CB650R Bike won’t start - battery dead?

[ZOMGdonuts]

Hi everyone, I did see another similar post was resurrected recently, but I figured my situation is a bit different and I didn’t want to piggyback off that one.

I came back from a trip on my CB650R and it was 7 degrees and raining out, so I had heated grips + heated jacket turned to the max. Bike worked fine. But I parked it and didn’t touch it. Two weeks later, I go to start the bike and it doesn’t turn over.

Fair enough. I guess the battery is flat. So I put the bike on the trickle charger and leave it there for 3 days. I went back this morning to start it and still no bueno!

Is my battery dead altogether??
Here is a video of me trying to start It (sorry for vertical, one handed attempt at starting and filming simultaneously):


Second attempt is with the throttle open. I'm worried about flooding the engine doing this, but the manual recommends it for 5 seconds, so I tried it.

I’m going to get a multimeter and test the battery after work. What should I be looking for? The thing that I’m confused about is that the battery powers on the lights and dash, plus it’s been on a charger for 3 days. The light on the charger turned from red to green, so I thought it had charged. All this makes me think the battery isn’t the problem.

But what else could it be? And what else should I be checking today after work?

Thanks so much for the help! Sorry for the nooby question!

 

[Atucker]

Sounds like your battery is fine. I had to crank the heck out mine when it was flooded, but it eventually coughed to life and was fine afterwards. When I say cranked I mean seriously like nearly 30secs 2-3 different times.

 

[ZOMGdonuts]

Sounds like your battery is fine. I had to crank the heck out mine when it was flooded, but it eventually coughed to life and was fine afterwards. When I say cranked I mean seriously like nearly 30secs 2-3 different times.

Thanks!
Did you just keep the starter switch pressed? Or did you hold the throttle open while you did that?

 

[baugustine]

The starter draws a LOT more amps than the lights do. Put your DVOM on it, fully charged is ~12.6-12.8V DC. Measure the voltage while cranking and report back.

 

[Atucker]

I held the starter continuously. Every once in while it sounded like it wanted to start and that's when I would give it light rolling throttle. The only thing I could compare it to was trying to get an old school carbureted vehicle to start. Basically coaxing it to fire up. Incredibly unusual since it's FI and shouldn't have behaved as it did.

 

[ZOMGdonuts]

Got it started! Thanks so much guys!

So I kept the starter pressed for a long time with throttle open. Nothing happened and I let go. Then I pressed it again, this time I opened the throttle slowly. Bike skipped idle and revs climbed up. I shifted into gear and it moved. I then kept the throttle open for 10 secs or so in neutral before letting go. Bike was now idling.
I let it idle for 5-10 mins. Turned it off, and it turned back on without complaint!

 

[baugustine]

Throttle open is Clear Flood mode, which disables the injectors. Sounds like it was fuel fouled.