fjrob1300
Frost-back1 IBA 34867 / Brown Sider 002/ Dark Side
Installed new front rotors today. Bike has 204000km (126000mi) . Took it for a little spin.
And has seen a lot more unpaved roads than 90% of the BMW GS's.Installed new front rotors today. Bike has 204000km (126000mi) . Took it for a little spin.
Something different about the batteries that were put in the '07s. I'm still on my original, too! Only time I used a Battery Tender was a little last winter and about two days before bringing it out last month. I have a MotoBatt waiting to go in and an XP3 under the seat, just in case.I started it up for the first time since last December!!
It has sat, since then, in my unheated attached garage in the frigid northeast. Since I planned on replacing the battery this year (10 years old and 163,800 miles), I didn't have it on a tender (never use one anyway) all winter and did not do my customary every-two-months top-up trickle charge. Battery was connected to the bike the whole time so there would still be a (very small) parasitic draw to keep the clock and computer alive. This is in addition to the natural self-discharge for any AGM battery. Just for fun, I thought I would see if there was ANY juice in the battery after almost four months of unattended cold storage. Turn key, dash lights up, needles sweep. It cranked a little slower and longer than I would generally prefer but it fired up after maybe 5 seconds!! I'll have it on the trickle charger for a few hours tonight.
The use of battery tenders is way overrated!! Never understood why people seem to think the bike has to be plugged in after every ride (or even if they aren't riding for a week). More likely to damage the battery by overcharge if you are not using a temperature-compensated charger or if voltage calibration and cut-off voltage are not correct. (Does anyone check theirs regularly???)
I am still going to swap out this battery this year. The old one can produce the volts OK while cranking but I suspect that the ampere-hour capacity is well down from new. I wouldn't want to get stranded somewhere remote (I do a lot of motorcycle camping) and have a starting problem. (Will probably pick up one of the Lithium emergency starter batteries in case of primary battery problems and to charge electronics - cell phone, tablet, Bluetooth speaker, Sena etc.)
Now that you mention it, I had my '07's battery in my bike for 6 years. I think the only reason it started to crash was because I think I cooked it with a trickle charger. This forum had me all paranoid about my battery dying and I was using something I wasn't sure how to use. Lol.Something different about the batteries that were put in the '07s. I'm still on my original, too! Only time I used a Battery Tender was a little last winter and about two days before bringing it out last month. I have a MotoBatt waiting to go in and an XP3 under the seat, just in case.I started it up for the first time since last December!!It has sat, since then, in my unheated attached garage in the frigid northeast. Since I planned on replacing the battery this year (10 years old and 163,800 miles), I didn't have it on a tender (never use one anyway) all winter and did not do my customary every-two-months top-up trickle charge. Battery was connected to the bike the whole time so there would still be a (very small) parasitic draw to keep the clock and computer alive. This is in addition to the natural self-discharge for any AGM battery. Just for fun, I thought I would see if there was ANY juice in the battery after almost four months of unattended cold storage. Turn key, dash lights up, needles sweep. It cranked a little slower and longer than I would generally prefer but it fired up after maybe 5 seconds!! I'll have it on the trickle charger for a few hours tonight.The use of battery tenders is way overrated!! Never understood why people seem to think the bike has to be plugged in after every ride (or even if they aren't riding for a week). More likely to damage the battery by overcharge if you are not using a temperature-compensated charger or if voltage calibration and cut-off voltage are not correct. (Does anyone check theirs regularly???)
I am still going to swap out this battery this year. The old one can produce the volts OK while cranking but I suspect that the ampere-hour capacity is well down from new. I wouldn't want to get stranded somewhere remote (I do a lot of motorcycle camping) and have a starting problem. (Will probably pick up one of the Lithium emergency starter batteries in case of primary battery problems and to charge electronics - cell phone, tablet, Bluetooth speaker, Sena etc.)
Those damn German machines...LOL...hope it was easier than changing the headlight bulbs on the FJR.Changed the low beam headlight bulb...this was the first time in the last 43 years and 16 bikes that I had to replace a headlight bulb. It had to happen..right? :grin:
15 minute job...Those damn German machines...LOL...hope it was easier than changing the headlight bulbs on the FJR.Changed the low beam headlight bulb...this was the first time in the last 43 years and 16 bikes that I had to replace a headlight bulb. It had to happen..right?
I'll sell you the one I just took out of my bike - $80.00 + shippingGoing shopping tomorrow for vintage 2007 batteries. Then I'll put a Crags List ad up for my battery tender cause it's useless.
I'll probably wind things up with a 175 Mike ride.
That must really blow. I live in the middle of a motorcycle Nirvana.I wish I had nice places to ride.It takes 2 hours of slab to get to any fun riding places. So that's 4 hours of boring roads just to have fun. I did take the 2008 to work today and I have the rest of the week off. I may squeeze in a day hopefully. I need it.
Dave
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