Always a PITA planning a tour from sea level to the mountains

CBXRider

CBXRider

Donating Member
After checking mileage and lodging details it turns out that snow, snow flurries or snow/rain is expected on my 5th, 6th, and maybe the 7th day after leaving the Lolo MT. area and heading towards West Yellowstone and then south thru Jackson WY. Maybe I’ll head west from Lolo and then south thru Idaho to Ontario OR and keep south thru OR and NV and home. But….I’d miss Yellowstone and Jackson. Crap it’s just October in a couple days not December!
 
I sit here all year long in sunny Sofla and often forget how quick and how soon seasons change. First time I can remember saying thank you to one hurricane for sucking in another and keeping it away from us. That's been our worry last couple days.
It's no fun riding in cold weather unless you have to. Can't find an alternate route down and around to same destination?
 
Crapola! Murphys law? I think the Busa has a charging problem. My last battery lasted just two years, the same brand battery that lasted for many years. It’s always on a tender but yesterday I left it off. Tried starting it today and no juice. Put it on a tender for just a few minutes, the light on the tender turned green and the bike fired right up. WTH? If the charging system isn’t up to par and isn’t charging the battery, how can just a few minutes on the tender make a difference? How was I able to ride it for a couple hundred miles the day before, starting it several times throughout the day without a hitch?
 
On my recent Nor Cal ride from the coast inland, I ran out of layers. At some point I was cold with everything on, later that day I was hot wearing only a shirt. Sigh. The Alaska trip was worse with the soaking I got.

And that is what it's all about, I think. A higher level of interation with the surroundings.

If your coming through the NW Oregon, give me a shout.
 
CBXRider said:
Crapola! Murphys law? I think the Busa has a charging problem. My last battery lasted just two years, the same brand battery that lasted for many years. It’s always on a tender but yesterday I left it off. Tried starting it today and no juice. Put it on a tender for just a few minutes, the light on the tender turned green and the bike fired right up. WTH? If the charging system isn’t up to par and isn’t charging the battery, how can just a few minutes on the tender make a difference? How was I able to ride it for a couple hundred miles the day before, starting it several times throughout the day without a hitch?
Click to expand...

Any way to put an amp meter in there to check for a parasitic drain?
 
To my knowledge the only electrical activity when the ignition is off is the clock. What I don’t understand is if it didn’t have enough power to start the bike, sounding just like a bad or discharged battery, urrrr urrrrr urrr click click click and nothing, how could just a few minutes on a low amp tender give it enough charge to fire it up like there was never a problem? Off the tender about an hour later it fired right up again. I don’t get it. I can’t trust it on tour without getting this fixed and I’m deaf dumb and blind when it comes figuring out electrical problems.
 
Well the shop mechanic tested everything and everything is fine. He said his only thought was that the battery might have a failing cell which would explain why the issue is intermittent. Soooo, it’s not trustable for a trip so I bought a new Yuasa.

I’ve been checking the weather and I think I have it figured out. After climbing over the Tioga Pass @ just under 10,000’ my first night will be in

Lovelock NV then
Jackpot NV then
Jackson WY, yes the Any Which Way You Can Jackson. I’ll be sure to have a tequila in the Million Dollar Bar. Anyone been in there? The barstools are saddles, then
Butte MT via the Grand Teton and Yellowstone NPs & Old Faithful then
Salmon ID via the Salmon river gorge then
Jackpot NV again then down to
Lovelock NV again then over the Sierras to
HOME. Seven nights on the road and about 2,400 miles, 350 or so on an interstate in NV & MT.
Starting mileage is 86,400 and it’s four months shy of being twenty years old.
 
I may buy an umbrella…. :confused: :)

I don’t suppose anyone is going anywhere I’m going? Grand Teton NP? Yellowstone? Idaho’s Salmon river gorge? Once you’re in ID, WY & MT you can’t avoid riding thru some kind of state or national forest. Has the sense of adventure left the org?
 
How’s this for a warranty requirement? Left the nine month old battery off the tender for two days twice now and again, rrr,rrr,click click click and zip. The battery is obviously bad but they still want me to do this or, send it back and they’ll (they say) will do it and respond accordingly. As always I take whatever bike I’m taking on tour off the tender for a few days before I leave just in case. Imagine the look on my face after a day or two in a motel parking lot in another state and rrr,rrr, click click….I’m leaving with a new Yuasa bought from a different company instead of the company requiring this…

Step #1: DISCONNECT the battery from the system, remove cables and connectors, and clean off the terminals. Take a voltage reading for reference and make sure to write it down.

Step #2: Try to charge the battery with the 12 volt charger. Hook it up to the charger and let it charge for a full cycle.

Note: If you are using a smart or automatic charger and your Step # 1 voltage reading is below about 6.5 volts, then you will need to hook up the battery in parallel with another battery in order to charge it. You can do this with any other 12 volt battery, including a car battery, using jumper cables, but DO NOT start the engine of the car if you are using one. You don't need the charger complete its full cycle hooked up to the battery in testing, just give it enough time to add some voltage, usually 10-20 minutes. Then disconnect the second battery, and let the charger charge the battery in question.

Step #3: After the charger indicates that the battery is fully charged, or if it has charged for more than 8 hours, disconnect the charger from the battery. Let it sit for 30 minutes and then take another voltage reading.

Step #4: Let the battery sit for 12 hours with no load, DO NOT load test at this time. After the 12 hours take another volt reading. You should be recording the results of each of these readings as you go.

Step #5: Hook the battery back up to the bike, or RV, or whatever you took it out of. If you are testing a starting battery, hold the volt meter on the battery while you attempt to start the motor. Record what the voltage drops to. If you are testing a RV battery, turn on as many electrical devices as you can while the voltmeter is on the battery.

After you have gathered all of this data, email us the results. Include in the email:

  • Year, Make, Model:
  • 1st starting voltage:
  • 2nd voltage reading:
  • 3rd voltage reading:
  • 4th voltage reading:
  • Engraved battery production #:
  • Description of failure:
For a visual demonstration of this procedure, please watch our Warranty Test Video Tutorial
 
Instead of Jackpot NV I’ll pass it and stop in Twin Falls ID which is just another 48 miles. Much better lodging choices. There’s a seven story hotel there with NO elevator! Lodging prices everywhere are outrageous. It’s been over 20 years since I stayed in Jackson for white water rafting and the prices there now are more than outrageous. Last time I rode thru Jackson there must have been a dozen private jets at the import. Lot of money in Jackson Hole. Everything’s set and I’ll be leaving mañana.
 
My trip got rerouted by some snow closed passes and then rained on and spoiled by an unexpected bald rear tire in southern Idaho. Murphys law again?

Anyway for the trip I bought a Yuasa and it’s working fine. A week ago I sent the bad Scorpion battery back to BatteryStuff.com for them to test. Turns out it (was) a bad battery (kudos to them for an honest test) and today I got an email with tracking info for a new battery they’re sending me to replace the bad one. I bought it back in January. So now I have a new Yuasa in the bike and a new Scorpion replacement on the shelf! Their specs are identical, 175 CCAs etc. I expect the Yuasa to last 4-5+ years so….I already have a two year old (new) replacement battery for my seven year old Kawasaki original battery that just won’t die!!! :laugh: I bought it two summers ago when my son and I rode both bikes to Utah just in case and removed it when I got back. Its only use was an eight day tour thru Monument Valley and back. It’s been on&off the tender ever since. I don’t think I’ll even open the box on the new Busa replacement battery. Shelf life good for how many years? :)
 
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