Hi All, looking for advice. My MY17 fireblade (67 plate) has been sat for a few weeks and I took it out for a blast on Sunday and did about 30 miles and then parked up. Bike wouldn't fire up after break. Had to get AA out to jump start it (who were really quick - 25 mins). Road it home (20 miles at high revs) and it fired up ok when I got back home (after I gave it a rest). Tried it on Tuesday (2 days later) and it fired up ok. Put a volt meter across the terminals and it held charge at about 13.5V Tried it again today and it struggled to start before dying. Did a bit of reading online and it seems batteries are a weak point. Is this other owners experience? This is my 3rd blade and the batteries were always an issue over winter - but I'd always get about 2-3 weeks out of them. This new blade will just about last about 7 to 8 days - is this normal or is the battery fried? Should I look at replacing with a Li-Ion battery? Any recommendations if so? I know Li-Ion suffer more in cold weather. I suspect its the battery and will chuck a new one i but just wanted to get some opinions and thoughts.
I think that any battery left to discharge with HISS and other devices is asking for trouble. An outlay for a battery tender (presuming you're not using one) would resolve all this. Symptoms suggest battery is just not holding charge - OR, you have a major 'short' in the system somewhere. I have 2018 with Li-ion coupled up to an Optimate and have no problems at all after layups of 2 - 3 months.
The temperature dropping won’t have helped your cause either mate. I have just put a lithium on my 12 plate and find it lazier than a standard one in the cold and that’s without any sort of alarm/tracker. And mines on a optimate every night
I have a charger on mine over the winter but then don't use it unless I am not back on it for 2wks....do you think even if it's left just for a week I should connect it up...
Yep Never had issues with batteries...always using the Optimate. As @PauloHRC says, its a no brainer.
I use mine everyday mate and it’s plugged in every night. It won’t harm it as it only charges when it needs it and even then it’s not at full charge just what it needs.
True. And they're reasonably inexpensive to run - unless you have 7 of the damn things buzzing away. I love my nice green glow in the lounge room!!
Dont know how true this is but I read if you turn ignition on and let the battery 'warm' up slightly from the pull of the side lights then it will have more power to start the bike. Apparently a quirk with the lithium batteries?
I didn’t want to rub it in but I use one of these and for the last 6 years of owning a vtr I have never had a problem starting it no matter how long I left it Solar Charger 12V 4W Fold-out Solar Briefcase for Battery Charging by Eco Power Shophttps://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00TIJ3U6A/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_xd9KCbHSZ775T
I could be wrong but as soon as you turn it on you are draining the battery with the lights on( which you can’t turn off and I have the jens conversation so two on) and then you start it taking even more power so it would probably need a good run to get all that back
Thanks for the replies there was abit of me that thought I didn't want the battery to get totally dependant on its charger but I suppose in the country roads I do run with full beam on and toggle between the riding modes so will plug it in more often...
That's the thing though @Wozza .......batteries aren't self sufficient, so in a way they are dependent on a charger to keep them full of life!
Aren’t we all mate, not on mrs wozza obviously and except Nigel who can’t seem to keep a Mrs or just likes wedding cake?
Never worked for me!! Well, not with Mrs Wozza, but my own! Edited to say: @raphael stole my thunder. Yes, I do like wedding cake, but I am also a purveyor of quantity over quality - as evidenced by my bikes.
Apparently they work better when warmer and the lights should be enough to bring the internal temp up slightly if left for 20secs or something. Might be a load of shite but who knows! I took the battery off mine last year and it's been sat in a cupboard since. Be a good test when it goes back on. Lights indictate it's still good to go but might be different once its had some load on it.
