What to do with a motorcycle battery that suddenly fails?

While you were quietly walking around, you had the unpleasant surprise to realize that you had a motorcycle battery that suddenly gave out and you therefore had to do without.

After a few strollers you may have managed to restart your motorcycle or on the contrary, you could not and you still do not understand where this failure could come from!

Don't panic, in this article we are going to look at the different causes that can explain this problem so that you can first find the cause and then fix it quickly.

But in addition, what we can advise you is to direct you to our article on motorcycle battery maintenance. Indeed, motorcycles have more and more on-board electronics.

Therefore, it is normal for the battery to be used more and more. But with good and regular maintenance, you shouldn't have any more problems there, or at least have a lot less.

A motorcycle battery that suddenly fails due to an electrical problem

The first thing that can explain why you have a motorcycle battery that fails for no reason is actually a double problem! Indeed, it may be an electrical problem that is causing you these problems.

The first concern that we can highlight is a problem within the battery itself, such as an internal short-circuit, for example, which can happen when the battery is several years old.

The easiest and fastest way to verify that the problem is really there is to simply charge the battery with whatever called a smart charger to help you.

Indeed, this kind of charger is able to make diagnoses within your battery and it will immediately warn you if ever there is an internal electrical problem which prevents the charging of your battery.

The second electrical phenomenon which can explain a motorcycle battery who suddenly lets go is external. Indeed, as we have said, there is more and more technology embedded in your motorcycle and it may be the cause of your problem.

If something goes wrong there, it's possible that an increased demand for power has simply siphoned off your motorcycle battery and suddenly fails. So remember to check that everything works normally on this side.

The motorcycle battery that suddenly fails may be at the end of its life

The second thing that comes to our mind quite naturally is that your suddenly failing motorcycle battery may simply be at the end of its life. Indeed, as we mentioned before, it is a wearing part.

So, if you've had this battery on your motorcycle for over three years, you can't really look far to find what is causing the problems. In this case, there is a fairly easy way to find out.

Switch off the motorcycle and remove the ignition key and take a multimeter that you are going to switch to Volt mode and connect it to the two outputs of the motorcycle battery which suddenly drops to check where it is.

There are two solutions available to you. The first is a result which is very close to that stated by the battery manufacturer and in this case, it is still good for a while, the problem does not come from there.

However, if the figure displayed is lower than that announced by the manufacturer, it is usually a sign that you have an end-of-life battery. This can clearly explain why you have a motorcycle battery that suddenly fails.

Check that the energy recovery system is working

A motorcycle battery that suddenly fails can also be due to a problem with the energy recovery system which at best works poorly and at worst does not work at all. In this case, the battery does not charge.

At least it doesn't charge while driving and if you take a long ride without being able to give it a boost or if you just don't have a charger at home, the problem may come from there.

To check that this is the case, our advice is to use a smart charger to check your battery level. Do not recharge it and go for a walk with it.

Coming back from this tour, check the battery level again. If it has completely dropped, you have surely put your finger on the problem causing your motorcycle battery to suddenly fail.

Human error can be the cause

Well, it might be silly, but to be complete, we had to explore one final avenue as to your motorcycle battery suddenly failing. Indeed, in this kind of situation, human error can never be completely ruled out.

We told you about a short circuit at the beginning of the article well, it is always possible that you have done it yourself by reversing the poles of the battery if you ever changed it recently. It may sound silly like that. However, it is much less when we know that some manufacturers reverse the position of the poles.

Know everything about motorcycle batteries and how they work

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!