Finally got some decent (is there such a thing?) cold weather. It was 34 bone chilling degrees outside. Good grief, I just looked at the thermometer and it's 39 already... and it's only been 15 minutes since I was outside getting the FJR started. Weather man says sunny and 70 today. Anyway, I left the bike outside last night (something I NEVER do) to be able to test the Shorai at a colder temp. When I turned the key on it was 34 degrees. Here's the results:
Check voltmeter: 13.2
Turn on heated grips to medium setting: voltage slowly dropped to 12.7 or so. 3 minutes later I hit the start button for 6 seconds. Cranked slowly at first, then got slower still. Voltage dropped to the 8's. No start. Clock reset to 1:00. Cranking duration: about 6 seconds
Second attempt: Left the key (and parking lights) on, waited one minute, tried again: voltage just before turning the key, 12.5 Same results as above, no apparent difference in cranking speed (that I could tell). Cranking duration: about 6 seconds.
Third attempt: Left the key on again, waited one minute, voltage just before hitting starter button: 12.6 Same results as above with the exception that engine cranked slightly faster initially, but slowed to a very slow steady crank. Cranking duration: about 6 seconds
Fourth attempt: Left the key on again, waited one minute, voltage just before hitting starter button, 12.8 Same results as above with the exception that engine cranked quite a bit faster (initially), almost fast enough to start (I'm getting good at telling by ear what cranking speed is necessary to light her off, it's pretty consistent). Clock didn't reset this time, but starter slowed to a slow steady crank... faster than earlier attempts. Cranking duration: about 4 seconds
Fifth attempt: Left the key on again, waited one minute, voltage just before hitting starter button, 12.9 Wow what a difference. The last attempt was noticeably faster, and this one was faster still. I could hear as soon as I hit the button that we were within the range where it normally starts. And of course, it did.
Total duration of all this: about 7 or 8 minutes.
What I learned today: the engine definitely cranks faster each time I make the attempt. Today I noted that the battery's voltage after waiting one minute in between starting attempts was rising slowly.
THIS IS SOMETHING I DIDN"T KNOW, AND HAVE NEVER READ CONCERNING THESE BATTERIES.
At the instant just before hitting the starter button, the voltage was getting higher with each attempt. This correlated exactly with what I was hearing as the battery cranked the engine over quicker with each subsequent attempt.
Still not sure how long it might take to wake up the battery by just running the lights or the grip warmers for a while instead of actually attempting to start the bike over and over.
I DO KNOW that making these repeated attempts works, and it works well. The battery consistently gets the job done once it starts waking up. Interesting to watch how this battery reacts to repeated attempts to start the engine. Every other battery I've ever owned... be it for a car OR a bike, cranked slower with each subsequent attempt. The Shorai indeed works just the opposite.
Gary
the crowman#44
ps: curious about the actual size and power of available Shorai batteries? https://www.shoraipower.com/specs.html
--the one they recommended for the fjr is the FX18A1-BS12... case size #1 on the link above.
