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Message started by cafdad on 08/25/11 at 18:31:17

Title: Battery out of water?
Post by cafdad on 08/25/11 at 18:31:17

I just noticed both my wife's and my 09's don't show anything in the battery check window. I honestly don't know if I have ever checked this before (only have 1,300 miles). I did have service at 600 but haven't checked it since.

I was planning on riding to work tomorrow (75 miles roundtrip). How critical is it that I add water. Can I make the trip without damaging the battery?

Thanks!

Title: Re: Battery out of water?
Post by verslagen1 on 08/25/11 at 18:48:19

Add water as soon as you can, distilled or deionized.
I got a battery in a wrecked bike that was w/o water and uncharged for god knows how long. filled it up, charged it, worked great for a year or so.

Title: Re: Battery out of water?
Post by cafdad on 08/25/11 at 19:09:12

Thanks for the reply. Do you have to remove the battery completely to add water?

Title: Re: Battery out of water?
Post by Boofer on 08/25/11 at 19:12:41

Afraid you got to take battery out to add water. Not hard, just aggravating.

Title: Re: Battery out of water?
Post by cafdad on 09/01/11 at 17:59:10

Just a quick followup to provide some learning experience to other newbies and a laugh for the old timers.

I estimate the whole process of removing the battery should have taken less than 10 minutes. Unfortunately the the screw on one of the cover was mostly stripped before I started and completely stripped before I was able to remove it. So of course this meant a trip to the hardware to get a screw extractor (didn't already have one). Finally get the screw removed, and the battery out of the bike. Low and behold the water level was perfectly fine. I couldn't see it through the window on the bike but could see it just fine holding it in front of my face. Of course then I had to go back to buy a screw to replace the one that was stripped (and M5 truss screw in case anyone is wondering). Of course they didn't have a black screw, so bought the stainless and painted it.

Well at least I got the experience of removing the battery right. :P

Title: Re: Battery out of water?
Post by mojo on 09/01/11 at 19:30:49

Sounds like my experiences. In my shop, there is no such thing as a "10 minute job"! Glad it all worked out for you. :-[

Title: Re: Battery out of water?
Post by Boofer on 09/01/11 at 19:37:20

Sorry. We could have told you that you can't see the water through the gap in the battery box. "Someday" I'm going to fix that with a sabre saw and a fine cutting blade. Or get a sealed battery.

Title: Re: Battery out of water?
Post by Routy on 09/02/11 at 15:22:24

That was the very first thing I did when I bought my bike. And that was right after reading here about how easy everything on this bike was to work on.
I didn't trust anybody here after that experience !! :)