Battery

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Hi,

Got the bike out for a quick run today to find the battery was flat - wouldn't start. After charging for a couple of hours I managed to get it started but found that it didn't seem to be running right. I have always been told to run the bike with a fully charged battery as it's fitted with a boyer iginition. However; when riding the bike it sounded like it was spitting back through the carb (Mikuni 36mm).

Could the battery be at fault?

Thanks

Neil
 
It is likely that the battery has had it.

You don't say how old the battery is?

Or whether it is left for long periods without being charged?

You could charge it up, leave it overnight and then connect it up and turn the lights on, the headlamp should really stay bright for 10 minutes or so? If it dims noticeably in that time then the battery probably needs replacing.
 
the battery is about 5 years old and yes, it does stand for sometimes 1 to 2 weeks without being started.

i was wondering if this could possibly be causing some of the problems that were mentioned and i dont suppose if the battery was fully charged it would hold the charge very long.

i also get wetsumping after about a week were the oil level is only a fraction up on the bottom of the dipstick.
however i have heard of people drainging the casings. i personally dont.
after the bike is started the oil level returns back to normal. would this cause any problems over a long period of time?

neil
 
Neil said:
the battery is about 5 years old

5 years!
I think it's done well then, if it's a normal wet lead-acid battery?

Neil said:
i also get wetsumping after about a week were the oil level is only a fraction up on the bottom of the dipstick.
however i have heard of people drainging the casings. i personally dont.
after the bike is started the oil level returns back to normal. would this cause any problems over a long period of time?

No not really, unless the oil has dropped down to the level of the gauze tank strainer, in which case air will have entered the oil feed to the pump, and the engine would be starved of oil on start-up, until the scavenge system had returned some oil back to the tank and could then still take several seconds to get down to the pump? Starting up with a sump-*full* of oil has been known to blow the primary oil seal out though.

Check that the oil "a fraction up on the bottom of the dipstick" is actually from the dipstick dipping in the oil, and not just a drip hanging there with the level actually much lower? If it is still dipping in the oil then that doesn't sound too bad at all really.
 
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