Going flat....

[Gtrtim]

   Hi All
Can anyone help..? Got the beast out in the last few weeks .. Flat battery optimate on it for mOst of the winter ( in garage). Soo took battery of and had tested at millennium who said it was ok...!!! Sooo recharged and fitted back all ok. Went for a run Sunday all ok.. Went of 1/2 hour run yesterday got to destination FLAT gauge showing anything from 9.3 to 12.3 ut wouldn't start...
A helpful fellow biker lent me a battery to get home ( how lucky was i)all ok. Buying a new battery today... Any ideas if it's not the battery.. By the way the gauge shows 14.4 volts when riding...

Any ideas would he appreciated..

[fred24]

The 14.4 when running would indicate to me that the battery is being charged OK but its not holding it so yes duff battery

ian

[Gtrtim]

Thanks Ian,suppose I just needed a second opinion...

Hope were right....£43 down the drain otherwise... Lol

[Kawdolph]

Outside of it been a dodgy battery it could be a dodgy rectifier or alternator

[Kwikasfuki]

Sounds like a dodgy battery if the display is saying its getting a charge from the alternator. How old is your bike?

[fatharry]

battery no holding its charge is the most likely cause.......if you're regulator is playing up then your bike will eventually lose all electrical power (i know this because its happend to me on a Honda, in the outside lane of the M4)...if you've put a good battery in and it works fine...then thats the problem ;D

let us know what the techies say when you've bottomed it out ;D

[Boomer]

Common problem. It's a busted weld in between the plates.
The more sophisticated battery tenders will pick this up but the cheaper ones don't.
Yuasa had a major problem with this a few years back.
So much so that I haven't bought a Yuasa since.

[Gtrtim]

God...... The battery I ordered was the wrong one...!?!?
Anyone know where to get a reasonably priced one.. I saw a yellow one on the net but can't remember the make.. Any ideas...?

Ta

[Kwikasfuki]

God...... The battery I ordered was the wrong one...!?!?
Anyone know where to get a reasonably priced one.. I saw a yellow one on the net but can't remember the make.. Any ideas...?

Ta

Not cheap is it?

http://www.cornwallkawasaki.co.uk/shop/shop.php?cmd=showdiagram&id=20135

26012
BATTERY,FTZ14-BS,12V £138.94


Hein Gericke do batteries. Worth giving them a call

[Rusty]

Just sounds like the battery was knackered ... fine whilst you are on the move but when you switch off and want it to do some work.. ie start the engine there just isn't any power in it ... as you found out. A friend of mine went to WWW.Battery.com last year after his K dealer quoted him silly money for a new Batt to his ZX6R .. I think it was about £30 delivered as opposed to about £75 .. take a look, I am pretty sure that was the name of the site ... let me know ! and good luck ! :)

[Hans]

Faulty rectifier is a common problem on Honda - and often on VFR750 & VFR800.
Regulator, Rectifier and "others" are designed differently on GTR1400, and I would argue that your problem is due only to an error in your battery!

It's actually not a good idea to have your battery standing with Optimizer (Charger) constant over the winter. The best thing you can do is to inflict a severe load on the battery - drain the battery to the max. 50% capacity. Remove the battery and find a frost free place. Next spring you put your optimizer running and charging again!

A battery - of the type we use on our glorious motorcycles - will stay for approx. 3. years - depending on usage! If you run with heated handlebars, navigation, stereo, microwave, aircon - so you should probably expect that your battery should be changed more often!

[Gtrtim]

Thanks Guys. And thanks "Lord" for the web site I'll give it a go.

I feel assault and battereeed..... Never mind back on the road soon.

Cheers chaps

[Lonewolf]

If you can afford it I'd get the proper Kawasaki battery at £138. Sometimes buying 'cheap' can be false economy.

[Rusty]

£138 ?? That is outrageous ! Even I wouldn't pay that for a battery Mr Wolf .... ;D

[Winston Smith]

It's actually not a good idea to have your battery standing with Optimizer (Charger) constant over the winter.

I would beg to differ there.

I have used Optimate for years now and never had to change a battery.

Optimate or similar are designed to keep battery in top condition by ensuring it is always holding the exact charge and will trickle up to the optimum.