| Author | Message | ||
     Juxtapose  |
I'm not as knowlegable as I should be on motorcycle batteries, but here is whats happening: The bike is a 03 XB9S. I took the bike out for a short bit to warm it up and check the oil, as well as other various fluids. (Its ridden quite regularly being my only ride.) I'd say it was roughly 5 miles round trip. I get back to my house, park the bike outside where its about 36 degrees. I came back roughly 50 minutes later to start it up and park it in the garage, only I could tell by the level of the lights and the sound of the starter that the battery had lost quite a bit of charge. The temperature had dropped about ten degrees and there was a decent windchill. I had to actually get on the gas a bit for it to actually fire up. It idled a bit rough and the lights flickered with ever detonation. It eventually went away, but I get this more and more in the winter. Is this just a result of the temperature and its effect on discharge rates? | ||
| Fullpower  |
no, this is not a temperature problem. fully charge your battery, then have it load tested. look in the yellow pages, find an auto electic shop nearby, and have them load test the battery. if it doesnt throw at least 250 CCA, that is Cold Cranking Amps, then replace it. the trade number is a YTX-14BS. they are actually only rated at 200 CCA, but a new one will easily put down 350 CCAmps, and even mine at 19 months old will put 325 amps. full list price for an Interstate, or YUASA is only 72.95 | ||
| Juxtapose |
Thanks mate, just what I needed to know. | ||
| Lightning_strikes_now |
I read in my Buell maintenance manual some time ago that it takes the charging system about 30 minutes to recharge and replace the energy in the the battery after starting. If you do a lot of short warmup rides in the winter time say once per week, this will keep the battery in a discharged and weakened state. My XB12S does the same thing when its cold. You may want to invest in a battery tender. This will keep the battery in a ready state for riding. | ||
| Rigga  |
always hook the bike up to a battery tender when not in use,really prolongs the life of the battery |
