Triumphrat

dynossr · 02-02-2006

I bought my 2005 Tiger with 2000 miles from local Triumph dealer in November; did some mods myself -- iridium plugs, relocated lambda sensor connector and added 02 eliminator, installed Triumph alarm at Christmas (present), now getting Hagon shock and lowering side stand to match 25 mm lowered front. Bike has been running better that any I've ever had (besides the brands listed in profile, also owned Honda and Aprilia), always started instantly. Except yesterday, no lights, no action, nothing except the clock and alarm dash pilot light flashing, and the beep from the alarm remote. As though kill switch was off or I had been immobilized, except no alarm siren. Took a few things apart in apprehension. Put a meter on the battery -- 6.9 volts! This is more of a problem with the alarm, because without the ignition on, I can't enter service mode, and the alarm siren does work even trying to disconnect it with battery dead. I got around this by connecting a charger to the dead battery so that I could get power in the system to put the alarm in service mode. Now at least I was able to buy a new Diehard charged it and installed last night. Now I'll be monitoring the state of charge of the new battery carefully. There has been some posts on the forum with concern that the alarm runs down the battery; but I ride several times a week and the weather here is mild, the terminals were completely clean and very tight, no sign of leakage or damage to the battery casing. The battery may be the original and could be nearly two years old (from manufacture date) and probably sat a while at the dealer before I bought the Tiger. But how come no warning signs -- Tuesday, starts at the first crack, Wednesday, dead? Any gauge that can be added? If I was traveling, this would have been a big problem.

Tigerbob · 02-02-2006

Had this happen to me twice last year, couldn't understand it until one day I noticed that in bright sunshine I was leaving the ignition switch in the park (sidelight) position. Could you have done this? Have since purchased an Optimate charger?monitor which gets plugged every night.

Bob

djr · 02-02-2006

Optimate 3 works wonders. But my 03 is still on the original battery and has started first time every time )to date!).

batteries of these types do tend to go phut without warning.
You say you ride several times a week but are you recharging the battery in the time you ride?

If you ride all the time say in town at low speed etc you will not fully recharge the battery necessarily every time you ride. Lots of short rides can run down a battery quickly.

If the rides are pretty long then its probably just unlucky but at least you were at home rather than put on the road somewhere.

winger · 02-02-2006

I know a couple of people who have had heart attacks they were great the day before!!!!!

My battery is 5 years old in may,same story it's wired up to an optimate

When it's goes kaput,i'll try an Odyssey 310 cuz i can get e'm at the right price.

dynossr · 02-02-2006

I think this Sears Diehard battery is probably made by Yuasa, and I recently got the Yuasa "intelligent charger", because I have some other Yuasa batteries anyway. The charger came with an adapter with ring terminals and a covered connector, that I could leave on the battery to make it easy to connect the charger regularly, but I was suspicious that leaving that cable on all the time could lead to other problems (voltage leaks, shorts?). What do you think?

djr · 02-03-2006

Is the charger designed specifically for bikes?

You can damage the battery by using one designed for cars!!

tyrebyter · 02-03-2006

Chargers are designed for neither bikes nor cars; they are designed for a particular range of ampacity. Most automotive chargers have selectable charge rates and if you match the rate of charge to that specified for the battery, there is no problem.
It's unlikely that your battery would discharge to 6.9VDC while riding since the scooter would quit running before that point was reached. Two possibilities are 1)parasitic current draw with the key off from either the ECU or the alarm or 2)internal mechanical failure in the battery. You can measure for the patrasitic draw (unless it's intermittant) and if it's a mechanical failure in the battery like a broken plate (it happens) you've already taken care of that.
Best thing to remember while traveling: take your cell phone and credit card.

dynossr · 02-03-2006

Funny about the credit card and cell phone (and computer!), great for preparing and repairing! I'm glad for all of us that the vast majority of the time when we are riding, we're not thinking about them at all, just really enjoying the fruits of our labor... I'm not sure if Yuasa make auto batteries, but their pretty big in motorcycles, recreational, and generator batteries. The charger is definitely suitable, its for "powersports," 1.5 amp, 5 stage "Smart Shot," polarity and fault protection, 5 year warranty -- I paid $46.75 at motorcyclebatteriesusa.com. But what do you think about leaving the supplied special terminal cable connected all the time and then just plugging in the charger as needed? Does anyone charge through the accessory outlet?

Diego · 02-03-2006

> The battery may be the original and could be nearly two years old (from manufacture date) and probably sat a while at the dealer before I bought the Tiger. But how come no warning signs...

Like winger said, not everything in life gives warning signs. Cells can short suddenly. When that happens, no gauge can predict it.

Two years on a battery is double what one could expect in the old days, and that was without electric starters. :-) Now, two years is pretty common and higher lifetimes are known to happen.

djr · 02-04-2006

Quote:

Chargers are designed for neither bikes nor cars; they are designed for a particular range of ampacity

I believe there are two basic types of charger;
Constant voltage (think old type car chargers) but these tend to kick out way too much current for a modern bike battery and need to be carefully monitored or they can cause damage.

The other is the constant current charger (think Optimate). These were designed specifically(in the case of the optimate) for motorcycle type batteries(also used in ATV, Jetski, Lawnmower etc) These monitor the state of the battery for you and adjust as necessary. They are also safe to leave attached long term. These types of charger can also pull a deep discharged battery back from the brink, the older constant voltage type wont.