Tis the season for dead batteries

[Micksan]

We got a cold snap the last couple of days. Got down to the low 50's. Not bad for us. I went out to start the V-strom , which had been firing up really well. The battery was nor wanting to do anything . Voltage looked ok. Swapped out for a good spare , and it fired right up. According to my maint log, the battery was about 30 months old.
Point is the cold weather is a killer. Can have good voltage but not the aps to crank over the bike. Most likely will happen when you are in a hurry.

 

[budman]

amen

 

[skydog1000]

Russ tell the truth it was 48

 

[RocketandRollit]

Battery tenders are a must!

 

[cootertwo]

I have 2 or 3 of the little "wall wart" battery maintainers, but recently found these at Advanced Discount Auto: Part No. SEM-1562A
$28 and does a much better job than anything else I've come across yet.

 

[skydog1000]

Wall mart has the Schumacher SEM-1562A for $17.00

 

[CanberraR3]

For 2 winters before the last one I frequently had starting issues. Had a tender as well but once in a while I'd either forget to connect it or the plug wouldn't be fully in the wall (why do they make those things so big and heavy? But I digress) or it simply didn't put enough charge in the battery. At that time my regular daily ride was about 20km - 10 each way. The problem was when the temp dropped below 1 or 2 degrees C. This winter I've been riding about 40km a day and didn't need to connect to the tender once. Same battery, same garaging; only difference is the distance I was riding each day. I still have the handy pigtail connector on the bike so I can plug-in in an instant if i feel the need ie. I'm parked in the open overnite, but the key seems to be miles and regular ones at that.

 

[TRIIICK]

The Battery tender is the life support system for my 2005,one or two weeks off the tender and she doesn't start.

 

[cootertwo]

Thanks for the tip. WalMart wins again, hell it's all out of the same door in China.

 

[Aivmid]

I noticed the same thing. Flat battery didn't charge properly after a 30km ride, but did after a 90km ride. Having fixed the problem and now the weather's warming up, my battery tender just turned up off ebay.

For 2 winters before the last one I frequently had starting issues. Had a tender as well but once in a while I'd either forget to connect it or the plug wouldn't be fully in the wall (why do they make those things so big and heavy? But I digress) or it simply didn't put enough charge in the battery. At that time my regular daily ride was about 20km - 10 each way. The problem was when the temp dropped below 1 or 2 degrees C. This winter I've been riding about 40km a day and didn't need to connect to the tender once. Same battery, same garaging; only difference is the distance I was riding each day. I still have the handy pigtail connector on the bike so I can plug-in in an instant if i feel the need ie. I'm parked in the open overnite, but the key seems to be miles and regular ones at that.