Am I being fed some bull..?

[Herbus]

Hi All, I had trouble starting my '07 twice - both cold mornings, maybe ~4 celcius,.. the dash lit up, the starter kicked in but it cut out at the point where the engine should fire to life...
Started in the afternoons fine...

I took it to get checked out, still under warranty,.. they apparently had a guy from Triumph down to check over mine and a few others in the shop... today they tell me that my battery measurements are low and that I need a new one - battery warranty is only 6 months so it'll cost $149 for the battery, about $220 all up fitted... I almost choked...

The thing is after owning speedy for 12 months, I would've thought the battery would still be fine, though I guess anything is possible... but in the mornings it didnt start and every other time when it does, the starting process sounds strong, like I don't get the impression the battery is dropping a beat...

Is it still possible the battery is at play or does this sound a bit dodgy?

Also I asked about me fitting the battery myself and he gave me a spiel about it having to be done in just such a way, yada yada... is it that tricky?

Thanks everyone, appreciate your help/input!

[Bohdan]

Battery might be good enough to crank strongly, but the voltage will be too low to fire it up. Yes, that's no bull.
Life of the battery depends on pattern of usage - many short trips will keep in in permanent undercharge and severely shorten it's life. Battery tender is the solution - the best one is Battery Minder (try Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Electronics-Ba...8027088&sr=8-1) - it charges and desulfates, so has power to restore half dead batteries to decent state. It might restore yours.
In general, most motorcycles undercharge batteries - putting battery on battery minder when bike is parked is the wise thing to do.
If you want to replace battery, that is no biggie - 10 minutes job, everything is right under seat. You need just 10mm (if I remember correctly) open wrench to unscrew cables from terminals, remove rubber strap, lift the battery and install new one in reverse order operation. And battery here is US doesn't cost this much... $80-90.

[wabill]

+1 for the battery tender. It's just too cheap a way to maintain battery health and as you see, batteries don't come cheap anymore. My bikes get plug in every time I return home.

[alfacliff]

for safety, always remove the negative terminal first when changing a battery, that way, theres less chance of grounding the positive terminal to something and causing an arc or explosion.
cliff

[SPDTRPMaverick]

Originally Posted by alfacliff

for safety, always remove the negative terminal first when changing a battery, that way, theres less chance of grounding the positive terminal to something and causing an arc or explosion.
cliff

Good thought BUT... even removing the neg. first... You can still ground and short the battery, which will give the arc\Spark.... I imagine you do reduce the risk of explosion though... or do you....

What I would do is, put a "multi meter" on it and see what the readings are for myself... Then you can see what voltage you have in your batt., Since you are asking if this would be hard to do Switching batt., I'm guessing you don't have a Multi meter... You can pick up a pretty nice one for around $30.00 there is cheaper ones out there too.

FWIW... +3 or 4 to the battery tender, these are worth every penny!

Also, I have Never heard of a batt. being strong enough to crank the engine but not strong enough to start it!...? All's I know is, when my MCs crank EVEN if they're turning over slowly... as long as they catch right, they start...



I Hope this Helps, let us know what you do and how it goes..?

Peace

[oldndumb]

Originally Posted by SPDTRPMaverick

Also, I have Never heard of a batt. being strong enough to crank the engine but not strong enough to start it!...? All's I know is, when my MCs crank EVEN if they're turning over slowly... as long as they catch right, they start...

It all depends on the starter construction. In the old days you could make a pretty accurate assessment of a battery's condition by listening to the starter. A weak battery turned the starter over relatively slower. Modern starters, as used on the 1050, are constructed with permanent magnets, and can rotate at what sounds to be normal speed with a weak battery. At the same time, there will not be enough juice for the ECU to allow starting.

[heisrisen]

i had an issue with ruff idle at starting and temp gauge reading hot. tech said it was the battery. dont really know if that was the truth but my guess is that it was. dont know how much money they make on a batt. between batteries and sensors and these extravicant electronics "weird things can happen" i've been told by more than one tech. some batteries last longer than others

[Ferris]

Originally Posted by SPDTRPMaverick

Also, I have Never heard of a batt. being strong enough to crank the engine but not strong enough to start it!...? All's I know is, when my MCs crank EVEN if they're turning over slowly... as long as they catch right, they start...

My old FZR would not even look like starting if the bike had been neglected for about 4-6 weeks. It would keep cranking like there was no tomorrow, but not fire. Charge the battery and it would start first time.

[Herbus]

Very very interesting n helpful folks, thanks... so I get that the battery could very well be at play, and I assume that a colder morning could affect the state of the battery more yah? So OK, I just need to find a place that ships the batteryminder to Aus or find a like-product... Amazon has the 12117 model for $45, the product website is like $70, and no exact model match on ebay... I guess I keep hunting around or get a typical trickle charger......?

Thanks again

[sss1200]

With bike batteries it usually is all in how the shop sets it up. They come empty of all the acidy goodness and the shop needs to fill them before fitting. A rushed job means they are never at 100%.

I have had my speedy for over 2 years now with the only starting issue being when I was off the bike for two months with a knee brace, no battery tender, no charge up before trying, nothing. It got really hesitant at that point just before firing and then kicked over and started . I do commute 60km a day though so it has plenty of time to charge.

As long as you do all the prep to make sure the battery is set up correctly before you fit it, fitting is a piece of cake. Just take care with conductive tools around the positive terminal and as the man above said, remove the negative terminal first.