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Battery issues can ruin a ride


Helmutt

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Had a little episode yesterday afternoon out in the sticks about 25 minutes from home. Shut the bike down for a minute at an intersection so oldschoolsdime92 could pet a donkey that had approached the roadside fence where we'd stopped. It appeared to be friendly but when he walked over to pet it, ended up it was just hungry and tried to eat his glove, so he scratched that idea.

Got ready to get going again and my bike refused to restart. Pushed it to the berm. Every time I thumbed the start switch I could hear the starter relay ticking erratically.....no worries, we'll just bump start it. Clutch popped it rolling in first, and it fired right up. Left it idling while I threw my lid back on and it suddenly dies.

Dash display was well lit, the fuel pump cycled fine every time I flipped the engine cutout switch with ign keyed on, didn't see/smell any cooking of electrics, had good ignition power. Tried tapping the relay several times to get it to engage while I hit the start switch, but no go.

Didn't have tools onboard to pull the battery ( it's fully encased in the side of the frame ) and didn't want to try and bumpstart it again just to avoid any further possible electronic meltdowns, so off oldschool went to fetch his truck/trailer.

Got the bike home ( Huge thanks to oldschool for the lift back to the house ) and once the battery was pulled, I saw a floured mess at the battery's negative terminal.....could be the issue. I went ahead and tested the relay anyway, just to rule it out and it was fine. Cleaned all the corrosion from the negative terminal, cleaned all other contacts, dielectric greased all connections, reinstalled the battery, bike fired fine. ZX14's have an ammeter built into to the display, and it was reading 14-14.2v consistently so my volt reg was functioning fine. Problem solved.

Folks, do yourself a favor and check your battery and ground connections at least once a year. Keep 'em clean and protected. I hadn't had mine apart since wiring up the Battery Tender harness about 3 years ago, and it could have left me somewhat stranded had oldschool not been with me.

Biggest lesson learned.....dont pet a donkey, it could turn out to be a hungry ass.

Edited by Hellmutt
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Great tip, as this has bitten me in the past as well.  Since then, I've added  "MotoMinder" reminders to check each bike's battery fluid levels, standing voltages, voltages while running and terminal connections. You're right, dielectric grease is a wonderful thing.

 

Also don't charge your phone or GPS from the bike unless the engine is running.  I got stuck once after having lunch, with my phone fully charging off the battery.  It was enough to drop the level needed to start the bike, and I needed a bump-start to get home.

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If you have the means to carry extra stuff on the bike:

ruta4y3a.jpg

These are strong enough to start a v8 and I've heard of some guys using the 400A version to crank a diesel truck.

I have one and its really awesome. I throw it in the truck for track days and what not. It will charge cell phones, tablets, laptops, gopro's and whatever other what not.

Just food for thought.

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This is my biggest concern over using a battery tender. If my battery goes kaput, I'd like to know when I try to leave the garage, not when I'm already a tank away from the house...

My bike has been off the Tender since Spring, the issue here was corrosion interrupting the negative connection.

If you have the means to carry extra stuff on the bike:ruta4y3a.jpg

These are strong enough to start a v8 and I've heard of some guys using the 400A version to crank a diesel truck.

I have one and its really awesome. I throw it in the truck for track days and what not. It will charge cell phones, tablets, laptops, gopro's and whatever other what not.

Just food for thought.

That looks like a good investment, but all I have is a tankbag at the moment ( aside from my backpack ) to haul stuff in. Looking into a Concours in the next season or 2, so would definitely be an option then

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