Slow & Painful Death

[tyronewildman]

O K, I took delivery of my'04 FJR in Sept '03 so I did buy a new battery, this summer, for whenever. Started fine, last Sat morning & 20 mi away (on Hotlanta Xway) I saw a flash from somewhere (I rarely look down) & felt a slight hiccup. A couple of miles later, a couple of flashes & more hiccups. By 40 mi away, flashes (finally noticed that it was engine light flashing) every 1/2 mile & multiple times & speedo & tach resetting. Hmmm, I've read about ignition switch failures so, in the dead dark at 75 mph, I cycled the ignition switch. Holy smokes, dead dark & it didn't come back on for 4 or 5 seconds, I didn't do that again. 52 mi away & made my last turn 1/2 block from work & deader than a door knob. What luck, only had to push about 100 yds. Rode one of our training bikes (Buell Blast) home & trailered it back Sun & trailered the FJR home after class. Removed battery & it read 5 V & put it on the Tender & green lite started flashing in 20 min--no way. Had put tender on new battery for a day & popped it in (wouldn't want to do this on side of road) & was glad to see volts go up to 14+ after starting. Gonna get a Datal one of these years but 1st have to install the Audiovox CC I've had for a year. Well, I've found out that my FJR won't run on alternator, with this type of battery failure...Later,,,De

 

[Fencer]

edit

never mind, mis read, tender on the new batt, not the old one.

 

[ian]

What brand was the battery that only lasted a few months? Ian, Iowa

 

[Nightshift]

O K, I took delivery of my'04 FJR in Sept '03 so I did buy a new battery, this summer, for whenever. Started fine, last Sat morning & 20 mi away (on Hotlanta Xway) I saw a flash from somewhere (I rarely look down) & felt a slight hiccup. A couple of miles later, a couple of flashes & more hiccups. By 40 mi away, flashes (finally noticed that it was engine light flashing) every 1/2 mile & multiple times & speedo & tach resetting. Hmmm, I've read about ignition switch failures so, in the dead dark at 75 mph, I cycled the ignition switch. Holy smokes, dead dark & it didn't come back on for 4 or 5 seconds, I didn't do that again. 52 mi away & made my last turn 1/2 block from work & deader than a door knob. What luck, only had to push about 100 yds. Rode one of our training bikes (Buell Blast) home & trailered it back Sun & trailered the FJR home after class. Removed battery & it read 5 V & put it on the Tender & green lite started flashing in 20 min--no way. Had put tender on new battery for a day & popped it in (wouldn't want to do this on side of road) & was glad to see volts go up to 14+ after starting. Gonna get a Datal one of these years but 1st have to install the Audiovox CC I've had for a year. Well, I've found out that my FJR won't run on alternator, with this type of battery failure...Later,,,De

What are you trying to say...exactly? Curious.

Mick

 

[tyronewildman]

FJRFencer-----"never mind, mis read, tender on the new batt, not the old one." Had put new battery on Tender for a day before I installed it---After installing new battery I put old bad battery on Tender, just for the heck of it, and was supprised when green lite blinked only after a few hours confirming it was really bad.

ian----"What brand was the battery that only lasted a few months?" old original battery lasted 4 years, don't know name as already recycled it. New Westco battery is working fine.

Nightshift----"What are you trying to say...exactly? Curious" Sorry if I made it too wordy. 4 year old, original battery, went bad on the road & wouldn't run off alternator. Replaced it with new, Westco battery & it's O K now. How's that?

Later,,, De

 

[Nightshift]

FJRFencer-----"never mind, mis read, tender on the new batt, not the old one." Had put new battery on Tender for a day before I installed it---After installing new battery I put old bad battery on Tender, just for the heck of it, and was supprised when green lite blinked only after a few hours confirming it was really bad.
ian----"What brand was the battery that only lasted a few months?" old original battery lasted 4 years, don't know name as already recycled it. New Westco battery is working fine.

Nightshift----"What are you trying to say...exactly? Curious" Sorry if I made it too wordy. 4 year old, original battery, went bad on the road & wouldn't run off alternator. Replaced it with new, Westco battery & it's O K now. How's that?

Later,,, De

OK thanks for clearing that up. Moral of the story is( I think) that the stock battery will last at least 4 years so if the battery in your FJR is that old it may be a good idea to replace it.

 

[Fred W]

OK thanks for clearing that up. Moral of the story is( I think) that the stock battery will last at least 4 years so if the battery in your FJR is that old it may be a good idea to replace it.

Even better moral: Get a voltmeter installed so you know when bad stuff is going to happen before it strands you. 'specially if you have an older battery.