Hi Everyone, I'm new to the forums.

Anyway, last fall I bought a 2007 S40 and put it into storage. I am a new rider with almost no riding experience, so I was pretty excited when it got delivered last week. I rode it 3 times so far, but then I got sick over the weekend and was out of commission. This week I went down to take it out and when I turn the ignition on I get no lights. After fiddling a bit I figured the battery must be dead. I don't know if I left the lights on, I can't remember, but this seems to be the only answer?

Anyway, I went out and bought a Genius G1100 charger and took the battery out. First time working on a bike of any kind. Brought the battery upstairs and started charging it, only to find the charger throws up an error that means the battery is bad or the charge is too low.

So my question is, is the battery finished now? I know I could probably jump it and charge it, but I have no way to do that, I live in a building, which is why I had to take the battery out. I'm eager to ride, so I'm thinking my best bet is to just go by a new one that's already charged and try to remember to turn the lights off.

Suggestions?

A lot of the new battery chargers have a circuitry that will not charge batteries that fall below a certain voltage.   I believe these chargers are the type with circuitry that will allow them to operate as a battery maintainer as well as a charger..,,,,which is good.  But it is not good that they will only charger batteries that are low.....and not dead.

You need to find someone who can get a "dead" battery charged....or who can test the battery as others have suggested.

Hook the battery up to your car battery with jumper cables for 4 or 5 minutes. Put the cables on the Savage battery first, then the car. Don't start the car,.. just let the two batteries sit there hooked up for a while.  This will put enough charge in the Savage battery so your Genius charger will recognize it.

If you do end up replacing the battery,.. which is likely since it might be several years old, consider using an Earthx Li-Ion battery.  They cost twice as much, but they are 10 lbs lighter, more powerful, and last twice as long.  I'm using three of them in an LS650, a Yamaha FJR-1300, and a gyrocopter.

Thanks for all the replies. Is a battery generally never as good after this happens? I can buy another battery, same brand, it's a Yuasa, for 80 bucks fully charged.

The problem is I live in Down Town Toronto and don't have a car, so everything outside fo the core is hard for me to get to. Might buy some jumper cables and see if I can zap it with a friends car battery. Is only 5 minutes needed?

An AGM maint free sealed battery will hold its charge longer and usually last much longer than a liquid acid batter

...

Sealed batteries are referred to as,.... AGM, Glass mat, Gel Cell, Sealed, or Maintenance free battery...
All the same anymore... (these aren't different types of battery,... just different names for the same thing)...
Battery places sell wet cell, and these sealed batteries...
Sealed is better...

It's just a battery that you don't have to put water in...
Instead of water,.. it uses a gel impregnated glass mat... so it never needs water...

Thanks again, great info. I took my battery in to get charged today. 5 bucks, but it still wouldn't start my bike, lights come on but I guess it doesn't have enough power. I'm charging it at home now as my charger works, will see how it goes tonight. I'm hoping to have it work by tomorrow and then next week I could drive out to get a new battery. How fast does a bad battery lose it's charge? Is it like hours / days? My charger is blinking at 50%.

Ian I'm supprised they didn't do a load test after charging the battery     We always did at the place I used to work at to make sure it was Ok before walking out the door......