Triumphrat

MuddyTriumph · 11-04-2009, 07:26 PM

I there, been away for a while. My Rocket is sitting in my barn with a nearly a dead battery
from trying to start it. Basically stock, TOR's, Cat box removed, K&N air filter and a 08 factory mapping. The temps are going down to the 20's at night and the low 50's during the day. I am running Mobil 1 15/50. What am I missing here? This can't be normal!

Diego · 11-04-2009, 08:27 PM

How long was the bike sitting without being run?

BeHereNow · 11-05-2009, 08:27 AM

My '09 grunts a little more now that overnight temps are below freezing, mid 20's. Never an actual problem starting though.
Hooked up the Battery Tender yesterday.

MuddyTriumph · 11-05-2009, 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diego

How long was the bike sitting without being run?

About a week. Today I jumped it and it ran fine. Looks like it is time for the battery tender.

SidecarFlip · 11-05-2009, 09:48 PM

If it has the OEM battery, could be time for a new one. Get an AGM like a Yuhasa or better yet a Hawker Odessey, if you have the money.

2300 cc's even with low compression takes a lot of amps to roll over, especially older models which tend to have the oil drain back into the sump because the check valve leaks as the engine ages.

Another reason why you never check the oil level cold, always run the motor for a few minutes and then check the oil and do it while straddling the bike in an upright position. That's one reason why the fill/check cover is so easily reachable when astride the bike.

Check your connections on the starter as well. The lower connection has a boot but is still exposed to weather and hence corrosion as well as the top connection. Clean connections and a little di-electric grease goes a long way toward starting.

On the subject of di-electric grease, the 05-08 models all need the various connectors on the harness split and a good di-electric grease applied and re-connected. That will go a long way toward eliminating any electrical problems down the road.

I have an '06 Blood and Bone on the original battery but I keep my connections clean on the battery and the starter and I use an electronic battery charger regularly and float the battery on a tender, along with my other bikes.

I better add that jump starting the R3, especially from a car or other vehicle battery is chancey, at best. The ECM and the related electronics are touchy voltage wise. It's much safer to boost via the accessory plug (on the right side or under the seat). It's the black plug with a lanyard cover. No more than 2 a/h charge, preferrably.

Diego · 11-05-2009, 11:07 PM

Agreed, it is probably time for a new battery. Perfectly normal to see an older battery not hold charge as well during colder weather, and you need plenty of cranking power to make this engine turn over. A tender can be handy in extending the life of a battery, but even the best of them don't live forever.

SidecarFlip · 11-06-2009, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Diego

Agreed, it is probably time for a new battery. Perfectly normal to see an older battery not hold charge as well during colder weather, and you need plenty of cranking power to make this engine turn over. A tender can be handy in extending the life of a battery, but even the best of them don't live forever.

Nothing lasts forever, including you.......

It's not perfectly normal for an older battery to not hold a charge as well. It's a combination of factors including neglect and operating in adverse conditions that cause a battery to die a slow death. Batteries need to be maintained, just like the rest of the machine.

As far as a Battery Tender is concerned, a Battery Tender is a brand name (Deltran). There are many more just as good, if not better alternatives out there. My personal choice is a pulsed current charger that's electronically sensed. The charger not only 'thinks' and controls the charging current (amperage) but pulses the current during the charge cycle to shed any lead sulfate from the plates. The lead sulfate is what causes the battery to 'die'. Batteries never die, they sulfate to a point where they either short internally or they can't generate enough current because the sulfation has reduced the available chemical transfer are on the plats to a point where the battery can't produce the required amperage.

The current a battery produces is nothing more than a chemical reaction between the electrolyte (acid) and the plates (lead/zink), in a normal battery.

Battery technology has come a long way, from the flooded cell to the AGM that comes standard in most bikes including the R3. The AGM in the R3, whith proper care, should last at least 6 years with no loss of CCA (Cold Cranking Amperage). If it don't, you aren't maintaining it properly and that includes keeping all the connections clean and tight because a dirty connection is a high resistance connection and a loose connection is a break in the circuit.

The alternators on Triumph motorcycles provide more than enough output at low RPM's to keep the battery fully charged, run the system and even provide extra amperage for acessories but, the connections (all) must be maintained. Just like changing the oil or airing the tires.

Diego · 11-06-2009, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SidecarFlip

It's not perfectly normal for an older battery to not hold a charge as well. ... Batteries never die, they sulfate to a point where they either short internally or they can't generate enough current because the sulfation has reduced the available chemical transfer are on the plat(e)s to a point where the battery can't produce the required amperage.

Well, I think most of us would accept that as the very definition of a battery dying! It's metaphoric speech, of course, but in that sense they do indeed die. Whether they do it in three years or six, all older batteries do eventually become useless.

That is a good explanation of battery life in your post, by the way. These days it's reasonable to figure five years or more for one which has received good care. My Gracie is still running on her first battery (July of 2004). However, one which has lived without such attention will be lucky to make it beyond two or three years. That's not the ideal, but since it is what happens in the real world often enough, it is...well, normal. Inevitable, no--but normal enough in practice.

xhdskip · 11-07-2009, 07:26 PM

Get youself an Odyssey 625 and don't worry about it for awhile.
Plenty of CCA to ride all winter without a jump.
At least here where the temps only get down to the teens usually at night.
20's or 30's ain't even a challenge for the 625.

SidecarFlip · 11-07-2009, 08:54 PM

Don't I know you from some where????

Hi Skip.

You need to explain the 625 is a shoehorn fit and needs some auxilliary padding......

I put an Hawker in my KLR because the OEM battery was crap.