I just moved 3 days ago from Vegas to Central Illinois, and my after unloading the bike (2011 Street Glide) it wouldn't start. I thought it was the battery being dead, as I forgot to disable the flashing lights "theft deterrent". But after hooking a battery charger up to it all day, it still reads as good to go. Yet, when I try to start it I get a loud clicking.

Any ideas?

 

If the key fob was not in close proximity to the bike, those flashing lights for 1200 miles did a number on your battery.

Bwana

 

That's weird, even if you did run down the battery, you said you charged it so you should be good to go.

Battery isn't that old either.

With something like this though, I've learned to stay with the simple obvious stuff first.

It's possible the battery will take a charge but still isn't strong enough to turn over the motor.

Maybe take the battery somewhere and have them do a load test just to be sure.

 

The bike is and was pissed off at you for going such a distance and then trailering her. She's like " that will teach him to trailer my *** next time"
I thought the same thing with the lights /security. I would get a new battery too. For 100 bucks it's a piece of mind man. Motorcycle batteries don't like to be drained. Especially if you are getting a false reading amp/volt wise on the battery after charge. Test under load to be safe.

 

I have seen bikes being trailered- the flashers on..... :-(

 

Yeah, I feel kinda foolish knowing I had em flashing for 1800 miles. haha

 

Are the cables tight?

 

A battery can read ok on voltage but still be entirely incapable of starting the bike. You'd be better suited to get it load tested for a better idea of its condition.

 

If the battery was dead as a doornail...... You might need to charge it properly. AGM batteries will not take a charge from most regular chargers if it is dead. You might need to hook up another battery in parallel and charge both for a while...... Then let the cycle battery finish up on its own. AGM batteries have a low internal resistance that will make most chargers go into short circuit mode.

From the optima web site.....

If an OPTIMA battery is deeply discharged (below 10.5 volts), most basic chargers will not supply a charge. Also keep in mind that an OPTIMA battery will not recharge properly if treated as a regular flooded or gel battery. To charge the battery, you can wire a second fully charged automotive battery (12+volts) to the discharged AGM in parallel (+ to + and – to –). Then hook up the charger to the deeply discharged battery, setting the charger at 10 amps. Leave for two hours, monitoring frequently. During this process, if the discharged battery gets very hot or if it is venting (hissing sound from vents), then stop this process immediately. When the discharged battery reaches 10.5 volts or more, remove the standard battery and continue charging the AGM until fully charged.

For normal charging, a relatively low current, such as one or two amps, can work well, but when the battery has been deeply discharged, some sulfation of the battery plates may have occurred. If you charge at 10 amps, the higher current will help to break up this sulfation.

If you have an automatic charger, let it run until the charger indicates charging is complete. If you have a manual charger, you can get a rough estimate of the charging time in hours of a completely discharged battery (11.2 volts) by multiplying the capacity (amp hours or Ah) of the battery by 1.2. If your battery is not completely discharged, the time would be less.

In most cases these steps will recover an AGM battery. It’s OK for the AGM battery to get slightly warm during the charging process. If it’s hot to the touch, it means there’s a short and the process should be discontinued.
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Fuses dude. Check them, the big one and the little ones. I got five bucks that its the little green battery fuse.