Daytona would not start - battery?

[NHViffer]

Went out this morning to take the Daytona to work, turned the ignition on and nothing happened - at all.

It's been about 4-5 days since I have ridden, so I figure that maybe the radar detector was left on, key was maybe in "Park", or alarm drained it. I grabbed the cables and jump-started it from my truck batter (truck not running). The bike fired to life, but after I disconnected the cables I noticed 2 things: 1 - the engine light is on, and 2 - when I rev the engine the digital display gets all funky - displaying all 888's. When the bike goes back to idle the display becomes normal again. Any idea if a "flat" battery will cause this, or do I have an alternator or ground problem?

I have the battery on a slow charge today and will install it tonight to see if it cures the anomolies. I'm worried that if I take it to the dealer for electrical issues they will not cover it under warranty because of the after-market alarm and spliced in radar detector.

Hope it is something simple!

[NHViffer]

Here's an update...

Got home from work, unplugged battery from the charger and installed it. Since my alarm is powered directly off the battery + terminal I left it off for the time being, in case it was the cause of the drain. When I connected the wires to the terminals no sparks occured, which is good - meaning there are no large shorts.

Key ON, everything lights up normal, thumb the starter and she fires right up. The digital display all appears fine now. The MIL light is still on, but from what I hear it will go out after a few temperature cycles as long as the problem that caused it does not persist.

Me = happy! I will ride tomorrow and post if there are any problems.

[NHViffer]

Originally posted by T-595 Greg
you should be able to turn the light off with your tune-boy.
congrats!

Yes, I do want to hook-up tuneboy to read what the code is anyway. Trouble is that I am about to move out of state and have just way too much to worry about right now other than that. I am scheming how to secure/protect the bike while it is being hauled in the back of a semi-trailer.

[NHViffer]

Yes, thanks for reminding me - I was planning to call some dealers today. Worst case I have already determined that I can strap the bike to the rear stand, lock the bars, tie wrap the front brake, and build a wood-framed box around it. That will keep the bike from going anywhere and anything else from falling into it. I would prefer one of the long wood pallets though. I am the one loading and unloading the truck, so at least I have control over that part, it is the packing that I need to have 100%.

Originally posted by T-595 Greg
you could get the bottom half of the shipping container from a nearby dealer and strap it down to that...

good luck wit the move, plenty of horror stories about bikes being unloaded damaged... (just a word to the wise)

[Jank]

You need one of these!!!

You can find them here!
They aren't as expensive as I though they might be.
You could stack 'em 6 high!!! **gulp**

Good luck!!!