

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 12, 2006

Thanks guys for your prompt reply and for your comments. And, no, no......the reason is very simple: the battery is old (4 years), and actually the battery is OK, but since it is winter time here in Sarajevo, Bosnia, and after several days of having my bike parked in garage and spending the battery's power to have a security sistem loaded, it just looses the energy and I am to lazy to take it home every here and there in order to charge it. So, I am about to get a new battery from the States, but until that I'd like to push the bike down hill to make battery "alive" and to start an engine when I want to ride a little bit (when it is not so cold and no snow).

Best regards

emirharley
"Sarajevo Bikers Club" MC
www.sarajevobikersclub.ba
-----------------------------------------------------
2001 Harley-Davidson Road King Classic FLHRCI HDI EFI
Screamin' Eagle Stage One Kit
RevTech DFO Stealth Performance System
Screamin' Eagle Performance Mufflers
(Set two: Wild Pig Pipes, 2" baffles)
Ape Hanger
Back Rest
Kuryakyn Spider Light
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LittleBear

· #6 · Jan 12, 2006

Sorry Mega missed that. I have carb bikes no problem. But I guess you are correct. Nice catch Mega.
Sorry, can't push it. Get a carb.:laugh:

emirharley

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jan 12, 2006

MegaGlide said:
Um, what's going to run the fuel pump and injectors on that EFI w/o any juice?

Good point, MegaGlide, gooid point! What now? Actually, I started my bike several times down hill having no problem, but the question is will this hurt an engine or something?

springer-

· #8 · Jan 12, 2006

I run a Morris Magneto and a S&S carb. You can remove the battery, charging system and wiring harness and I can still start and ride the bike home.

Point being, not every answer fits every situation and all the points above are good ones

emirharley

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jan 12, 2006

It's me again. Well, let us think like this: the battery is not totally dead, there is some power in it. So, I push the button and start puel pump....now I have fuel in an engine but I have no power to RUN an engine......now, I push the bike. What about this? It is the same procedure with fully charged battery: first send the fuel by fuel pump, and than RUN an engine. Correct? I think it is the same story: to run an engine by battery power, or by pushing the bike? MegaGlide?

MegaGlide

· #10 · Jan 12, 2006

It's not going to hurt anything, but I bet you had enough juice that you heard the pump when you turned the ignition on, even if it wouldn't crank the starter...

MegaGlide

· #11 · Jan 12, 2006

Gotta love simultaneous posts...

emirharley

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jan 12, 2006

Yes, of course. So, you are right, there is some power to feed the fuel pump, always.

Unfortunately, I gotta leave right now, I have to go to the airport, my friend is coming from the States and bringing me some Harley parts........That is holiday for me, since there are no Harley dealers here......

Talk to you later, and.......thanks

rpbrock

· #13 · Jan 12, 2006

So what is the consensus?

If I have efi and just enough juice to prime the pump, will the bike start in 2nd or not? And if it will, does this apply to '04 and up?

Doesn't the bike have to have a certain amount of voltage to get the ignition to spark on a computer bike?

Gracias!

springer-

· #14 · Jan 12, 2006 (Edited)

I can't say for certain but the charging system should beable to overcome a low battery and start the bike. Once running it should stay running. If the battery is completely dead, no amount of pushing will help. With a completely dead battery, a jump start would be required to supply enough voltage to run the EFI and Fuel pump. Once started, the charging system should be able to keep it running.

Although, with a very long hill and a dead battery, the charging system might be able to initialize the EFI and start the bike. But you would have to get the RPM's up enough to maintain a constant voltage. It would be interesting to try.

jnbernstein

· #15 · Jan 12, 2006

had a dead 2 year old gel cell battery go dead in north dakota. when i finally got it to a dealer i was told i needed 9 volts to fire the efi. i could have pushed for days and never got 9 volts.

xkvator

· #16 · Jan 12, 2006

No trickle chargers in Bosnia?............or.........no electric?

rpbrock

· #17 · Jan 12, 2006

I'm in Dallas, everything is flat... we need someone in the mountains to try this out for us.

Paniolo

· #18 · Jan 12, 2006

MegaGlide said:
Um, what's going to run the fuel pump and injectors on that EFI w/o any juice?

That's a good point. My stator crapped out on my in Zion National Park last summer. The bike started "wiggin out", all things electrical died off slowly. Then the bike wouldn't even turn over. I ended up swapping batteries back and forth with a buddy until we could limp to a dealer.

Yup, if you have FI and the battery goes dead, the fuel pump won't be your concern. The bike will shut down the ECM first if it can't make enough of a charge.

niget2002

· #19 · Jan 12, 2006

Too bad you can't just pick up the bike and shake it like you can with those new flash lights

HDWRENCH

· #20 · Jan 12, 2006

Most times the threshold for ECm shut down is 9.6 volts. get in the 10 range and it runs funny.

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