Paging the electronicisti...

Bike has been outside for a few weeks now (been garaged before nearly
all the time). Temperature has been below zero quite a few times now
and I suspect it has fubarred the battery, but it could be something
else as well. And that's where I need your help.

When I start the bike in the morning, the (what I think is the)
starter motor makes a whirry sound and then attempts to bring life to
the bike. It has been doing that since it has been outside. Is this a
sound of not getting enough from the battery?

I've bought an optimate to see if that helps. It has for a few weeks,
but today it decided it (the bike) didn't want to play and after three
pushes of the starterbutton, it made a clickety click sound and another
walk to work ensued.

Now, I don't know much about bikes technical wise, but a few things
that were suggested: reg/rec/battery/starter-motor.

Any ideas?

 

Sounds like a shagged battery.

 

Spete came up with the following;:

Same thing happened to my Landrover, cell down on battery, replacement
battery cured it, and other minor niggles.

 

Cold knackers batteries faster than anything. That's why bike and car
dealers sell loads of them in winter. A battery that seems fine in
summer will tell you it's shagged the first time the temperature drops
to freezing...

ISTR that a technique to get more range and/or power out of electric
torpedoes (the kind that don't leave a tell-tale bubble track) involves
warming the batteries first. Paging SWK.

I ought to get a new one for the Trumf, I suppose. I think it'll last
this winter, though. The Ducati's one is fine, which is amazing when
you think it's the OE battery. There again, it's a bit bigger than the
one in the Triumph, which is definitely smaller than I'd like to see
trying to turn over a 1200cc lump.

 

Surely sounds like it
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Spete:

As others have said - shagged battery.

Ideally, I'd put the optimate on every time I put the bike away for the
day, given how cold it gets in clogland.

In the meantime, bump start the sod and put a good 25 miles on it, to
put some charge on the battery, eh?

 

wrote

Snot the cold that actually knackers batteries so much as highlight an
existing state of knackeredness from which they will only recover with
proper treatment and then possibly with only the survival chances of a
whale at Teddington Lock at high water.

 

<TOG@toil>; <>; <>
wrote in message

This is what happened to my almost five year old gixxer battery last week.

 

For sure. Serious standby gensets have battery heaters also.

 

How are the heaters powered?

 

<raises eyebrow>

 

From the mains.

 

You're making my head hurt. I shall have to chastise you if you
maintain this course.

 

I suppose that makes sense, in a completely (to me) bizarre fashion.

 

All seems perfectly logical!
The FOAD genny for the datacentre here has an optimate full time on the
battery bank though. "Run what you know"

 

Nothing bizarre. The mains is on except when it isn't and while it's on
you may as well heat the batteries with it. All adds to reliable
starting, which is what standby sets are supposed to do, so long as
they're maintained properly.