Odyssey battery

[vwboomer]

I picked up an Odyssey PC310 on Ebay. After the pain in the ass of getting it installed I fired up the bike. It was just as sluggish starting as my Yuasa. The manufacture date on the battery is 04/08. I dont' recall seeing a manuf date on car batteries but I thought it odd that the battery was a year and a half old.
Ok so I charge it overnight with my Optimate3 and it fires up great in the morning. I ride to work and it's sluggish again afterwards. WTF? I have no accessories hooked up on the new battery just the stock harness terminals.
Bad battery? Too old?
According to the warranty info on the Odyssey website the 2 years starts at the purchase date so I dunno.

[DarkStaR]

Have you checked the engine grounds lately?

[ozs4]

Have you checked the alternator?

[DucHead]

Have you checked the engine grounds lately?

+1  Exact same thing happened to me.   Clean the ground connection and torque that make the beast with two backser down.      [moto]

[Bones]

where are the ground points on the monster?

[vwboomer]

where are the ground points on the monster?

+1

I hadn't thought of that but will go check it out this morning. The old battery I figured was just...old. And starting a 'big' twin with an old battery takes its toll.
As for checking the alternator, I haven't got a shop manual and wouldn't be quite sure how to go about it. I would guess as long as 14+v is coming to the battery terminals it should be good?

[vwboomer]

took off the neg on the engine and cleaned it. It wasn't really dirty. I was able to remove the bolt without any effort whatsoever so we'll see what happens now that it's T.I.T. tite!

[DarkStaR]

The engine ground I had a problem with was the one near the oil breather.  Not too sure if there is more than one.

[Triple J]

FWIW I have an Odyssey in my Multi re-build. The only benefit I can see is the Odyssey weighs less...it definitely doesn't work any better than the stocker. 

[erkishhorde]

Maybe your alternator is going kaput? I hear the old monsters had crappy alternators. Mine decided to blow up on me while riding through traffic. It's amazing how quickly people make way for you when you're enveloped in a cloud of smoke.  When that happened I also blew my recharge fuse. If your recharge fuse is blown you should only be able to ride about an hour on a fully charged battery before it dies.

[Howie]

If the battery was shipped with electrolyte in it and it was not on a maintenance charge it is somewhat sulphated.  Even if it was , 1 year and 4 months of it's life is gone.  Unless it was a real bargain, send it back.  Either way, have it load tested before  going further in your diagnosis.

All you need to know about checking the alternator and regulator are here:
http://www.electrosport.com/technical-resources/library/diagnosis/fault-finding-guide.php

[vwboomer]

The Optimate has a desulfate mode, and that didnt' kick in when I connected it. But yeah I'm leery of a battery that old. It was 138 so not real cheap. I am probably going to unhook it and take it to batteries plus. If it's bad, I'll make em get me a new one as a warranty is a warranty. I think.