Jump starting

Hi All,
Have not had the bike out for a while as I always need to jump start her. I have finally had enough and have begun looking for a battery tender or similar in Australia as I need 240v input.

Anyway I only get out normally once every two weeks or so. Been lazy lately and have not had the bike started for 6 weeks.

Anyway I blew the cobwebs off the bike today and jumped started with a power pack as I usally do. After some moaniong and groaning I finally got her going.

However I noted that once she was going and I turned the power pack off the bike stopped. In the past this had not happen (Perhaps previously the battery was not as flat). So I left the power pack on for a while whilst the bike was going and after a few minutes turned it off, I noted that the brake warning light then come on and stayed dimmed. I turned the power pack back on and the light went out. I kept the power pack on for say another five minutes whilst the bike was idling and then once I turned it off the light did not come back on.

The battery was compeltly discharged prior to jump starting.

My question is, is this normal for the light to come on dimmed to show that the battery is low?. It is charging ok at about 14V - 3000rpm, the light went off however upon shutting her down there is not enogh charge to restart without jump starting again.

With the bike going and the battery only begining to charge, is there other problems that could show up when riding, such as shutting down unexpectedly or similar.

Thanks: Brad

Thanks: Brad

I'm surprised Australia runs on 240v, why is that?

Maybe your battery may be bad, can you get a small hydrometer and check the cells?

double post, sorry

Post edited by: OKC_Kent, at: 2007/06/03 13:06

240V is our mains supply I dont know why but it is.

Does it sound right that once the bike was jump started and going, that when I removed the jump starter that the bike stopped.

As you can tell I am no electrical guru, however I thought once it was going it would not require the battery?

Appreciate anyones thought's on this, maybe I have a secondary problem?

if the battery was totaly dead you are going to need to fully charge it prior to running the bike, in addition you may have a bad battery by now ,

Yes it would make sense that the bike dies IF the battery was dead, because the ignition needs the battery to work. If you didn't give your battery enough time to build up a charge again it would die when you removed the jumpers. Next time when you remove the jumper cables try reving to 4000 so the stator can put out more voltage to charge the battery.

I was on a trip recently and the connection from my regulator to my battery broke enroute. The bike kept running, but gradually I could feel the performance worsen mile by mile. Finally it would not pull up a hill and when I pulled over the engine quit.

Without the connection from the regulator constantly keeping the battery charged the battery was the only source of power, until it became depleted. After fixing the connection I had to bump start it and get it up to 4000 quickly to get some charge into the battery. Because I had a good battery to begin with the battery came back and I had no more problems.

Check yours with a hydrometer. Even if one cell is bad it should be able to work ok. One of my cells is 25% and the other 5 are 100%, so far so good. I'll probably buy a new one next year tho..