R1200GS Adventure 2011 Twin Cam Battery - Advice Please

itspilsbury

itspilsbury

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Hi,

For about 2 years now when I plug my GS911 in when I service my bike I get fault codes, Heated Grips short circuit - not now present and ABS low voltage - not now present.

Also when I start the bike it always starts 1st or 2nd evolution of the engine but the cranking speed is very low, unless I have been on a really long ride. I do use an Optimate but only occasionally as I don't like them plugged in all the time. 2 years ago I went to the Arctic Circle and was worried about the cranking speed etc wondering if the battery was going to die.

What my question is from twin cam owners is this normal with the twin cam adventure to crank over really slow or is my battery ready for changing.

If my battery is getting ready I might as well change it but I don't want to if its normal for it to crank slow. What battery ? I see there are various out there Motobatt, Varta etc, Lithium, Gel and also something called an Odyssey battery whatever that is ?

Thanks,
Ian
 
I have exactly the same thing where it cranks slow and it almost sounds like it isn't going to start but always does.
 
Mines a 2012. Changed the battery now no problems and starts instantly even after not being used for a while.
 
I think being such a big lump the starter is geared to crank it at lower speeds, mine is like that as well but it always fires ok.
 
Mine was really struggling, new battery and now it's just struggling, still takes a few really slow revolutions to start.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I would start looking for high resistance connections in primary battery leads initially at the battery then at the starter and engine/frame earths.
And perform volt drop checks across those points, see YouTube for how to perform those.
 
Odyssey

Better make this quick before one of the senior members tell us off...this has been discussed in other threads

I fit an odyssey battery when my bikes are about 12 months old ... The original ones are poor to say the least.

They give far better cranking power, don't need nursing on a charger... But are a pain to fit ( very tight and cables need a bit of moving )

They aren't cheap, but they are almost fit and forget ... Check out nippy normans for current prices

Sorry ... I ride a 63 plate triple black GSA ... And 2 other GS before this one, all had them ..:thumb2
 
Thanks everyone for your replies, sounds like its pretty commonplace. If it gets any worse I will check earths etc and possibly go for an Odyssey replacement.
 
itspilsbury said:
Thanks everyone for your replies, sounds like its pretty commonplace. If it gets any worse I will check earths etc and possibly go for an Odyssey replacement.
Click to expand...

There was an odyssey in my 2006 gsa when I bought it in 2008, its never been on an optimate, left for the whole winter every year, never failed to start the bike, its at least 8 years old now and still going strong with the 54,000 miles I've put on it since buying it.
 
itspilsbury said:
.......... I do use an Optimate but only occasionally as I don't like them plugged in all the time..........
Click to expand...

Could you tell me why you don't keep the Optimate plugged in all the time?
I thought this was what they were designed to do and didn't know that it might incur damage by doing so......

On my last GS I kept an Optimate plugged in permanently when not riding and had no end of starting problems.

On my current GS I haven't bothered using the Optimate at all this winter and have had no problems at all, but I do a long ride at least once week.

Why do you have reservations about the Optimate - could it possibly shorten the life of the battery perhaps?
 
Hi, because my previous bike which I had from new for 7 years was a R1150RT and I did leave the Optimate plugged in for prolonged periods of time and I had more battery problems than a little, so since buying my GSA I tend to plug it in possibly once a month for a couple of days. I know they are supposed to be able to be left on permanent charge but I felt it was having an adverse effect.
 
Speaking to a battery supplier friend of mine recently, he was saying that
some of the early Optimate chargers would over charge a battery if left on
permanently.
 
I have an older Optimate but use it as a normal charger or for recovering accidentally discharged batteries.

I currently use an Odyssey in the BMW but only because I bought it used to a low price from a known source.

If I was expecting to leave the bike unused for long periods I'd suck up the costs and get a LiFePo. TBH when you add the costs of a half decent battery with an Optimate you may as well move to 21st century battery technology. My garage is now so congested, plugging (and unplugging) a charger to simply move the bike would soon become very tiresome.

The Kettle 750 hasn't moved for 18 months so that's a dead battery. It's probably coat almost as much per mile to insure as it has in battery costs.
 
BOBAD said:
Could you tell me why you don't keep the Optimate plugged in all the time?
I thought this was what they were designed to do and didn't know that it might incur damage by doing so......

On my last GS I kept an Optimate plugged in permanently when not riding and had no end of starting problems.

On my current GS I haven't bothered using the Optimate at all this winter and have had no problems at all, but I do a long ride at least once week.

Why do you have reservations about the Optimate - could it possibly shorten the life of the battery perhaps?
Click to expand...

I think its that an optimate will mask a failing battery, so one day you go out for a bit further or a bit longer than normal, or even away for a weekend or a week or two only to find that your battery won't hold a charge over that time without the boost its had from the optimate.

Oh and mine sluggish to start turning over and it normally starts in just a turn or two of the engine just as the OP described. On the couple or three times it hasn't wanted to fire once the engine has done a few turns it seems to fairly whizz along. Ignition on/off and a flick on/off of the kill switch has got it started as normal each time it has done this. 2011 GSA.
 
AustinW said:
I think its that an optimate will mask a failing battery, so one day you go out for a bit further or a bit longer than normal, or even away for a weekend or a week or two only to find that your battery won't hold a charge over that time without the boost its had from the optimate.

Oh and mine sluggish to start turning over and it normally starts in just a turn or two of the engine just as the OP described. On the couple or three times it hasn't wanted to fire once the engine has done a few turns it seems to fairly whizz along. Ignition on/off and a flick on/off of the kill switch has got it started as normal each time it has done this. 2011 GSA.
Click to expand...

Been there. Done that. And to add insult the new battery cost a lot more than I'd have paid at home.
 
My 2011 gs is the same when i press the starter it sounds if its not going to turn over but it always starts.
I think we must remember that compared to a 4 cylinder engine of similar capacity our two cylinders are big and the starter needs to overcome quite a lot of initial resistance

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Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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