As suspected, the battery was "shot" (technical term used by the guy testing the battery). A quick replacement, some minor maintenance, and the bike and I are ready to go!

I took it out of the bike and to the battery store and briefly told my story: the battery seemed to not hold a charge, I could start it sometimes and it would run for a while but die, I could jump-start it and have the same; I would like to test the to see if the battery is bad and hope that a replacement will fix my problem rather than have to find the mechanical failure.

He poked it with a meter and said "it isn't charged."

I said, "yes, that is expected."

He said, "I suppose we could load test it."

I said "oh, please do"

He plugged it in and it "took" a charge, but when tested again, didn't hold that charge. He tested it with load and noticed it couldn't hold or take the charge either. "It's shot," he concluded.

"Sweet!" I exclaimed. It's probably weird that the customer is excited to hear that they've got a failed battery, but if the battery had been fine it meant the motorcycle was failing to charge it correctly, and that's a whole realm of maintenance I neither want to get into or pay to have fixed.

In my terse telling, it seems like he wasn't paying attention or was acting dim; tonality and inflection are hard to convey. He was very friendly, helpful, and professional. I'm simply conveying the fact he was being thorough and providing feedback during the process; and probably failing to build the suspense correctly. Of course, it would have been worse had he poked it, plugged it in, and muttered the "it's shot" diagnosis without any incremental feedback.

He had two offerings of the same physical size: one nameless battery from China with a year-long warranty for $20 less than Duracell made in 'murika for Harleys with a two-year warranty. I dropped the extra $20. Nothing against China, but it's a $80 replacement if it fails after the year, so really $20 insurance that won't happen. Not that the warranty is a complete indication of the longevity of the product, but if it is, it's an $80 battery every year or a $100 every other...or some other relative relationship.

I put the new battery in, and the Valkyrie fired right up. I replaced a failed corner light (the front left signal worked, but was dark when not signaling) and the other one (you should always replace your lights in pairs) with some LED lights. I'm not entirely keen on these LED lights as they seem to not give the signal the right indication of "working" so it does the "light out" rapid flash. They are the only lights I have on hand, though, so until I stop somewhere for others, they'll have to do. I mounted my new license plate, cleaned up a little bit, and took it for a spin.

The spin was to the end of the alley, the short way around the block, and back into the alley. Both because I was without any cold-weather gear, but also because the streets are covered with snow melting rivers and puddles. I say it still counts, so today's the first day of riding this year.

So, we're now a vehicle and a half household again. A half because only one of us can ride it (skills, not permission), and it can really only hold half of us since the other half of us are not tall enough.

Weather permitting, Monday comes with new commuting options!