Will I kill my optimate if....

.....I leave it switched on and connected, while I try to start me bike?

I've charged the battery, but it only gives me about 5 mins of cranking in
10-20sec bursts, before it flattens.

I'm reckoning it has enough power to crank it, but not enough for the
ignition circuit at the same time, as it churns away and just "fluffs",
almost catching a couple of times....

My own fault for not keeping it cranked, specially as the alarm seems to
knock the battery down fairly quickly....

Perhaps new battery time...... But the question above is the one to answer
first, please.
--

Cheers!
Fr Jack
B12S (The Red Mist), CB450DX (The Moped)
FRJACKUKRM AT GMAIL DOT COM
Red death, to set you free

 

I've done that loads of times & it hasn't killed mine.


--
Krusty.

http://www.muddystuff.co.uk
http://www.muddystuff.us
Off-road classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tiger '96 Tiger '79 Fantic 250

 

5 minutes seems like a long time even for a tip top battery. Have you tried
a bump start. Is there any petrol in it?

 

Once or twice and I reckon you'll be OK. I was habitually starting
bike, unplugging lead from battery and just leaving the charger
plugged in. I reckon that's how I eventually killed mine.

I got a new one and actually read the manual and IIRC it says
"disconnect before starting" and it even says "off at wall - then
disconnect from battery".

HTH

 

Fort so

Not yet - not enough room in the maze where I live.

Yup

BTW, it has one of these new-fangled on/prime/res taps. I'm not used to
them. As it hasn't run for a bit, do I need to faff around with it, or
just leave it on?
--

Cheers!
Fr Jack
B12S (The Red Mist), CB450DX (The Moped)
FRJACKUKRM AT GMAIL DOT COM
Red death, to set you free

 

Bump it or jump it would be my advice.

Leave it on. Putting it to prime will probably flood it.

Best idea is to remove the plug, warm it up on a cooker and then reinstall
it before it cools down. This works best if you live at the top of a block
of flats and you throw the red hot plug from hand to hand going 'oooh',
'ahhh' as you run down the stairs.

 

Ah.... right. Did try it once.....

Heh!

I'll get the leads and brick out.

The brick is to lean on the accelerator - innit.
--

Cheers!
Fr Jack
B12S (The Red Mist), CB450DX (The Moped)
FRJACKUKRM AT GMAIL DOT COM
Red death, to set you free

 

Fr Jack said...

New-fangled as in, "they've been around since the early 70s"

You're not that fucking old, I've got a few years on you and they've
been around since before I started riding in 1978. I had a vacuum tap on
my 1973 Suzuki GT750L, I'm pretty sure your CBR600 had one as well.

 

It shouldn't

Putting it onto prime for a few tens of seconds is probably a good
idea if the bikes been left standing a long time and the float
chambers are dry. The float valves should stop it flooding. Otherwise
in the on position you need to spin the engine a bit to generate some
vacuum to operate the automatic valve in the petrol tap. It should
still start mind and since you've spent a while trying to start it
the carbs are probably primed. If it was to start on prime but not on
on you could have a faulty petrol tap (or split vacuum hose) .

Jim

 

Fr Jack wrote

It shouldn't do as the Optimate ought be well capable of shutting itself
down if it sees anything going terribly wrong. Not really recommended
though.

Sounds about right. Do the sums yourself, snot hard, all you need to
know is the current asked for by the starter motor.

If it has enough power to crank it as described then, assuming no fault
in the ignition circuit, there is more than enough left over for the
extremely modest needs of the spark making computer.

It's your own fault for not riding it.

 

Seriously? Well **** me......

Err... dunno about the CBR, but every other bike, up to now, has had a
proper fule tap.
--

Cheers!
Fr Jack
B12S (The Red Mist), CB450DX (The Moped)
FRJACKUKRM AT GMAIL DOT COM
Red death, to set you free

 

Hmm.. must be something else. My B6 took about 10 seconds to fire up,
after I switched on to prime for 30 seconds, then returned to the on
position, then hit the starter. This was after having dry carbs for over
4 months and sitting in the garden.

Did you leave the bike for a while sitting without any fuel preserver in
the tank?

Drain the floats, put on prime for 30 seconds, or until the gurgly
noises stop then try again, coz the fuel in the carbs goes yucky very
quickly. Failing that, drain everything out, and put some fresh petrol
in there.

 

Well the alarm completely flattening the battery may not have
helped.......

Though I did fire it up after it had stood for a couple of weeks -
straight off.

hmm..... looks like the next solution
--

Cheers!
Fr Jack
B12S (The Red Mist), CB450DX (The Moped)
FRJACKUKRM AT GMAIL DOT COM
Red death, to set you free

 

Yeah... seriously
--

Cheers!
Fr Jack
B12S (The Red Mist), CB450DX (The Moped)
FRJACKUKRM AT GMAIL DOT COM
Red death, to set you free

 

Before you leave it, add the required amount of this (Briggs and
Stratton Fuel Fit)

http://www.briggsbits.co.uk/acatalog/Twin_Cylinder_Vertical_Crankshaft_E
ngines.html

and fill right up with petrol. Then drain the carbs out, dry.

This is what I did to the B6, and it started right up and ran fine.

 

Yup... standard equipment on the CBR600 of that era.

 

Snake oil

Yupp, snake oil all right.

Here's what I do, and have always done, to motorbikes and lawn mowers
over winters of disuse: absolutely nothing. The mower (a ride-on
tractor one) doesn't normally get used from October to April and
starts first time. Similarly the gixxer, which sits typically for
two-three months over the ski season, will start first prod next time
I come to use it, as has every other bike I've ever owned,
notwithstanding dead batteries and/or degraded plugs/points/leads.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (brucedotrogers a.t rochedotcom)
\`\ | /`/ GSX-R1000K3
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2
`\|/`
`

 

_Good_ for you Ace, more power to your elbow and all that.

 

<coughBMWcough>

 

I have to say that I put the 955 away in the garage, stuck the optimate
on and left it.

About 3 months later (weekend before last) I took the optimate off,
wheeled it out, ignition on, thumbed the starter and it was as if it
hadn't been away.

Must be shit carbs. You want FI, mate.