stranded at the gas station

[xzvs]

Well -- she finally let me down today, cranked slow but fired right up. I let her idle to warm up (to operating temp) and took her to the gas station bout a mile away.
Did my best to keep her up over 4k on the way there.
Gassed her up -- put in neutral -- ruuuuur ruur VOOM!!
clicked her into first and plop she dies (yes kickstand was up)
back in to neutral and the dreaded ruuuuuur ruuuuuur
tititititittititititick
To make matters worse G/f has phone in manners mode and in another room on the charger
Needless to say it took me leaving three messages
starting with
"hey hun -- Im at the gas station and the bike wont start -- call me back asap please "
to
"ANSWER THE MUDDER*$#*#$@ PHONE #&^#&^%@!#!^!$!&*(%(^%& "
got to call boss and say --- ummmm i'll be in don't know when
G/f finally found me and bike is sitting on charger in the garage now

how was your morning?

 

[monster]

better then yours! Sorry that happened.

 

[Fate]

That sucks, but what sucks worse is SNOW ON THE GROUND!!!! Look at the bright side, atleast it is warm enough where you are to ride.

 

[semi]

sorry to hear that...hope the rest of your day gets better

 

[Postal]

Battery should have charged while you rode it to the gas station. You might have a bad battery.

P.

 

[GJoker]

Sounds like it might be time for a new battery~ Mine had done about the same thing to me a while back~ I can tell you from experience... the Busa is not fun to push start! Once I replaced the battery.. all was fine again~

 

[xzvs]

ya -- i think the battery probably isnt the greatest -- but it sat for 3 days with the alarm on and that will do it too
just trickle charged the battery and it tests good -- alt is holding 14.8- 15v running -- so that seems ok too.

The bike has also had a slow crank when at operating temp since it was new (intermittant)

 

[Rhythm]

(xzvs @ Jan. 23 2007,09:34) ya -- i think the battery probably isnt the greatest -- but it sat for 3 days with the alarm on and that will do it too
just trickle charged the battery and it tests good -- alt is holding 14.8- 15v running -- so that seems ok too.

The bike has also had a slow crank when at operating temp since it was new (intermittant)

All alarms will do that when armed for an extended period, just keep it on a trickle charger. Also the Busa doesn't have an alternator but a generator using a rectifier to change the A.C. current to D.C.

You might want to invest in a new battery and keep it on a trickle charger (battery tender

) when not in use.

 

[BusaWhipped]

(xzvs @ Jan. 23 2007,11:34) ya -- i think the battery probably isnt the greatest -- but it sat for 3 days with the alarm on and that will do it too
just trickle charged the battery and it tests good -- alt is holding 14.8- 15v running -- so that seems ok too.

The bike has also had a slow crank when at operating temp since it was new (intermittant)

Did you load test the battery? It can hold an unloaded charge and still be bad.

 

[Rhythm]

(BusaWhipped @ Jan. 23 2007,09:44)

(xzvs @ Jan. 23 2007,11:34) ya -- i think the battery probably isnt the greatest -- but it sat for 3 days with the alarm on and that will do it too
just trickle charged the battery and it tests good -- alt is holding 14.8- 15v running -- so that seems ok too.

The bike has also had a slow crank when at operating temp since it was new (intermittant)

Did you load test the battery?  It can hold an unloaded charge and still be bad.

 

[IG.]

Before you go and buy a new battery, take this one out and fully charge it. If you have a digital V-meter, and it shows less than 12.60 when everything is off (and has been off for at least half an hour) then the battery is not fully charged.

I personally use a simple AC adaptor style power supply which is rated 0.5 Amp, bought somewhere online. Charge it overnight (I measured about 0.3 Amp current in mine) and the battery is good to go. Don't be afraid to overcharge the battery. What do you think happens when you keep riding and riding and riding - that's right the battery is being charged, but nothing bad happens. They are designed for this.

The scenario you described is a typical one for partially charged battery. If you don't ride often, the battery charge slowly drifts down over time, and short trips may not be enough to fully charge it.

Don't ask me how I know.

BTW, I installed this V-meter permanenty on the bike (on the left black inner atop the fuse box and turned a bit counter clock wise) and connected straight to the battery (with 0.3 Amp fuse). It draws less than 1 mA - the battery will lose 1 AH in 1000 days, so you are pretty safe on not draining your battery much.

I used my digital V-meter to calibrate it (there is an adjusting screw in the middle, so I set it to be precise at 12.6 V, and then I used liquid tape, or use anything else to make sure the adjusting screw does not move because of vibration - even elect tape is OK). Anyway, I always know voltage even when the bike is off.

Fully charged battery should be 12.6, when you start the bike the voltage should not drop below 9V (more like 10V), and when the engine is on, the voltage should be within 13.5 - 15.5 and more like 14 - 15V.

Once you know the pattern for normal condition, you can easily detect any deviation and therefore be aware of any battery/charging problems way before anything bad can happens.

 

[heavybusa]

Sorry to hear the bad day, good luck there is plenty of advice here

 

[Rhythm]

On what you described, my bet is that you'll be needing a battery soon.
Keep us posted !!!!

 

[Powers739]

IG - why didn't you go with a smaller digital display? Just wondering...

 

[rc51ny]

I hate it when that happens!!! Why is it when you need b/f, wifey, partner the most, their phones are never available?

 

[rockadaous]

man that sucks bad.

 

[IG.]

(Powers739 @ Jan. 23 2007,17:19) IG - why didn't you go with a smaller digital display?  Just wondering...

Digital displays I looked at required too much of a current to leave it on when the bike is off (around 10 - 40 mA). You could put a separate switch to compensate for that.

Another disadvantage of digital displays, they don't give you a good idea about momentary voltage changes (like when you start the bike). And even when you ride, it fluctuates 13.5 - 15.5. The analog ones give you a very good feel.

Anothe disadvantage of the digital one, when the sun is really bright, the digital display may go black from the heat.

Good old analogs do all well.

 

[extreemachine]

Time for a new battery as others told you above. Good luck!!

 

[thepushercg]

man thats a bad feeling being broke down. so i would say i had a much better day than you had.

 

[Lamb busa]

Come on fatty! Push that thing! Lamb knows that gas station and there is a hill!.........................................seriously though, sorry about the rotten morning.................................. at least your girl responds to a robust phone tongue lashing!