Battery + cold weather = no bike

Motorcycling
1

After the cold weather at the weekend the bike decided it didn’t want to start on Monday - literally turned over twice and then absolutely dead! Called the AA out and there is a healthy 14.8v being delivered by the alternator but the battery is holding zero charge.

I’m a bit pissed off as it’s less than 18 months old Yusa battery, and the bike is ridden at least 5 days a week so it’s not sitting around. Is this normal or should they last longer than this, or have I bought a cheap brand and paid the price??? To top it off the battery has gone up from £45 to £64 for the the same one!

Rant over :smiley:

2

How about an optimiser ? Fit it on should give your battery a longer life in the winter months ?

3

what have you got on it (alarm, heated grips?) and how long do you ride it for

both these will effect the life of the battery

4

optimates are worth every penny

5

Even so I would have thought daily riding = no problem, ok battery could get low but not crap itself ( ie I would expect it to be restoreable not be only fit for the bin )…

6

with sealed batterys after time the acid runs low and the cold gets in there and shags it

7

oh and always use the choke when cold starting as it adds more fuel to the mixture and this seals the piston ring which gives compression

8

None of the above so no slow drain on the batttery, also daily commute is about 20miles each way so can’t see what the hell has happened! Bought a optimiser and new battery now, so sticking it on optimiser overnight first and seeing what happens. Hope it might recover otherwise on with new one!

Still pissed off though at the life of it if its fecked

9

So popped the old battery onto the optimiser and its saying that its partially flat but definitely looks to be holding a charge. So going to leave it overnight and see what happens - confused but hopeful!:smiley:

10

hmm well if it is holding charge then could be another problem. you said the alternator was putting out power but not charging the battery (or the battery wasnt charging)

was the battery properly connected? any loose connections?

hope with the overnight (or more id say) charge itll get sorted

11

You said battery is only 18 months old ? It’s quite possible that the sh!t nasty weather we had with snow & -18 degrees temp etc earlier in the year has managed to kill off the battery slowly, unless the alternator is the prob.

But with the weather setting in to be cold again you may just buy another battery and keep the optimate on it. This will definitely help the battery, particularly if the bike is stored outside in weather (?). Dont get caught on the hop and the bike wont start with you left stranded.

By the way, stick with the Yuasa, i would.

12

All sorted now, old one was a varta, and even after sitting on the charger for two days and showing a full charge wouldn’t even turn the engine over! The new Yusa one is in and all ok. Will pop it on the optimiser every other weekend though, just to be safe whilst its this cold.

13

can show over 12v and still not be able to kick bike over, volts etc are for lights etc it amps ya want for turning bike over.