Well, THAT was stupid!

[MCML]

Been there, done that, too. After an earlier one literally blew up (and, no, I did not cross the polarity) I now have a computer controlled (they say) Schummacher charger in the garage (won't help in that parking lot 200 miles from home, I know) that absolutely takes all the fun out of the process. Plug (wait) and play. It can diagnose your battery, too.

 

[doug5551]

I apologise for the slight thread jack.

ionbeam, thanks for weighing in.

New Westco Battery Nov '08, built in Datel. Battery never discharged. Bike is in SoCal, so no temperature issues.

Mix of use for daily commuting and 500 mile runs over the last couple of months. Never longer than a week without being started. Has fuegos and gerbings, but they have not been used. Typically runs at 13.9 volts during normal freeway operation. Ignition recall completed. I have a brodie harness, but it has not been installed.

On Saturday, I go out after it has sat for 5 days after a 600 mile weekend run, and the datel reads 11.6. It does not want to turn over. I try several times and finally it catches and starts, whereupon I ride it for an hour, and then it starts fine.

Now it has set for two days, I will see what is up tonight.

ion, thanks in advance for any tips or suggestions...

. Got a new aftermarket battery but it's having trouble keeping it's charge for a week.

Plus 1 on this. I just noticed the extremely weak charge after 5 days on Saturday. I was lucky to get it started.

What the heck is up with this issue???

Not enough volts are going into the battery or the volts are not going into the battery long enough when running; or too many amps are leaving the battery when the key is off. Uh, has this battery been heavily discharged, perhaps more than once?

What are your driving habits, i.e. short runs, frequent starts or nothing but 1,000 mile days with an aux fuel tank? What electricals do you have operating when the motorcycle is running? Do you have any relays added that may be sucking amps when the key is off? Do you have a Datel or other volt meter?

 

[Fred W]

I never use the kill switch (intentionally). I generally just use the key switch. There have been a few times I've left the key on by mistake and it has been during a gas stop where I dropped the side stand while still in gear. Better off maintaining the key-off habit instead.
The bad habit that I do have is to leave the key in the ignition...

So, Fred....how do you unlock the filler cap at the gas stop with the key in the ignition?

Hmmm... good point. Maybe they were just rest stops without gas. I know I haven't (yet) done this where I walk away from the bike and drain the battery.

But I have walked away from the bike with the key sitting in the ignition, off. Yes, it is a habit formed in my garage, where I can get away with it. I actually did this overnight one time in a hotel parking lot. Doh!!

 

[HotRodZilla]

Why didn't you just jump it with the Escape? Hook the cables to the tender pig-tails. Then go ride the crap out of it, or ride it to the store, buy a tender and finish it up that way.

 

[bikerskier]

Same dumb **** here, had to park on a slight incline in front of a clients house so I threw the kick stand down while in first so I would have a parking brake and forgot to turn the key off. 45 min. dead as hell. An no, the incline was not steep or long enough to get a running start and start the engine. Tried that with no luck. So had to call AAA, take some plastic off and get a wee boost to get started. Very careful with contact points for the cables because I was worried about toasting off something like ABS or whatever.

I do have tender cables installed on the bike tho, and my question for the future is.. If I had put my extra tender cable hookup with the alligator clips on my existing tender cable with the alligator clips to the booster battery, would this work or would I kill something????

 

[Spook]

Same dumb **** here, had to park on a slight incline in front of a clients house so I threw the kick stand down while in first so I would have a parking brake and forgot to turn the key off. 45 min. dead as hell. An no, the incline was not steep or long enough to get a running start and start the engine. Tried that with no luck. So had to call AAA, take some plastic off and get a wee boost to get started. Very careful with contact points for the cables because I was worried about toasting off something like ABS or whatever.
I do have tender cables installed on the bike tho, and my question for the future is.. If I had put my extra tender cable hookup with the alligator clips on my existing tender cable with the alligator clips to the booster battery, would this work or would I kill something????

Because the battery is such a pos to get at I installed a connector directly to the battery through a 50amp fused link. I then built a set of jumper cables that I can connect directly to the connector. I just make sure the bike is turned off connect it to the vehicle I am jumping from wait about 5 minutes turn on the bike and fire it up. I have had two senior moments where I had to do this and have had no Ill effects except all the **** i caught from the HD rider is was with and had to jump from.

 

[RadioHowie]

HD rider I had to jump.

See, we TOLD you Gen II guys are ghey!

 

[Spook]

HD rider I had to jump.

See, we TOLD you Gen II guys are ghey!

I'll take that as a compliment from a butt pirate like you.

 

[RadioHowie]

HD rider I had to jump.

See, we TOLD you Gen II guys are ghey!

I'll take that as a compliment from a butt pirate like you.

Yo-ho-ho, ******! :****:

 

[iCruze]

Well....as I was reading this post last night I was thinking to myself that poor SOB. I recalled every time that I was lucky enough to come back to my bike with the ignition on and have her fire right up Than I got a weird feeling in my gut like maybe I shouldn't be judging this guy and I remembered I needed to charge my ipod so off to the garage I went, for ***** and giggles I checked my key and...it was on and had been for about 7 hours :wacko: for some reason I thought if I cycled the key it would miraculously fire up. Well this morning I had some things I had to do right away at work in the morning but was able to break away at 1000 and I came home and jumped the feej and long story short it held the charge throughout the day :drinks: . So no I have to get back intot the routine of pulling the key out of the ignition and just leave the tip in the hole so to speak.

 

[Smilin' Kyle]

Same dumb **** here, had to park on a slight incline in front of a clients house so I threw the kick stand down while in first so I would have a parking brake and forgot to turn the key off. 45 min. dead as hell. An no, the incline was not steep or long enough to get a running start and start the engine. Tried that with no luck. So had to call AAA, take some plastic off and get a wee boost to get started. Very careful with contact points for the cables because I was worried about toasting off something like ABS or whatever.
I do have tender cables installed on the bike tho, and my question for the future is.. If I had put my extra tender cable hookup with the alligator clips on my existing tender cable with the alligator clips to the booster battery, would this work or would I kill something????

Because the battery is such a pos to get at...

Now, that's jus' weird because I came in from the garage thinking how much easier the battery was to get at compared to previous rides. Two hex screws and a quick fastener and I'm in! There it is right on top! I'm hoping this is an indicator of how easy other parts are to get at. True, I haven't tried to take the battery out, so maybe I should temper my enthusiasm.

Maybe I'm still in the honeymoon stage or somethin' but this bike seems to be very well thought out and for a lot less money than the BMW world I came from. Not a dis on BMWs, mind you. I've been reading my latest edition of BWWON magazine, which came today.

And, it's good to know I'm not the only one that's done this key thing. Now, if I do it again...

 

[Fred W]

Now, that's jus' weird because I came in from the garage thinking how much easier the battery was to get at compared to previous rides. Two hex screws and a quick fastener and I'm in! There it is right on top!

Haven't had too many other bikes, eh?

On most of the bikes I've owned the battery was right under the seat.

The only tool you needed was the key to get at it.

 

[big_smile_2u]

Been there done that!

Rick

 

[Harald]

Now, that's jus' weird because I came in from the garage thinking how much easier the battery was to get at compared to previous rides. Two hex screws and a quick fastener and I'm in! There it is right on top!

Haven't had too many other bikes, eh?

On most of the bikes I've owned the battery was right under the seat.

The only tool you needed was the key to get at it.

My 83 GS1100 had the battery under the seat also and it was a pain in the a$$ to get to! How can that be, you ask? The seat was easy enough to remove, but then the airbox also had to come out! :angry: I guess it made sense to have the battery right above the swingarm for mass centralization, but it didn't make maintenance any easier. And to think that some people want to move the FJR battery?!

 

[Spook]

Same dumb **** here, had to park on a slight incline in front of a clients house so I threw the kick stand down while in first so I would have a parking brake and forgot to turn the key off. 45 min. dead as hell. An no, the incline was not steep or long enough to get a running start and start the engine. Tried that with no luck. So had to call AAA, take some plastic off and get a wee boost to get started. Very careful with contact points for the cables because I was worried about toasting off something like ABS or whatever.
I do have tender cables installed on the bike tho, and my question for the future is.. If I had put my extra tender cable hookup with the alligator clips on my existing tender cable with the alligator clips to the booster battery, would this work or would I kill something????

Because the battery is such a pos to get at...

Now, that's jus' weird because I came in from the garage thinking how much easier the battery was to get at compared to previous rides. Two hex screws and a quick fastener and I'm in! There it is right on top! I'm hoping this is an indicator of how easy other parts are to get at. True, I haven't tried to take the battery out, so maybe I should temper my enthusiasm.

Maybe I'm still in the honeymoon stage or somethin' but this bike seems to be very well thought out and for a lot less money than the BMW world I came from. Not a dis on BMWs, mind you. I've been reading my latest edition of BWWON magazine, which came today.

And, it's good to know I'm not the only one that's done this key thing. Now, if I do it again...

wait till you are out there at dusk and trying to get the screws back in and not lose them especially the little snap or supposedly quick connect screw in the lower front and not lose it.

 

[Smilin' Kyle]

Same dumb **** here, had to park on a slight incline in front of a clients house so I threw the kick stand down while in first so I would have a parking brake and forgot to turn the key off. 45 min. dead as hell. An no, the incline was not steep or long enough to get a running start and start the engine. Tried that with no luck. So had to call AAA, take some plastic off and get a wee boost to get started. Very careful with contact points for the cables because I was worried about toasting off something like ABS or whatever.
I do have tender cables installed on the bike tho, and my question for the future is.. If I had put my extra tender cable hookup with the alligator clips on my existing tender cable with the alligator clips to the booster battery, would this work or would I kill something????

Because the battery is such a pos to get at...

Now, that's jus' weird because I came in from the garage thinking how much easier the battery was to get at compared to previous rides. Two hex screws and a quick fastener and I'm in! There it is right on top! I'm hoping this is an indicator of how easy other parts are to get at. True, I haven't tried to take the battery out, so maybe I should temper my enthusiasm.

Maybe I'm still in the honeymoon stage or somethin' but this bike seems to be very well thought out and for a lot less money than the BMW world I came from. Not a dis on BMWs, mind you. I've been reading my latest edition of BWWON magazine, which came today.

And, it's good to know I'm not the only one that's done this key thing. Now, if I do it again...

wait till you are out there at dusk and trying to get the screws back in and not lose them especially the little snap or supposedly quick connect screw in the lower front and not lose it.

Yeah, I could see where that wouldn't be a great set of circumstances.

 

[FJRGuy]

So, Fred....how do you unlock the filler cap at the gas stop with the key in the ignition?

Actually, I do this all the time. Getting the key out of the ignition is a PITA with my electronics in place. I carry a spare (key, not tire) on a lanyard around my neck. I simply use my spare to open the gas cap. Also useful for getting into the sidebags without turning off the bike.

. Got a new aftermarket battery but it's having trouble keeping it's charge for a week.

Plus 1 on this. I just noticed the extremely weak charge after 5 days on Saturday. I was lucky to get it started.

What the heck is up with this issue???

Not enough volts are going into the battery or the volts are not going into the battery long enough when running; or too many amps are leaving the battery when the key is off. Uh, has this battery been heavily discharged, perhaps more than once?

What are your driving habits, i.e. short runs, frequent starts or nothing but 1,000 mile days with an aux fuel tank? What electricals do you have operating when the motorcycle is running? Do you have any relays added that may be sucking amps when the key is off? Do you have a Datel or other volt meter?

For me, brand new battery charged (apparently twice) at the dealer prior to install. Only farkle connected at time of failure is the AutoCom. Dealer said the battery tested OK (after it was apparently charged but failed to start the bike when I went to pick it up.) Worked fine for a couple of test rides then after sitting for a week (without a key in the ignition) it didn't have enough juice to start her up. I'm confused.

 

[FJRGuy]

If I had put my extra tender cable hookup with the alligator clips on my existing tender cable with the alligator clips to the booster battery, would this work or would I kill something????

Because the battery is such a pos to get at I installed a connector directly to the battery through a 50amp fused link. I then built a set of jumper cables that I can connect directly to the connector.

...

I thought about this to because of the dead battery issues I have been having since new. It will work fine but I'm concerned about the size of the tender wires. They may not be able to safely handle a boost current.

 

[Spook]

If I had put my extra tender cable hookup with the alligator clips on my existing tender cable with the alligator clips to the booster battery, would this work or would I kill something????

Because the battery is such a pos to get at I installed a connector directly to the battery through a 50amp fused link. I then built a set of jumper cables that I can connect directly to the connector.

...

I thought about this to because of the dead battery issues I have been having since new. It will work fine but I'm concerned about the size of the tender wires. They may not be able to safely handle a boost current.

What I used is not tender wire and the connector is a 4 pin with two 10 gage to pos and two to gnd. this is plenty heavy.

 

[Fred W]

For me, brand new battery charged (apparently twice) at the dealer prior to install. Only farkle connected at time of failure is the AutoCom. Dealer said the battery tested OK (after it was apparently charged but failed to start the bike when I went to pick it up.) Worked fine for a couple of test rides then after sitting for a week (without a key in the ignition) it didn't have enough juice to start her up. I'm confused.

Four possibilities come to mind:

1) The new battery is a POS. This falls under the heading of MRFWU

2) Something is discharging your battery when the bike is sitting. It may be the Autocom. Are you sure it isn't staying powered on when the bike is switched off? It may be something else. The way to find it is to disconnect the cable from the negative side of your battery and reconnect it via an ammeter in series. Leave the key switched off and the ammeter will show the total parasitic load on your battery. It should be very low, only a few milliamps. Start disconnecting suspect circuits until you see the current reading drop.

3) The bike's charging circuit may not be fully recharging the battery. Test this by monitoring the battery's voltage with the engine running. This is why having a panel volt meter on-board is so handy. You can do this at any time. Then measure the voltage on the battery immediately after stopping the engine. It should be fully charged. There are lot's of threads on here about battery charging & voltages.

4) Battery may be OK and your starter motor could be going **** up. A couple of cases of that seen on the forum, but usually resulting in temperature correlated issues. Starts cold, but not when hot, or some such.