Have had a couple of times recently when my trusty steed (Triumph) conked out at a petrol station just after filling up. It happened this evening on the way back home from work - luckily not too far from home but way too far for me to push it. I wondered whether it could be the battery and the heated gloves that have recently been wired in?
Luckily this evening a friend of mine came over on his bike, left it at the petrol station and pushed my bike all the way home - what a gent!!
However, I can’t continue to rely on helpful gentlemen to materialise and push my bike home - I was going to take it down to Bristol tomorrow for work, but am having second thoughts, as getting it pushed back home up the M4 will be a different kettle of fish.
Hmmmmmm…Triumph and charging issues… Sounds familiar :crazy:
I wouldn’t have thought heated gloves should drain your battery any more than heated grips would, unless you leave them on for a while with the bike off.
Might want to run a few checks on the alternator and reg/rec.
When you aren’t using them? No - they shouldn’t be draining your battery.
If they’re plugged in, make sure they’re off. They were wired directly to your battery because they have a switch, if you’re leaving them on, they’ll be draining your battery.
If they’re unplugged, there’s no way for them to be draining your battery unless they’re shorting out. Make sure you use the rubber weather cover.
Thanks for the replies and good (very early) morning! The battery turns over but doesn’t fire up - it has only happened at petrol stations after relatively (commute length) short journeys. Doesn’t seem to have a problem after longer journeys, which made me think that the combination of cold weather, heated gloves and shorter journeys were affecting the battery charge. The gloves are unplugged from the bike and switched off, when on the heat supply is a bit erratic, which I’ve heard before can happen with Gerbrings. (I e mailed Bikerstore some weeks ago re this but had no reply) . It could be the reg rec but seems to have no problem after a charge - so unsure exactly what the issue is…
I’ve noticed that my bike will not start again after I use the gloves and turn the motor off whilst the gloves are still on. Even if I turn it off for 10 sec whilst I get the car lift. The bike will try to turn but won’t start. I physically need to turn ignition off and on again and it starts first time.
If I unplug the gloves and then turn off the bike then it’s fine.
The poor battery is trying to turn a 1300cc motor though.
Also, you need to use the revs on the bike. I rev really low though the commute as I can’t rev high as I’ll be going too fast too quickly and that won’t charge the battery properly
It won’t be the gloves themselves. The gloves only have a three amp fuse so unless you leave them plugged in without the engine running for hours there shouldn’t be a problem with them draining the battery.
Winter is when batteries on their last legs start to play up - it sounds like you need a new battery, when mine started to not fire up i replaced the battery and its been perfect since!
They should be wired through the ignition switch. That way with the ignition on the gloves are on/off according to their independent on/off switch, with the ignition off the gloves are off. It’s a safer set up all round, besides why would you want the heated gloves on when the the ignition is off :ermm:
Get them re-wired and your probably find your problem solved
I have Gerbing heated gloves wired directly to the batterey, and never had this issue. When my battrey was on the way out it started playing up like what you describe and that was without gloves connected
Thanks so much for all your replies and help. I am going to get the battery checked out incase it is on its last legs and maybe get a new one. Or it could be the reg rec? Will check that too!
My gloves have a 20 amp fuse in not a 3 amp one (I had quite a number of fuses to choose from at the time). I’ll have a look at maybe wiring them in through the ignition, although people seem to think that the gloves themselves would not drain the battery.
You have been very helpful and I will look into the above issues.
H
I’m pretty sure the gloves come with a battery terminal fixing on the end of the wire to do exactly that… Fit them to the battery so don’t wire them somewhere else, change the fuse according to the instructions (gerbing have a whole outfit that all wires together, but if you have just the gloves you only put in the 3amp) - pretty sure you will find with the drop test your battery is shot!
Yes it is important to read the instructions that come with the battery harness and use the fuse that the instructions say is appropriate for the heated clothing you have. For example, gloves is 3amp, but you would need a completely different fuse if you had gloves, jacket, trousers and boot liners.
Re wiring up to ignition, I can’t see how that is necessary. Unless you sit on your bike wired up to it for ages with the ignition off you can’t drain the battery. As soon as you walk away from the bike you have to disconnect yourself so there is nothing to drain the battery.
Why not just disconnect the wires and run it for a couple of days to see if you get the same results (the old suck and see method)
The size of the fuse will not effect the draw on the battery, but it is important to protect the gloves from any surge or over current.
The connectors on wire feeding the gloves must be kept clean as this can short across the terminals and make a draw on the battery (use rubber boot as said earlier)
