2008 Sat for ten days, then would not start

Sactown2008

Sactown2008

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Anyone encounter this? The bike turned over and over this morning but would not start.

I have not been on the 08 FZ1 in 10 days. I normally ride her to work on Monday and Thursday. I always put it on the Battery Tender Jr "the night before," a ride. It ALWAYS starts in 1-2 seconds. I have 12k on the odometer.

This morning I am in my cold riding gear for the first time in 12 months, take it off the Battery tender, push it out to the front yard and it turns over until I almost the battery. "clic, clic, clic." I push it back into the backyard and put it on the Tender Jr.

This happened a year ago and I thought I needed a new battery. Went home at 4pm and she fired right up. I hope this happens this afternoon.

Is it a fuel issue when they sit for a long time?

:banghead:
 
does it sit outside or in garage. My thoughts when i bike ticks over and doesn't start is always fuel or spark. How long has that fuel been in bike before the 10 days?
 
It sits outside under a bike cover except Monday & Thursday. I filled the tank two weeks ago at the same Chevron (89 octane) I always use on the way to work at 7am. That afternoon it fired right up for the ride home.

Thanks for the reply Kingy.
 
7 year old battery! Nice that you've got so much life from it!

It might be worth your time to take the battery down and have it load tested. It may not have enough Cold Cranking Amps anymore and the fact it happens to you on cool mornings might indicate that it's too old

As for a replacement; I might just go with another Yuasa/OEM unit. 7 years is good!
 
Dustin said:
7 year old battery! Nice that you've got so much life from it!

It might be worth your time to take the battery down and have it load tested. It may not have enough Cold Cranking Amps anymore and the fact it happens to you on cool mornings might indicate that it's too old

As for a replacement; I might just go with another Yuasa/OEM unit. 7 years is good!
Click to expand...

Sounds like Dustins suggestions. I also would go with the OEM one, it is a great battery mine is still the original from 2006 and works everyday like a charm, so I ride the bike year around and almost everyday. The battery tenders are good but they are no replacement for riding, meaning even with a battery tender the battery will age if not often used. I am not sure how your battery tender works but to really maintain the battery must be discharged to a low level and recharged again, so the details depend on the battery type and of course there are more details about it than this simple statement. In your case I would buy a new battery and you might want to check for a battery maintenance charger, these charger will run not only keep the battery charged but also run dis- and recharge processes so the battery stays healthy.
 
You most likely have a battery issue. I have an '09 with the original battery (more on that later). It is always on a Battery Tender Jr., and it sits for two months during the summer when I flee north to escape the heat. It never failed to start until last week after sitting for 7 days. Battery Tender showed 'green light', so rolled it out of the garage and tried to start it. It would crank, but slower than normal, then the dreaded 'click, click, click'. I've noticed for the last month it seemed to crank a little slower than normal, but it always started. So I ordered a new Yuasa gel filled battery from Amazon (Yuasa no: YUAM72Z14). They are all priced similarly whether on eBay or Amazon, so take your pick. I like Amazon because they deliver when they say they are going to.

In the meantime I removed the OEM battery and expected to find a Yuasa, nope, it had a crappy BikeMaster (Chinese made) battery that the dealer put in the bike when I bought it NEW. So I'll have a visit with them the next time I see them (a-holes). They put a cheap battery in and kept the better one for themselves. Got the new, MADE IN JAPAN Yuasa battery two days later and the first thing I did was put it on the 0.75 amp BT because you never know how long it has sat since being made, the dates are coded so you can't be sure. It went from 'red' to 'green' in about 45 minutes. Dropped it in the bike and it started up with less than 1/2 second of cranking, you could hear that the starter motor spun much faster. Remember, the battery is supplying energy for the coils, injectors, fuel pump, and the starter and if it isn't up to scratch it won't start the engine even if it shows the correct voltage (the real world 'load test'). So I'm good to go. I suspect your battery is on it's way out, you have done well if it is the original battery. Don't risk being stuck out somewhere....change it now.

Dreamdemon said:
...... The battery tenders are good but they are no replacement for riding, meaning even with a battery tender the battery will age if not often used. I am not sure how your battery tender works but to really maintain the battery must be discharged to a low level and recharged again, so the details depend on the battery type and of course there are more details about it than this simple statement. In your case I would buy a new battery and you might want to check for a battery maintenance charger, these charger will run not only keep the battery charged but also run dis- and recharge processes so the battery stays healthy.
Click to expand...

No, this is NOT true. The more deep cycles you put a battery through the less service you are going to see out of it, generally speaking. The whole idea of a Battery Tender is to keep it maintained at peak voltage, without letting it run down. The BT IS a maintenance charger, but it does NOT dis- and recharge the battery, this is something you don't want to do.
 
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Dustin said:
7 year old battery! Nice that you've got so much life from it!

It might be worth your time to take the battery down and have it load tested. It may not have enough Cold Cranking Amps anymore and the fact it happens to you on cool mornings might indicate that it's too old

As for a replacement; I might just go with another Yuasa/OEM unit. 7 years is good!
Click to expand...

I'd go lithium ion.
 
I also suggest a light weight battery. I have been using a Shorai for a few years now. (6/6/2011) It's also smaller in physical size, giving me space under the seat to Velcro my fuse block to the top of the battery. Well worth the small price difference.
 
Last edited:
No, this is NOT true. The more deep cycles you put a battery through the less service you are going to see out of it, generally speaking. The whole idea of a Battery Tender is to keep it maintained at peak voltage, without letting it run down. The BT IS a maintenance charger, but it does NOT dis- and recharge the battery, this is something you don't want to do.
Click to expand...

Yes my statement is true! I never said anything about completely discharging or deep cycling the battery, this is only done for some batteries but not for Gel batteries. I know that most manufacturers say you should always keep it charged but it will live longer when it is moderately cycled. Read about electrode deposits, I will not go into the details of chemics here but i revived several times deep depleted Gel batteries or other Gel batteries that could not provide the proper voltage. If the Battery tender can run maintenance cycle than he will remove the deposits that gather on the electrodes otherwise you can get more life out of the battery when running proper maintenance chargers. Just so much (without equations) you need to discharge the battery to a certain level to be able to charge it with high current to remove the deposits on the electrodes. Again the details are more complicated but a microprocessor controlled charger can usually run the necessary cycling for most Gel type batteries.
 
Dreamdemon said:
Yes my statement is true! I never said anything about completely discharging or deep cycling the battery, this is only done for some batteries but not for Gel batteries. I know that most manufacturers say you should always keep it charged but it will live longer when it is moderately cycled. Read about electrode deposits, I will not go into the details of chemics here but i revived several times deep depleted Gel batteries or other Gel batteries that could not provide the proper voltage. If the Battery tender can run maintenance cycle than he will remove the deposits that gather on the electrodes otherwise you can get more life out of the battery when running proper maintenance chargers. Just so much (without equations) you need to discharge the battery to a certain level to be able to charge it with high current to remove the deposits on the electrodes. Again the details are more complicated but a microprocessor controlled charger can usually run the necessary cycling for most Gel type batteries.
Click to expand...

Perhaps from a physics argument you may be correct. But I am only going by what the Battery Tender folks say about this:

"Some automatic chargers will restart when they sense that the battery voltage is too low. As a battery goes through these types of cycles of repeated charging and idle self-discharge to low capacity levels, the useful battery life may be dramatically reduced.

Both the BatteryTender® Plus & Junior battery chargers do not turn off after they charge the battery. They automatically switch to a safe float voltage level that keeps the battery charged and yet does not do any harm to the battery. In fact, in most cases, this type of charge maintenance will extend the battery’s useful life by at least 50%.

Some customers have reported battery life increases of more than double what they had before using the Battery Tender® Plus or Battery Tender® Junior battery chargers."

I have had good luck with keeping batteries always on a Battery Tender and they say it won't hurt, so I'll stick with always having the battery connected. Other folks may have different results.
 
Evitzee said:
Perhaps from a physics argument you may be correct. But I am only going by what the Battery Tender folks say about this:

"Some automatic chargers will restart when they sense that the battery voltage is too low. As a battery goes through these types of cycles of repeated charging and idle self-discharge to low capacity levels, the useful battery life may be dramatically reduced.

Both the BatteryTender® Plus & Junior battery chargers do not turn off after they charge the battery. They automatically switch to a safe float voltage level that keeps the battery charged and yet does not do any harm to the battery. In fact, in most cases, this type of charge maintenance will extend the battery’s useful life by at least 50%.

Some customers have reported battery life increases of more than double what they had before using the Battery Tender® Plus or Battery Tender® Junior battery chargers."

I have had good luck with keeping batteries always on a Battery Tender and they say it won't hurt, so I'll stick with always having the battery connected. Other folks may have different results.
Click to expand...

Dreamdemon is right. Batteries can be brought back to life with some deep cycling.

I have a Ctek batery tender. It keeps the battery topped up but also can cycle a battery to get it healthy again. it has different settings for different battery types and I have a couple of them, whenever I leave a vehicle for a while I'll plug the Ctek charger in to make sure the battery is tip top when I get back.

Ctek MXS 5.0 - Ctek Chargers
 
Ive been riding over twenty years and never used a tender . Just start them up once a week its not that hard ! The yusa in my honda was still working fine after five years . I replaced it with a lithium and now it wont start when its cold out . When the FZ needs a new battery it will be a yusa !! For what its worth
 
Lonney said:
Ive been riding over twenty years and never used a tender . Just start them up once a week its not that hard ! The yusa in my honda was still working fine after five years . I replaced it with a lithium and now it wont start when its cold out . When the FZ needs a new battery it will be a yusa !! For what its worth
Click to expand...

Went home at 5pm and she started right up. Leaving it on the Tender Jr until Thursday at 6am to see if I have a ride to work. LOL!
I am still buying a new battery this weekend. I think I found one from a submarine company.

.Next Battery.jpg
 
Lonney said:
Ive been riding over twenty years and never used a tender . Just start them up once a week its not that hard ! The yusa in my honda was still working fine after five years . I replaced it with a lithium and now it wont start when its cold out . When the FZ needs a new battery it will be a yusa !! For what its worth
Click to expand...

Bummer about the non-starting is cold weather with the light battery. So far, mine has never failed to start my bike, but I don't live where it's really cold.
 
My Shorai lithium never failed to start me, even after sitting outside for 8 hours at my work in up to -10c (14f). I'm surprised you had such trouble, Lonney.
 
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