I knew this was coming. It seems to happen every year. I should be use to it by now, but everytime it happens it's always the same story. First ride of the
season.....dead battery. Then I watch a glorious weekend slip by.
In the past I would remove the battery from the motorcycle and keep it in the house all winter. Then in the spring I would put a charge on it before installing it in the bike for the first ride. This year things were a little different but with the same end results. My son had been begging me to go riding so that he could get some practice before taking his driving test. So Saturday I go out to the garage with keys and hand and I open the garage door. Much to my surprise I see the bike sitting there with the dust cover still on. I ask myself....."haven't I been out here all winter to check on the T"? Apparently not. How strange is that. So I peeled off the dust cover and I felt that I heard my motorcycle say to me.....FINALLY. I looked things over and commented.....boy this bike is huge! I had forgotten how big it was. I was still use to seeing my 88 VT800 and not this monster.
So I began the process to pull out the battery which I've never done on this motorcycle before. Easy enough. When I examine the battery I see that there is little if any water in the battery. Some of the cells appear to be empty of any battery fluid. I ask myself how is that possible. Where does this stuff go? So I take the battery into the house and fill the cells with distilled water and put the charger on.
Now with a promise to my son, that I'll be over in a little bit, I re-install the battery. I hit the starter and I get a grunt. I hit the starter again and all I get is ticking. Now I'm not surprised at this point. I figured that the battery almost completely empty of fluid, that refilling it with distilled water is not going to do it. This battery is dead.
So now I figure I've got to go back to the ole forum and do some reading. What kind of battery to get and where to get it. Needless to say that took a couple of hours. I read everything and I was realizing that I'm not going anywhere this weekend unless I run around town on a Sunday looking for a replacement battery. I said screw it and I called my son back to tell him I was stranded.
Now it happens the wife and I are driving around later that day and she spots an Advanced Auto Parts Store and comments to me that perhaps they will have a battery for my steed. I agree and check it out. Low and behold that have a battery and at $45 I don't think this is too bad. I get it home and first check to see if it fits. It does! So I fill it with electrolyte and put it on the charger. Now I'm waiting.
Right now I am thinking why don't I just do this every year. Buy a new battery and save myself all this aggrevation. I know that every spring I'm going to have a dead battery. And if I can get it charged and get it to start the T, I'll be wondering how much longer it will last. Is $45 too much to pay for a season of no aggrevation. For some of you it might be, but for me it seems like the price to pay for this sport.
In any event, when I get home this afternoon, I will install the new battery and then grind half the charge down trying to start the T after its long winter nap. Now where's that posting about building a priming device that I read about?
In the past I would remove the battery from the motorcycle and keep it in the house all winter. Then in the spring I would put a charge on it before installing it in the bike for the first ride. This year things were a little different but with the same end results. My son had been begging me to go riding so that he could get some practice before taking his driving test. So Saturday I go out to the garage with keys and hand and I open the garage door. Much to my surprise I see the bike sitting there with the dust cover still on. I ask myself....."haven't I been out here all winter to check on the T"? Apparently not. How strange is that. So I peeled off the dust cover and I felt that I heard my motorcycle say to me.....FINALLY. I looked things over and commented.....boy this bike is huge! I had forgotten how big it was. I was still use to seeing my 88 VT800 and not this monster.
So I began the process to pull out the battery which I've never done on this motorcycle before. Easy enough. When I examine the battery I see that there is little if any water in the battery. Some of the cells appear to be empty of any battery fluid. I ask myself how is that possible. Where does this stuff go? So I take the battery into the house and fill the cells with distilled water and put the charger on.
Now with a promise to my son, that I'll be over in a little bit, I re-install the battery. I hit the starter and I get a grunt. I hit the starter again and all I get is ticking. Now I'm not surprised at this point. I figured that the battery almost completely empty of fluid, that refilling it with distilled water is not going to do it. This battery is dead.
So now I figure I've got to go back to the ole forum and do some reading. What kind of battery to get and where to get it. Needless to say that took a couple of hours. I read everything and I was realizing that I'm not going anywhere this weekend unless I run around town on a Sunday looking for a replacement battery. I said screw it and I called my son back to tell him I was stranded.
Now it happens the wife and I are driving around later that day and she spots an Advanced Auto Parts Store and comments to me that perhaps they will have a battery for my steed. I agree and check it out. Low and behold that have a battery and at $45 I don't think this is too bad. I get it home and first check to see if it fits. It does! So I fill it with electrolyte and put it on the charger. Now I'm waiting.
Right now I am thinking why don't I just do this every year. Buy a new battery and save myself all this aggrevation. I know that every spring I'm going to have a dead battery. And if I can get it charged and get it to start the T, I'll be wondering how much longer it will last. Is $45 too much to pay for a season of no aggrevation. For some of you it might be, but for me it seems like the price to pay for this sport.
In any event, when I get home this afternoon, I will install the new battery and then grind half the charge down trying to start the T after its long winter nap. Now where's that posting about building a priming device that I read about?
