First ride of the year

My 961 was put away last November, this year it seems to have been raining non stop every single day, until today. Rolled the bike out, checked the tyre pressures, both lost a few PSI over the winter.. then hit the starter button. I was surprised to hear the engine fire up immediately, as the battery hadn't been on a trickle charger. Not bad, not bad at all. Spent an hour dodging Sunday drivers on the local back roads and puddles you could swim in.

I've owned the 961 since June 24, this year will be the first time I finally have time to ride it. Got a couple of long trips planned already, can't wait..

No maintenance charger at all since Nov 2024 ? That is good. Is battery AGM or Lithium ?

TonyA said:

No maintenance charger at all since Nov 2024 ? That is good. Is battery AGM or Lithium ?

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The original AGM, the bike came fitted with the charger leads for a trickle charger, just not one I already own. Not got around to buying a different charger yet. Though I did buy a set of leads that match the chargers I already own. Fitting them involves lifting the seat and tank to access the battery, so again haven't got around to that yet. Its only been off the road for 3 months over the winter.

Bevelheadmhr said:

The original AGM, the bike came fitted with the charger leads for a trickle charger, just not one I already own. Not got around to buying a different charger yet. Though I did buy a set of leads that match the chargers I already own. Fitting them involves lifting the seat and tank to access the battery, so again haven't got around to that yet. Its only been off the road for 3 months over the winter.

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The great part is you have very little parasitic drain .

TonyA said:

The great part is you have very little parasitic drain .

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On my bike it was the clock, it’s now disconnected and the battery holds its charge.

Bevelheadmhr said:

My 961 was put away last November, this year it seems to have been raining non stop every single day, until today. Rolled the bike out, checked the tyre pressures, both lost a few PSI over the winter.. then hit the starter button. I was surprised to hear the engine fire up immediately, as the battery hadn't been on a trickle charger. Not bad, not bad at all. Spent an hour dodging Sunday drivers on the local back roads and puddles you could swim in.

I've owned the 961 since June 24, this year will be the first time I finally have time to ride it. Got a couple of long trips planned already, can't wait..

Click to expand...

I'm jealous! I've owned my 961 since June 25 and, despite getting a punture on the first day of ownership which makes me nervous about lengthy trips (how would you deal with a puncture?) I've really enjoyed every minute. This year however, on that dry day we had, the bike just refused to start for me, even though it has been on trickle charge. I'm keen to learn if you have a particular technique?
I too have a non fitting charger (although since aquired an additional do-it-all one to cope with the lithium battery on my Tuono) but I just bought a short adaptor cable to connect to the 961 lead.

If I got a puncture, I'd just call the AA, not much else to do with a tubed tyre these days. No particular technique, I dont touch the throttle, just hit the starter button. This time last year, the bike took a few spins of the starter before it fired up after its winter sleep. Hence I was pleasantly surprised it fired up straight away this year.

The only point I would make is that I've found hitting the starter button for a few seconds only seems to work better than turning the engine over for a long time on the button. It often seems to catch and start just when you think it wont.

I went out again today, just for an hour. Gave me a break from the hassles of dismantling a set of old CV carbs for a project.