Won't start

[Klanky]

Dammit.

Went to start the bike for the first time since the beginning of december and was greeted with click, click, click, click.........nothing.

Figured the battery must be flat, so put it on trickle charge - but it's showing plenty of power in it anyway.

Gave it a few hours and tried again. Exactly the same:click, click, click, click...nothing. No attempt to physically turn over at all.

Any ideas?

I'm going to leave it on trickle overnight just to make sure, but I'm not convinced that battery is to blame.

 

[ghiribizzo]

Was the battery taken out before trying the charger or in place?
I'd suspect furry connections to the battery or battery to frame + starter.
Jump leads will dispel doubts about the battery.

So, if it starts with jump leads - new battery time. Cold kills them.

 

[cookie]

a trickle charger is not a suitable tool for dealing with a flat battery.

try a proper charger, and then quite possibly, a new battery. get the old one checked properly first.

 

[Klanky]

Points taken.

I may have been expecting too much from my charger on 'trickle' so I've set it on 'full' now.

 

[Greggers]

Cookie's right about a small charger with a deeply discharged battery - it will need a good few amps initially to 'wake it up' again, but if you use a car battery charger don't leave it on for too long as they charge at a higher voltage than one designed for MF or gel/sealed batteries ...

You could always try a jump start from a known good battery - I know that the purista say it's a no-no, but there's no real reason why it shouldn;t work ...

best of luck anyway

G

 

[v8legend]

You might get away with this, you might not. Modern batteries don't fade away like the old ones, they just die. One day fine, next day fecked.

You really need a modern conditioning charger. Give it some welly with a car charger, then stick on the optimate.

 

[ghiribizzo]

v8legend - I suspect if Klanky had an Optimate he'd have said so.
If it's deid, might be just the time to switch to an Odyssey battery too Klanky!

 

[divelandy]

v8legend - I suspect if Klanky had an Optimate he'd have said so.
If it's deid, might be just the time to switch to an Odyssey battery too Klanky!

Knew my battery was getting flat )after 5 weeks of no use) and bike would not turn over. Connected Optimate and it started. Hope that the battery is not knackered and i got to it in time...

 

[TheJoker]

Did you get it started?

 

[divelandy]

Knew my battery was getting flat )after 5 weeks of no use) and bike would not turn over. Connected Optimate and it started. Hope that the battery is not knackered and i got to it in time...

Alas, my battery is knackered!
So, what is the chance of getting it replaced under warranty?
- some people appear to have achieved this ...

 

[Tengiz99]

Didn't happen in my case.

 

[GunZenBomZ]

Bollocks bollocks, my battery lit display, then went dead on ignition. Bought a optimate4 off feebay, hope there is some charge remaining for tomorrow so I can get a bike charger connected up.

 

[v8legend]

Bollocks bollocks, my battery lit display, then went dead on ignition. Bought a optimate4 off feebay, hope there is some charge remaining for tomorrow so I can get a bike charger connected up.

Oh Oh Paddy, doesn't look hopeful.

 

[roddy]

I have one of these rather generic "Draper" plug top chargers and it's never failed yet to recover a battery, even managed to recover batterys where the more expensive Optimate type have failed.

If you know someone with one it's worth ago ?

 

[Tor]

IMO it would help the longevity of the battery to keep the bike on a maintenance charger when not using the bike, summer and winter. I've had the batteries on both my bikes lasting a lot longer doing this.

 

[GunZenBomZ]

Welcome Tor, charged my bike battery up for an hour & the beast lives!!

 

[Klanky]

Nah, battery screwed.

Tried a more 'lively' charge and then hooked it directly to Dounreay...fecked.


I should have seen the warning signs a couple of months back - the bikes not been out as much as normal and it's been sluggish on fireup every time. But appeared to recover after a decent long (100 miles +) blast.


New battery time.

 

[divelandy]

Alas, my battery is knackered!

Well, not quite. After charging it a couple of times the bike now starts, so i'm now in the jeopardy situation of waiting for it to not hold charge at some point...

Glad to be out on it and loving the muff's i brought from Val.