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sburns said:
That is some interesting suggestions. Curious have you done this with succuss. The 4th gear running part down street.
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Dude..never bump started a bike before?

May or may not work on a modern FI bike as the electronics will need some power to actually be awake enough to inject fuel. If the battery is flat to the point where there's not even enough left to run the ECM, it may not start.

Oldschool carb, well, always a viable solution...although bump starting a big CC V-Twin is a whole different ball of wax due to their compression ratios, but that's a different story.

CHRIS63 said:
battery tender worked -- bike is back to starting

now, do I charge the battery every time I don't use the bike?? How long will this last for?
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In the winter months the battery can (and should) be always left on the tender to make sure it stays at 100% SOC. Lead acid batteries self discharge when left sitting, and many bikes also have parasitic draws that can speed up discharge as well.

Just make sure you use a proper TENDER, and not a "trickle charger". The latter will cook your battery if left on.

Now, as for your existing battery, having been flattened and possibly left that way for some time, it may have been damaged and now only carrying a surface charge - enough to start the bike after being freshly unplugged from the tender, but maybe not enough to start the bike again after it's been sitting having lunch somewhere for an hour or two. The only way to tell for sure will be to have it load tested and see if it performs properly.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Dude..never bump started a bike before?

May or may not work on a modern FI bike as the electronics will need some power to actually be awake enough to inject fuel. If the battery is flat to the point where there's not even enough left to run the ECM, it may not start.

Oldschool carb, well, always a viable solution...although bump starting a big CC V-Twin is a whole different ball of wax due to their compression ratios, but that's a different story.



In the winter months the battery can (and should) be always left on the tender to make sure it stays at 100% SOC. Lead acid batteries self discharge when left sitting, and many bikes also have parasitic draws that can speed up discharge as well.

Just make sure you use a proper TENDER, and not a "trickle charger". The latter will cook your battery if left on.

Now, as for your existing battery, having been flattened and possibly left that way for some time, it may have been damaged and now only carrying a surface charge - enough to start the bike after being freshly unplugged from the tender, but maybe not enough to start the bike again after it's been sitting having lunch somewhere for an hour or two. The only way to tell for sure will be to have it load tested and see if it performs properly.
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My thoughts exactly. I will keep the tender plugged into my battery overnight since tomorrow I am going to ride. Next two days are forcasted to rain so I will unplug the tender and see if the battery does hold the charge. Now if it doesn't hold, I am in need of a new battery, right? Thanks for the response.
 
CHRIS63 said:
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My thoughts exactly. I will keep the tender plugged into my battery overnight since tomorrow I am going to ride. Next two days are forcasted to rain so I will unplug the tender and see if the battery does hold the charge. Now if it doesn't hold, I am in need of a new battery, right? Thanks for the response.
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That’s a good test method that should indeed give you a decent indication on the batteries health. If it still cranks over healthy and starts 4-6 times in a row after a few days unplugged it’s likely ok. If it doesn’t, well, yes...time for a new battery.
 
CHRIS63 said:
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My thoughts exactly. I will keep the tender plugged into my battery overnight since tomorrow I am going to ride. Next two days are forcasted to rain so I will unplug the tender and see if the battery does hold the charge. Now if it doesn't hold, I am in need of a new battery, right? Thanks for the response.
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I mentioned it before, I will say it once more, if you want to know the state of the battery, take it to Canadian Tire, or any other place that can do a load test, this will tell you how good or bad the battery is.

.
 
sburns said:
Nope I have only been riding since Aug 2017! Hopefully I never need to do this.
Merely was curious about the suggestion not being critical.
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You can try "bump starting" your bike even if it isn't dead, it's just much easier.

Throw your bike into gear, roll the bike down a driveway or something and drop the clutch - bike should start without hitting your start button.
 
What a lot of people forget is that a motorcycle on idle does not rev the motor enough to keep the generator producing enough electricity to run the engine.
The choke should remain out enough to keep the idle at 1000 rpm at all times.
I found this out the hard way.
 
sburns said:
Nope I have only been riding since Aug 2017! Hopefully I never need to do this.
Merely was curious about the suggestion not being critical.
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Sorry, I sometimes need to remind myself that not everyone grew up on 2 wheels. ;)

Yes, you can start most any manual transmission vehicle (cars and motorcycles included) manually by simply getting them up into a high gear (to provide enough torque from the wheels to the engine), getting them moving, and them dumping the clutch.

The high-ish gear is essential as otherwise the wheels will often just skid because of not enough torque to get the engine rolling, especially on motorcycles. ESPECIALLY on a big V-Twin.

GateKeeper said:
I mentioned it before, I will say it once more, if you want to know the state of the battery, take it to Canadian Tire, or any other place that can do a load test, this will tell you how good or bad the battery is.
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Canadian Tire doesn't really do a thorough load test anymore, their little digital testers place a very light load on the battery for a very short period of time and then draw conclusions from that. It's been my experience that a battery with a strong surface charge (but little/no reserve) will show pass when in reality a more traditional carbon pile load tester will quickly show a sag when you draw a ton of amps for a proper amount of time.

PLau said:
You can try "bump starting" your bike even if it isn't dead, it's just much easier.

Throw your bike into gear, roll the bike down a driveway or something and drop the clutch - bike should start without hitting your start button.
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You really should be ON the bike when doing this as otherwise there's unlikely to be enough down force on the rear wheel to have proper traction to get the engine to roll over (the wheel will just lockup and skid), but if the bike starts and you don't pull the clutch in fast enough...well, check YouTube for what happens. ;)

There's really a bit of an art to bump starting a bike. The "Bump" terminology comes from the fact that when done perfectly you "bump" your *** down on the seat really hard at the same time you dump the clutch - this maximizes the traction as the wheel tries to start the engine rolling over and the rest is hopefully history.
 
TwistedKestrel said:
It's called bump-starting, and it works... sometimes. Works better on bikes without EFI
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Works great on pretty much anything if you've got any bit of skill and the battery has at least a couple volts to run the efi. I prefer second gear because once it turns over it gets the revs up a bit. Many a long party nights have I left the car stereo on and had to bump-start it on a flat gravel driveway. Not fun! Much easier on the bike, only need to get to walking pace. I found I have to sit on it though or the rear tire skids.
 
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PrivatePilot said:
You really should be ON the bike when doing this as otherwise there's unlikely to be enough down force on the rear wheel to have proper traction to get the engine to roll over (the wheel will just lockup and skid), but if the bike starts and you don't pull the clutch in fast enough...well, check YouTube for what happens. ;)

There's really a bit of an art to bump starting a bike. The "Bump" terminology comes from the fact that when done perfectly you "bump" your *** down on the seat really hard at the same time you dump the clutch - this maximizes the traction as the wheel tries to start the engine rolling over and the rest is hopefully history.
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I've done it both ways, but small bikes make it easier.

I'd imagine it being much harder to get your bike rolling if you're on a flat surface while sitting on a heavier bike.
 
I always do the run beside the bike and jump on then dump the clutch. Depending on the bike, I may either be straddling the passenger seat or side saddle. With proper timing it even works on gravel roads.
 
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On an EFI equipped bike, when you turn the key on you'll likely hear the fuel pump ticking before startup.
If you don't hear the tick, I doubt you'll get it started by pushing.
 
PLau said:
I've done it both ways, but small bikes make it easier.

I'd imagine it being much harder to get your bike rolling if you're on a flat surface while sitting on a heavier bike.
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I've had the pleasure of having to bump start my VTX on 2 occasions. Both times were not a lot of fun, but did get me going. There's no way to do it while walking with an 800# bike so the only option is a really awkward and silly looking high speed duck-walk...with a few others helping to push if you're lucky.

TK4 said:
On an EFI equipped bike, when you turn the key on you'll likely hear the fuel pump ticking before startup.
If you don't hear the tick, I doubt you'll get it started by pushing.
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x2. Not even enough power to run the fuel pump and electronics = probably not enough to get it to start.
 
Originally Posted by [B said:
RockerGuy; Battery drains less in the cold.

Jayv - Are you sure about that?
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Absolutely true, keep my battery on bike in cold garage and only trickle it twice during winter. This year made mistake of bringing it inside the house, it needs charging every 2 weeks.
 
Cold storage is indeed way better for batteries providing they are FULL when out into storage. People who remove their battery and bring it in the house for the winter thinking they’re actually helping things are actually doing themselves (and possibly the battery) a big disservice.

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nearace said:
I expect to buy a new battery every year,that way it isn't painful if I need one.
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Even a cheap battery should last 5-6 years with proper winter maintenance. It's people that don't use a tender (or who start their bike all the time in the winter and don't recharge the battery, the two go hand in hand) who need batteries every spring.
 
PrivatePilot said:
Even a cheap battery should last 5-6 years with proper winter maintenance. It's people that don't use a tender (or who start their bike all the time in the winter and don't recharge the battery, the two go hand in hand) who need batteries every spring.
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That’s a broad statement PP. I’ve never seen a conventional battery last more than 2 seasons, even on a tender in winter. That’s consistent with the CBs and the RD and Yuasa brand. I made the mistake of buying a cheap battery once for the RD and it lasted 6 months...never again.
Newer sealed batteries I could see lasting 5 yrs or more with proper care.
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