What to do with a motorcycle battery that won't hold a charge?

The battery is an important organ which has been the basis of many machines since its invention several hundred years ago. Motorcycles like any other vehicle also have one.

It must be said that these vehicles are carrying more and more systems that depend on electricity and that these batteries are sometimes put to the test as we explained to you in a previous article on batteries that discharge when stopped.

But beyond the fact that some batteries discharge more or less when they are stopped, there are many other problems that can affect them like the one we will see in this article.

Indeed, if you have arrived this far, it is because you are in the presence of a motorcycle battery that does not hold a charge and that you cannot get your hands on the problem. You then looked for a solution.

Your research has brought you this far and the good news is that we are going to help you in this quest! Indeed, we will see the different phenomena at the origin of this problem.

Motorcycle batteries - General information 

If you are not particularly versed in motorcycle batteries, it can be beneficial to know at least how it works and for that we have established a complete guide for you on another article. 

On it you will find not only how a motorcycle battery works, the different types that you can find in the trade, but also buying advice. In short, enough to be knowledgeable on the subject!

A motorcycle battery that does not hold a charge is often on the decline

The first thing that comes to mind when we think of a motorcycle battery that won't hold a charge is that it might be time to change it and the battery is near the end of its life. this very moment.

A battery is what is called a wearing part on a vehicle. Understand by this that you will have to change it fairly regularly, regardless of how you get there in terms of maintenance.

So, of course, there are techniques to better maintain your battery and ensure that it holds up better over time, but in the idea, it still has a lifespan at the time of your purchase.

This lifespan is generally three to four years or less if you do not take good care of it. So if you have a motorcycle battery that won't hold a charge, it is a sign that it may be the end of its life.

In general, this is coupled with another phenomenon, that of the difficulty of this battery to hold in the length, even though you would have managed to recharge it well at some point with a charger.

If this is your case, you can therefore already foresee the coming change of your battery in the days to come, because the phenomenon generally does not improve in the days which follow the appearance of this problem.

Checking the health of a motorcycle battery

To make sure that a motorcycle battery that does not hold a charge is at the end of its life, you will have to do a little test. The first thing to do is to turn off your password and remove the key.

Then reach the battery and make it possible to put a multimeter there to make a check. This multimeter, you will put it in voltage mode and note the result you will find.

If this is the same as what is displayed on your battery, then it is probably still good and the problem therefore comes from another level, then we suggest the rest of the article.

However, if you find that the voltage is below what you should normally find, it is usually a sign that you have a motorcycle battery that simply cannot hold a charge because it is at the end of its life. .

Our buying advice for testing a motorcycle battery

Often, when a motorcycle battery dies, we tend to think that the battery is dead and that it needs to be changed. However, this is obviously not always the case.

Therefore, buying a multimeter will allow you to quickly and efficiently test whether your battery is dead or that you only have to recharge it.

Diagnose with your charger

If you have a motorcycle battery that does not hold a charge, but does not seem to be at the end of its life, at least on the voltage side, there is another solution to quickly get an answer.

Indeed, the field of motorcycle battery chargers has grown significantly in recent years and chargers have become more and more intelligent, able to make diagnostics on your battery.

Besides the practicality on the maintenance side, you could get valuable information about the condition of your motorcycle battery that is not holding a charge by plugging it into one of these chargers.

During its diagnosis, it could potentially tell you the origin of the problem, which will necessarily help you to see a little more clearly about the problem which affects you at the moment.

A manual problem that explains a motorcycle battery that does not hold a charge

Finally, it is important to clarify that while this is the problem that you might rule out first, it is quite possible that your motorcycle battery not holding a charge is due to human error.

One can for example cite a bad connection to your charger which would prevent it from taking charge giving you the impression that there is a problem. As long as we are talking about a charger, the problem can also come from there.

Indeed, the charger can quite simply be at the end of its life and therefore no longer play its role. This is why we advise you to either test it on another battery that you know is in good condition or quite simply to test another charger on your battery to see if it takes charge with it.