Problem turning on my 1993 GL1500

[jgeckeler]

When I turn the key to the on position, I get power for a second and then nothing.
Prior to this problem, I had my bike on a trickle charger for a while and had to ride it in the winter for an emergency. It takes a while for the bike to turn over when its cold and tends to drain the battery. I tried turning it over with the charger connected to the battery and it turned over. Now I when I turn the key, I get about 1 second of power to the dash and then it turns off. I'm sure I messed something up by having the charger on while cranking the engine over. After that, I stopped for fuel and couldn't get it started. I had to connect the charger back on the bike in order to get power to the dash. Once on, it rode fine and I now have the problem stated above.
I checked the fuses and there are none blown. Is it a relay? Did I just fry the bike? Did I kill the battery? Battery was fine prior.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Jason

[Rambozo]

Sure sounds like you killed the battery.

[JKinMT]

I often start my bikes while they are still on their charger and have never had a problem (summer and winter, both). If it matters, they are all pretty low amperage, between 1 and 1.25. Just to verify though, is it a battery charger, or a battery maintainer? The reason it's an important difference is because a "dumb" trickle charger can kill a battery if it's hooked up for too long. A maintainer, or float charger, is best for being hooked up long term. Sounds like a load test of your battery is in order. Good luck getting it figured out.

[Charlie1Horse]

You might check all the connections on and around the battery for tight connection. Take the battery out and check the electrolite levels if it is a wet cell battery and charge it fully. Then have it load tested at your local auto parts store. Since the 1500s take an enormous amount of power to crank, you possibly have a defective battery.
Russell

[jgeckeler]

Thanks for your input. It ended up being the battery. I had it tested at 2 Advance Auto Parts stores, one said it was good, one said it was bad. Got the new battery and installed. Cleaned the connections and used Di-Electric Grease and it started (almost) right up. Put on a quick 50 miles since its a nice day in New Jersey.

Thanks all for your help.

[eusurp1]

When I first bought my 93 GW it wouldn't start until after I let go of the start button. I thought it was weird and I had never heard of that before. But you have probably read that the Aspencades and other GWs need over 10 volts to supply the electronic ignition to fire the coils....so as you are drawing the battery down...if it's below 10 volts...it won't start until after the button is released IF YOU ARE LUCKY and not flooding it like I did for about 3 months. It was a pain...learning...ugh necessary when you can't find a mechanic within a hundred miles of where you live...I end up laying on my back on a garage floor hoping for the best outcome! April is near but mud season is here...I live on a dirt road---

Happy riding...they should not allow cell phones to work while moving in any car....a lot of close calls with my riding group...

Soup