Is it Dead?

[FJRBluesman]

One thing not mentioned was how old the battery is and how often you ride (to keep a charge) etc. My take is the battery is shot and no amount of trickle charging will bring more electrons back to life. I'm assuming it's a lead acid battery and they don't have that long a life. If you don't ride often or keep it charged that also will stress your battree (Canadian, eh). Now drain it to almost zero that pretty much will toast most batteries. Drop a new one in and you'll be good to go.

My story - I have matt lead acid battery that is light and it's also about 5 years old. I rode every day to work and had no issues after retiring (3+ years ago) I hardly ride at all I had to buy my first battery tender. I always keep it hooked up and it fires every time no issues regardless of temperature. That being said it doesn't behave like a brand new battery and I know it's life is very limited and any stress I put on it I'm sure it'll tank instantly. When the day comes that I can't start it I won't assume anything else except I need a new battree.

Good luck!

 

[Bounce]

The convenience on only riding locally is that when trying to save money and pushing past the "maybe" point, you're close to home when it dies. On longer trips you could easily triple the cost of replacement because you're stuck with local sources and time constraints.

 

[RossKean]

The convenience on only riding locally is that when trying to save money and pushing past the "maybe" point, you're close to home when it dies. On longer trips you could easily triple the cost of replacement because you're stuck with local sources and time constraints.

I agree that replacement on the road is to be avoided. This is why I suggested in my earlier post to verify a lack of soft shorts (high self-discharge rate), sufficient cranking amps (load test) and adequate reserve capacity. In my opinion, if these things don't raise any flags, the risk of getting stranded is minimal. Still, a random failure is always possible (shorted or "open" cell) and this is one reason I carry a jump starter when travelling far from home although this may not always help if the battery is fully toasted.

While lead acid batteries (specifically adsorbed glass mat (AGM)) don't "like" to be fully discharged, one or two instances is very unlikely to ruin them - I certainly had several instances of allowing full discharge of the battery on my '07 and it still had an impressively long life. As I mentioned, are you likely to replace your car battery in the event of an accidental full discharge (I'm not).

 

[K_Flyer]

Let the bike sit for four days after a short 180 mile trip for lunch. Turned on the key and MotoLights (30W) for 5+ minutes. Left the MotoLights on and watched the lights while Theresa started the bike. Fired right up, lights slightly dimmed momentarily while bike started. Hooked up the Tender and within a few minutes, it showed it was on "Storage."

Someone asked about mileage and usage. Last year we did 11k miles, 14k the year before. Shortest trip typically 50 miles. Essentially no stop and go (commute) riding. During the off season (no winter in California!), once a month I put the tender on each bike for a day. Usually gets to "Storage" in a few hours.

Think it survived.

 

[RossKean]

Let the bike sit for four days after a short 180 mile trip for lunch. Turned on the key and MotoLights (30W) for 5+ minutes. Left the MotoLights on and watched the lights while Theresa started the bike. Fired right up, lights slightly dimmed momentarily while bike started. Hooked up the Tender and within a few minutes, it showed it was on "Storage."
Someone asked about mileage and usage. Last year we did 11k miles, 14k the year before. Shortest trip typically 50 miles. Essentially no stop and go (commute) riding. During the off season (no winter in California!), once a month I put the tender on each bike for a day. Usually gets to "Storage" in a few hours.

Think it survived.

Yours was only a few hours with key on - glad it survived. I went out to my bike this morning to take it to work and noticed they key was on. Crap!!! In my case, it has been a day and a half on a battery that is now almost nine years old. I don't hold much hope that it can be brought back to life. It is on a slow (1 amp) charge for the day today and I will try it tonight when I get home. Even if it does come back, I don't think I would trust it for the long haul.

 

[Mortenk]

I have never worried about failing batteries. I typically know a few weeks in advance as it sounds differently when I start the bike. Sometimes I am lazy and ignore these signs, so one day it won't start (typically at work). I simply roll down a small hill in 1st or 2nd gear while I release the clutch and it never fails to spring to life. If there is no hill, someone helping with a small push is doable. I guess batteries can fail badly making a push start impossible? I have just never in my 20+ years experienced this.

Now, draining the battery completely by mistake may be a different story as the voltage may not be enough to power whatever is needed for the bike to start while pushing it...

 

[RossKean]

I have never worried about failing batteries. I typically know a few weeks in advance as it sounds differently when I start the bike. Sometimes I am lazy and ignore these signs, so one day it won't start (typically at work). I simply roll down a small hill in 1st or 2nd gear while I release the clutch and it never fails to spring to life. If there is no hill, someone helping with a small push is doable. I guess batteries can fail badly making a push start impossible? I have just never in my 20+ years experienced this.
Now, draining the battery completely by mistake may be a different story as the voltage may not be enough to power whatever is needed for the bike to start while pushing it...

Catastrophic failure is possible due to a shorted or "open" cell. More often they just get weaker to the point where they can no longer supply sufficient voltage/current to turn over the engine. If voltage is too low, you can't power the ECU or injectors and a push won't help. I usually carry a small jump starter when travelling any distance away from home.

 

[RossKean]

Let the bike sit for four days after a short 180 mile trip for lunch. Turned on the key and MotoLights (30W) for 5+ minutes. Left the MotoLights on and watched the lights while Theresa started the bike. Fired right up, lights slightly dimmed momentarily while bike started. Hooked up the Tender and within a few minutes, it showed it was on "Storage."

Someone asked about mileage and usage. Last year we did 11k miles, 14k the year before. Shortest trip typically 50 miles. Essentially no stop and go (commute) riding. During the off season (no winter in California!), once a month I put the tender on each bike for a day. Usually gets to "Storage" in a few hours.

Think it survived.

Yours was only a few hours with key on - glad it survived. I went out to my bike this morning to take it to work and noticed they key was on. Crap!!! In my case, it has been a day and a half on a battery that is now almost nine years old. I don't hold much hope that it can be brought back to life. It is on a slow (1 amp) charge for the day today and I will try it tonight when I get home. Even if it does come back, I don't think I would trust it for the long haul.

Faint hope!

Got home from work and disconnected the trickle charger. Turned on key and got gauge sweep. Pressed the starter button and the engine fired right up. Will take it off the charger overnight and try it again in the morning to see if it holds a charge overnight.

If this slightly geriatric battery made it through this particular event, I would consider myself lucky. Local dealer doesn't have any suitable batteries in stock - closest is 100 miles away and almost $200 for the Yuasa. I can order on-line and get it for $110 cdn incl shipping. It wouldn't get here until Tuesday and I am headed out on a 4000+ mile trip on Sunday. I'll make sure I remember to bring the lithium jump starter and hope the bike battery lasts the trip.

Edit:

Went out to the bike this morning after it was sitting (off the charger) overnight. It had a total of about 11 hours on a slow (1 amp) charge and then 12 hours off the charger. It spun at normal speed and started immediately. Hopefully, I have dodged a bullet on this but I don't expect much from a battery as old as this (9 years) even though the miles are relatively few (53,000 miles). I am the second owner of this bike (just since last year) and I have no idea if the battery was abused in its previous life. I will see how it does over the next few weeks and either replace it at that time or wait until the spring if it seems OK. It would be interesting to see how much the reserve capacity remains but I won't determine that until I'm ready to replace it - reserve capacity measurement requires measuring the ampere-hour output until you discharge it to the point where it won't start the bike. One more deep cycle could finish it.

Yuasa (at least the OEM version) is a damn fine battery!

 

[Uncle Hud]

The best way to charge an FJR battery? One eight-hour ride.

 

[RossKean]

The best way to charge an FJR battery? One eight-hour ride.

Actually, a 12 hour slow (1 ampere rate) charge is vastly preferable to a ride - at least in terms of battery health. The bike's electrical system will feed the battery at a higher rate than optimum - ideal rate is "C/10" so for a (lead-acid) battery with a 12 ampere-hour capacity, the battery is happiest with a charge rate no higher than 1.2 amperes. Practically speaking, up to 2 amps won't cause any harm. I have done the boost-and-ride thing myself out of necessity, not preference. No question that I would rather recharge the battery by going for a nice long ride...

Battery continues to hold its charge and bike starts easily. I am to the point where I am willing to risk the trip to Winnipeg starting Sunday.

 

[Lowcountry Joe]

I've pulled that dumb ass stunt a couple of times myself (left key on, ran battery down). Keep the tender on it all the time. Why would you ever take it off? Regardless, ride the damn bike and stop worrying. Nobody has xray vision to see if any of the internal cells are screwed-up in the battery. So if it's spinning the motor per normal, ride the bike and forget about it. The battery on the FJR is exceptionally resilient. And never buy a battery from a dealer, it's a rip-off.

 

[RossKean]

Joe, I agree except the bit about the tender - shouldn't hurt anything but not needed because self discharge rate for a healthy AGM battery is slight and FJR has a low parasitic draw.

I think the battery is OK but will likely replace it next year - 10 years is probably enough although it is working well. Cranking amps are OK and I haven't noticed significant self discharge. I will mail order the battery at half the dealer's price when I replace it.

 

[s.ga.rider]

My battery died in my 2014 at 33000 miles. I replaced it with a motobatt from ebay for $70. Cheap insurance.