Cold weather starting issue

I have had some issues with starting my Rocket in the cold weather under 32 degrees F. My dealer is telling me it is the battery. I think it is unreasonalbe to ask someone that is riding the bike daily to put a battery tender on everytime they stop the bike. Has anyone else had any issues starting the bike in cold weather? Am I way out of line here or should a one year old battery be able to withstand cold temperatures for 12 hours or so?

Bill "Rocket Man" Smith

[Ugarte]

On 2007-02-24 07:16, RocketSE wrote:
I have had some issues with starting my Rocket in the cold weather under 32 degrees F. My dealer is telling me it is the battery. I think it is unreasonalbe to ask someone that is riding the bike daily to put a battery tender on everytime they stop the bike. Has anyone else had any issues starting the bike in cold weather? Am I way out of line here or should a one year old battery be able to withstand cold temperatures for 12 hours or so?

Bill "Rocket Man" Smith

Your'e not out of line.....I have had a similar problem. I thought for sure it would be the battery so i replaced it only to find it still would crank too slowly to start the bike in cold weather after it had been sitting for a few hours. I have been carrying a portable jump starter to get through this till I figure out what is going on. What appears to be happening is the cold weather is somehow reducing the flow of electricity to the starter either through the connections or possibly the headlight relay. The extra juice from the jump starter apparently overcomes this resistance.

I have a relay on order so I will see if that is the problem soon. I have cleaned the connections to the battery but have not yet gotten to the negative ground to the frame or the connection to the starter.....this requires removal of several parts to get to them and I have just been putting it off. If the new relay doesn't fix the problem then I will clean up those connections.

The portable jump starter I carry in the top case has worked out so well I plan on carrying it even after the problem is fixed.

[iandel]

G'day,

My bike has been outside over the winter :cry: even down to single digit temperatures. After a week in those conditions it still started quite happily in 20 deg weather and rode well. I have had no problems at all with cold weather starting. Seven days is the longest I have had to go without riding. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

[busajack]

The batt. is just the cheapest they could find. :hammer:

[Ugarte]

On 2007-02-24 14:13, iandel wrote:
G'day,

My bike has been outside over the winter :cry: even down to single digit temperatures. After a week in those conditions it still started quite happily in 20 deg weather and rode well. I have had no problems at all with cold weather starting. Seven days is the longest I have had to go without riding. Sorry I can't be more helpful.

Mine was the same way the first winter I owned it....no problems no matter how cold. This winter is a different story. But I have 45 thousand miles on it so it is entirely possible the connections need a good cleaning. I will replace the relay first to see if that does it though since that will be easiest.

[bonnietiler]

I'm not sure about Yuasa batteries being the cheapest, quite the reverse i've found, mine has just been replaced after...Oh, just short of 3 years, the longest i've left mine is 2 months last Winter...fired up first time..I checked the volts that I was getting from fully charged a couple of weeks ago and it had dropped to 12.4v so I bought a new one and that reads 13v, so I'm happy with that..Didn't fancy getting stranded with a duff battery in the middle of Romania!!
BonnieT

[loski67]

I have been having the same problems with my Rocket. As soon as the temperature dropped, my bike started giving me problems starting. I called the dealer, they checked the electrical system, found no problems, replaced the battery, and the problem continues. My solution, put a small space heater next to the bike for an hour or 2 before a cold start.

[Classic06]

I bought mine last February and it started fine late Feb and early March. This winter it would not start in colder weather. I dropped it off at the dealer a couple weeks ago. I also had the idle problem and he said they have a fix for that now, so hopefully the fix for the idle will also take care of the cold start. I will let you know if starts right when I get it back. It may be another week before I get it back as they are also fixing the shifting problem.

[1ststater]

I have had major issues with starting this winter (check out my previous posts) . I bought the bike (from a member of this forum, TMB.). The bike arrived at my house dead - could not start.

I charged the battery, after a while, the bike did start and I was off having fun. Then one day, she did not turn over, no matter what. The bike was off to the dealer. The dealer said I fouled a plug because the battery had little to no jiuce to spark - WHATEVER. The dealer did state that having my side stand on a concrete floor may be draining my battery. I'll be buying a rubber mat and battery tender.

That's it in a nut shell - Oh, and then there is the issue with the paint...

[busajack]

Having your bike on side stand drained the battery? What are u suposed to do take it to bed with u? When most of u guys quit listening to these stealers u will be a lot better off. The batt. in the r3 is a piece of *****. Try another brand. :hammer: