Triumphrat

TigerLilly · 05-24-2006, 10:46 AM

Ok had the flu over the last few days and my husband has been away on business. The consequence of this is that I have not been able to abandon kids and take the bike out. The consequence of that is a battery that must be going flat.

I do intend to get her on to a trickle feed that we own but I need to get the Tiger side attachment fitted which is scheduled for the next service. Now in the mean time

Questions.

How long does it take for a fully charged up Tiger battery to go flat? The only power add on I can think of that I have is the alarm.

If the bike is run stationary every day how long does it need to run for and at what revs?

Ta

Lil

greenman · 05-24-2006, 02:47 PM

Mine is sometimes left for 2 weeks. It has a datatool alarm so there is some battery drain.

The battery is nearly 4 yrs old but still turns the engine over nicely.

Rather than run the engine without riding the bike (bad for the engine, condensation & corrosion in the exhaust and sludgy oil) I would, and did, but an Optimate or similar battery charger and trickle charge it once a week. Saves on petrol as well.

05-24-2006, 08:15 PM

Hi

I've left my Tiger for 5 weeks while going overseas and when I returned it started first push of the button. Actually had to crank it for about 10 seconds but the battery was perfect. This batery is original, bike is 2000 model

djr · 05-25-2006, 03:08 AM

I have left mine 3 months and she kicked first time. She is garaged and no alarm though.

TigerLilly · 05-25-2006, 04:40 AM

Cool - I thought the battery would be expiring after a week. Thanks for the replies

She got a run last night so we are getting back to normal. Husband returned, I'm still not up to much so asked him to take her for a spin, slow grin creeped over his face, didn't see either of them for over an hour as they headed north over the hills and back south down the coast road. The grin had turned manic by the time he got back.

Lil

[ This message was edited by: TigerLilly on 2006-05-25 02:41 ]

tigertales · 05-27-2006, 11:56 AM

TigerLilly...industry sez that batteries can lose 1% charge per day so a week is usually not an issue. One of the problems is that after sitting, and the related charge drop after a start, requires a nice ride (shameless plug to have yur husband perform required duty) to bring the battery state of charge back to normal.

On my 2003 Silver Tiger, I know if the battery charge is low when the horn sounds like a fly buzz at idle.

Utilizing a maintenance charger seems to prolong battery life as the plates do not sulfate the same as one going through more discharge and full re-charge cycles.

In new machinery (I work with autos that have complex electrical requirments) we see similar battery voltage issues and it seems the best way to address, is with a maintenance charger hooked up when not used for a while. When we schedule these for service, we always request they come in the night before so an overnight charge can be performed before maintenance begins.

I have heard of batteries lasting for years, though my personal matra is on my cars and bikes they are replaced in the 2 1/2 to 3 year of service life. Consider a Gel battery when you replace yours.

TigerLilly · 05-29-2006, 05:18 AM

On bettery charging we have an Optimate, so it is just a question of getting the connectors sorted.

I just couldn't drive the bike last week, it would only have led to further trouble. Worrying about the battery was obvioulsy part of a fuzzy mind still identifying with the bike. If I had gone on holiday and left the car in a long stay car park for a couple of weeks I'd never have given it a moments thought.

Anyway thankfully I'm getting better now so I forsee a trip over the next couple of days.

Lil