Flat battery.. confusion..

Well, its been a while since i ran the bike, as havent been out on it for awhile.. (2 months)..

Diabled alarm, turned key, choke out and press button..
NNNNNNneerrrrr.. dash lights fade.. hmmmm

bikes been on an optimate and now its flat.. hmmm something not right here.. get a green light on the optimate..

Well have whipped the battery out and its on charge.. hoping battery just flat not, looking forward to the alternative..

Had the same on my Fazer before I sold it, optimate for 1 month and even started the bike every now and then, and no alarm, optimate showed battery good with green lihgt, but dead when I tried to fire it up.....my advise, don't rely on the optimate to keep the battery alive

I think you're finding the difference between volts and amps. The Optimate "sees" the battery has approx 14v and so one goes the green light. When you hit the starter button there's still the 14v but has the amps of a AA battery and so you don't get started.

Some garages have battery testers which is basically a set of prongs with a resistor in between. Both prongs go on the battery, the resistor gets v. hot and the gauge says "ok". If the resistore doesn't get hot it says "pay up". Unfortunately I've not seen them at bike shops, but they do tell you if you have a cell thats open circuit, short etc etc.

HTH.

John Armstrong said:

Some garages have battery testers which is basically a set of prongs with a resistor in between. Both prongs go on the battery, the resistor gets v. hot and the gauge says "ok". If the resistore doesn't get hot it says "pay up". Unfortunately I've not seen them at bike shops, but they do tell you if you have a cell thats open circuit, short etc etc.

HTH.

Click to expand...

i have one. they basically just measure the ability of the battery to deliver power under load, the *oomph* if you like. used in conjunction with a hydrometer, it can give an idea of battery health.

you can buy one at machine mart for less than 30 quid

Might be usefull if they included it in the toolkits of our bikes seeing that there seems to be a run on battery problems?

Might be £30 well spent for the BM dealers if they don't have one already, save a fortune on replacement batteries. Might find more expensive problems though

drop test can be misleading. i have a battery here that does very well on the tester, but a hydrometer shows one cell half charged

if its a proper 'drop-test' its the only real way of ascertaining the true power in the battery. One cell half charged doesn't mean its fked - just not 100% - do you need 100% ?

if not - then it shows the remaining capacity is capable

motomartin said:

do you need 100% ?

Click to expand...

the bloke i sold it to does

+ it keeps going flat, yet his charge system seems ok on the 2 occasions i've tested it.

alternative battery in at the moment

John Armstrong said:

seeing that there seems to be a run on battery problems?:

Click to expand...

There always is this time of year mate.....

Winter conditions finally kill off any batteries near to the end of there service life,and bikes that haven`t been used for months give trouble.

Batteries need to be in a constant state of discharge-then-charge for maximum 'health'( it`s partly to do with reducing sulphation of the cells),and anything over three years is borrowed time for the average bike battery .

If your bike`s being laid up for a while,the best thing to do is connect a very low wattage lamp to the battery and let it go flat,or nearly so,then remove the lamp and connect the battery to a trickle charger/Optimate until it`s fully charged...........and repeat......and repeat....

Wont run without choke..

Well, i charged the battery with a standard trickle charge..

After 12hrs, it was on 3 lights out of 6.. so not convinced it was fully charging.. but i popped it back in the bike..

Started it up.. having done as the instruction manual says.. and openning the throttle twice fully after turning the ignition on for the first time..

Well she eventually started after much, turning over and spluttering.. BUT.. now it will only run with choke on and cuts, if you try to idle..

It backfired, like helll ( I have a y-piece with standard can).. all the time and power delivery is now all over the place, with sudden burst and then sudden dropps.. rides awfully and is almost to the point of unridable..

SO.. questions is.. what the feck is likly to happen.. is it that the power going on has resset the motronics settings to some sort of "factory" standard and that with the y-piece is the cause..

Or is it.. likly to be worse..

I love the GS.. but at times like this,sometimes brings it into doudt..

Oh the optimate is now , showing "charge".. status, rather than just idling..i even tried the clips, rather than the attached lead.. i think there is a chances the optimate wasnt plugged in correctly.. but will never know.

So..any ideas folks.. in the meantine unless someone can offer me some very much appreciated learned guidance.. going to have to call blue bell and get the bike in.. considering, taking the y-piece off again.. if it was the cause,, unless there is away of saving the motronics settings/or ressetting it to the y-piece setup,.. that i can do at home with ease..??? (this is asuming my assumption is correct.. and it was a chip resset in the first place)..

Time for me thinks..

rocks said:

Started it up.. having done as the instruction manual says.. and openning the throttle twice fully after turning the ignition on for the first time..

Well she eventually started after much, turning over and spluttering.. BUT.. now it will only run with choke on and cuts, if you try to idle..

It backfired, like helll ( I have a y-piece with standard can).. all the time and power delivery is now all over the place, with sudden burst and then sudden dropps.. rides awfully and is almost to the point of unridable..

SO.. questions is.. what the feck is likly to happen.. is it that the power going on has resset the motronics settings to some sort of "factory" standard and that with the y-piece is the cause..

.

Click to expand...

Check the throttle cables have re-seated properly.

Throttle cables?

Hi Steptoe.. cheers..
Umm. not to sound too silly.. but how does one do that??

And,, i havent touched the cables knowingly..unless it was the openning throttle twice part.. ?


Cheers

John

Here, one a 11xx GS I gues the 1200 will be similar:

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61762&highlight=throttle+cable

Gentlemen and scholars.. thankyou!

Well, i just read Steptoe's post.. dug out the GS manual and have a look, then spotted reply above.. nipped into garage.. (BBBBRRRR ! )..

near side throttle cable seated ok.. hmmm starting to feel down hardened.. but by torch light.. offside ( right of bike).. throttle cable.. just as the pic in the link..lol..

Re-seated cable correctly.. turned bike over.. now smooth idling on choke and even.. off choek..

I have never heard of it being possible to do that.. so thanks guys.. very greatly appreciated.. will take bike out tomorrow night for a spin and check its back to norma. But certainly no longer running like a tractor..

Steptoe, John Armstrong.. if i see you at any of the events this year.. a drink will certainly be on me. cheers guys..

GS Battery Saga's

Just got my third GS, this time the 1200 incarnation and really miffed to read allthe problems with battery's! My previous 1150 was left for a couple of months like Rocks without being on charge and the battery was completely shot, never did recover but was replaced under warranty. Interestingly I had no problems at all with my original GS, a pre twin spark model.

After my last 1150 battery problems linked it upto a oxford optimiser and that solved the 'will it won't it' moments when starting. Just been into the garage to fit it up to the 1200.
Beats me how a company like BMW can make such a gaff of not sorting out a basic fault. If its any consolation a friend of mine has one of those aweful X5 4x4 monsters with all the whistles and bells and he had to get the AA out when it s battery had gone flat after only been left for a fortnight in an airport car park!!

What an advertisement!! Dodgy batteries aside I really like the bike, it doesnt have anything like the quality feel of the 1150, the tool kit is a disgrace and it isn't as relaxing to ride but hey thats progress. big advancement is the luggage system and the shedding of 5 stones which is where I guess the build quality has been compromised.

Cheers.