82 Maxim Suddenly dead...no power, can't start. HELP?

Without any warning my 82 Maxim suddenly won't start. This morning I turned the key and it made a brief (very) attempt at starting and then nothing. I have no lights, turn over or anything. I have charged the battery and replaced the main fuse. I am totally lost! First bike, totally mechanically inept. lol Any ideas my boyfriend or I can pursue?

 

Sounds like it could be a bad ground. Check the black wire from the negative post of the battery to the frame and just make sure everything is tight. Also might want to check battery voltage with a volt meter. at least thats where I would start

 

If it has the stock fuse box you may want to look it very closely. chacal has all the parts to ugrade to blade fuses with a nice fuse box & labeled cover.

MN

 

Thanks....stupid question. Just went and bought a voltmeter. If I set it at 20V DC and the readout is -2.89 what does that mean? Does that mean its bad or ok or what?

 

Are you measuring across the battery terminals and also is the negative lead (wire) for the meter on the negative terminal of the battery and so on. It shouldn't really read negative unless they are backwards. But yes 20 volts is right.

 

The directions say to put the red to the positive and thats what I'm doing. I'm confused to say the least. So lets say that I change the black to positive...then I get a 2.89. If it turns out that's the correct way....would a positive 2.89 mean my battery is not good enough or would that be a good reading for a 12 volt battery?? Seems to me that isn't very good, right?

 

No that is not good. Usually the leads can be removed from the meter and the meter should have some sort of indication like a positive sign where the red wire goes. You should have some where around 12 volts.

 

Well looks like my battery is shot. Go figure...it hasn't seemed bad up until this morning when it just flat out wouldn't work. Time to sink more moola into the beast. LOL Thanks for your help!!

 

For whatever reason motorcycle batteries are short lived. I have not seen one that lasts more than a few seasons.

MN

 

4-5 years is the averge life span of ANY ty pe of battery. and that's from the production date. not the actuall installation for use date.

motorcycle batteries just sit on the shelf though. untill acid is actually installed. so that would start there life span.

however, it seems that car batteries are lasting longer now. i had my grand am for 7 years with no idea how long the battery was in there before i bought. i just sold it with that very same battery still working.

might just be luck of the draw though.

sometimes batteries don't give a warning as to going dead. i took my bike for a ride. stopped for gas. and had to push start the bike to get her home. that was the last of that particular battery.

 

I will respectfully disagree. Auto batteries can easily see 7 years or more with appropriate servicing. (only had one last less, and that is out of 12) Neglect is the batteries biggest killer. Time and again I responded to service calls to find stranded motorists with those cheap bolt on battery terminals and acid tracks all over the battery. Tsk tsk says I. Regular service and charging should keep a battery happy for many years.
Motorcycle batteries tend to be short lived as you mention. I've not seen one last longer than 4 years. Trick to this one is to buy a good battery to begin with. I buy the Wally World specials and get two seasons out of them because they are just that, cheap. Pick up a Yuasa or a Diehard and you will enjoy a longer life. The other trick to long life is to place the battery into service correctly. Fill the dry cells with acid (avoid splashing and/or spillage!), let it set for about 30 minutes to let the plates absorb as much acid (chemical reaction really but you get the point) as they can then top off. Set the battery to be charged with a trickle charger (of an appropriately rated amperage for your battery) for a few hours or until the specific gravity of the cells reads full charge. Then cap and install. Every month you should look the battery over when the bike is on a center stand and top off the cells that are low with distilled water only! NEVER use tap water or more acid!

Quite so. Most folks don't know that most auto batteries arrive at the point of sale already serviced, unlike motorcycle batteries. They can sit in inventory for months before seeing a charger. It is an imperative that the newly purchased battery be put on a charger straight away to ensure a long life. If you install a half charged battery and press it into service, it will have a significantly shorter life span.

Possibly so, but I'd chalk it up to a good battery and proper care. This includes a charging system in good shape as well. A bad alternator/voltage regulator will kill a battery just as surely as neglect.

 

It is possible that you have the leads of the voltmeter plugged into the incorrect spots, in that case you could have the red to red and black to black on the battery and get a reversed polarity reading. However, either way your reading is way too low. So, either your charger isn't working, you hooked it up wrong, or the battery is TOAST... One thing you may want to do is check your alternator readings now since you have a nice new multimeter... You can find a good read from Chacal, or you can pm me and I can forward you the information. If you do need to replace your battery, its cheaper from a wholesaler, or parts store than from the dealer... just an fyi. Good luck!

 

I have had a bike battery last 8 years in my maxim.
My first bike supposedly had a 7 year old battery in it when I bought it, I replaced it about 5 years later.

 

Theadbrewer, happen to recall the brand name of the batteries perchance? I'd be most interested to know. Let me also congratulate you on being the first person I've ever heard that from. Good on ya!

 

What ever kind NAPA carries I think they are all made by the same company these days anyway. I don't really take care of it either just make sure the cells have water when I think of it. No trickle charge or anything, but I did live in Nebraska then so it wouldn't be parked for more than say 3 months without being started.

 

I had the same problem too. When I turned key to ON position then all the lights came on but when I push start button there's no power Check the kill switch but it's ok. Don't know what to do. Electricals is my biggest fear.

 

Sounds like you might have some connections that need some TLC. Normally the lights or some lights will come on even with a low battery. When you hit the start button and all goes dead, sometimes there is a little smoke from a area that is lose or corroded enough that the AMPS just made it open or go bad. Remove the "-" battery cable and go though the connectors. If you have a battery charger you can always hook that up and see if the lights come back on when you turn the key on? If the old bus fuse type is still the fuse box, I would change that out sooner then later.

 

Please start a thread for your bike.

 

Check all the connections then found out the problem was the kill switch wire was cut. After replace the wire bike started fine.