SuzukiSavage.com - Dead Battery

HAPPYDAN

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Dead Battery
11/18/17 at 10:45:21

54 degrees yesterday and sunny. Go for a ride? Nope. Dead Battery. Got a charger, no problem. Except getting the battery out is a real PITA. Remove tool box cover, backing plate, seat, left side panel, negative cable, slide battery out 1", remove positive cable, slide breather tube out of bracket, (finally) remove battery. No wonder in 5 years of ownership, I've never serviced it. Bone dry, no fluid. Fill battery with distilled water, put on charger overnight, assemble in reverse. Today it's 40 degrees and raining. Surely the motorcycle gods are having a laugh Grin

Would a kick starter be too much to ask for?

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Ruttly Serious Thumper Offline Thumpers Rule Posts: 4997 Manteca , CA Gender:	Re: Dead Battery Reply #1 - 11/18/17 at 11:02:54 Once air has reached the plates in the battery it begins to degrade. Your fix is temporary , plan on buying a new battery or plan on pushing the bike instead of riding it. It looks bad for the rest of us when your seen pushing your Savage
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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Dead Battery Reply #2 - 11/18/17 at 11:23:31 That battery would be on my I'm getting a new one List.
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JLC Senior Member Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 262 Black Forest, Colorado Gender:	Re: Dead Battery Reply #3 - 11/18/17 at 15:32:08 Get a AGM battery, then you will not have to worry about liquid level, and corrosive fumes when charging. If you get a maintainer, all the ones I bought came with a set of leads you can hook up to the battery permanently, so you can use the maintainer without taking the battery out.
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norm92de Serious Thumper Offline SuzukiSavage.com Rocks! Posts: 1180 El Paso TX Gender:	Re: Dead Battery Reply #4 - 11/18/17 at 16:22:27 Good advice JLC.
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Franklin2135

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Re: Dead Battery
Reply #5 - 11/20/17 at 10:22:02

I'm a newbie (less than 2 years riding) but in quick succession acquired two bikes where the deals were just too good to pass up. Imagine my surprise when it was easier to install/remove the battery in my 1975 Honda CB360-T than my 2009 Suzuki S40. And by easier, I mean that you pop up the hinged seat and there is the battery with a big rubber strap holding it in place - 30 seconds to get it in or out. What the thinking was with the S40 design is beyond me.

The only problem for me with the permanent battery maintainer hookup solution is that I store the bikes at a remote location where I do not have an outlet available, so I have to remove the batteries and take them home for the winter, where I do keep them on a float charger. During the summer I ride the bikes just about every week so no issues with keeping the batteries up then.

These are really just observations - I'm not looking for a solution to a problem that was created by my decision about where and how to store the bikes.

But let's face it, the Suzuki battery location and access is sub-optimal even by the standards of when it was designed.

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batman

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Re: Dead Battery
Reply #6 - 11/20/17 at 10:58:21

"If you don't like your life rearrange it".. Grin

I've often thought that a somewhat smaller battery (shorter) might be placed in a custom battery box ,that could be mounted with a hinge on the bottom in the original spot, so it could pivot forward toward the motor allowing the battery to slide out, with a lid that lifted off and small straps to both hold on the top and the battery back in place. Access to the cables would also be much easier.Or you could bolt a hinge to the bottom of the side facing motor and another at the top bolted to a flat lid, swing the side out and the lid would fold down on to it as you swing the side down,allowing you to side the battery forward and out either side. or whatever you come up with.

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my old work mates called me MacGyver

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Gary_in_NJ Serious Thumper Offline LS650 Cafe Racer Posts: 2625 Amongst the Twisty Roads	Re: Dead Battery Reply #7 - 11/20/17 at 11:39:40 One of the many advantages of a Li On battery is that it doesn't need to be charged for long periods of inactivity. Simply remove the negative battery cable and it will hold a starting charge for a year.
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HAPPYDAN

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Re: Dead Battery
Reply #8 - 11/22/17 at 15:55:12

I did put a pigtail on the battery for a quick connect to a charger, as they are currently on sale at Costco. Good Idea. I routed through the tool box, since my tool kit won't fit in it. It's in a handlebar mounted tool bag. I have previously owned Hondas (CB350, CB360), a Yamaha (XT225) and a HD FLH 74, which were all MUCH easier to access. My CT 110 is a snap also. Not complaining; just a comment.

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justin_o_guy2 Serious Thumper Offline What happened? Posts: 55279 East Texas, 1/2 dallas/la.	Re: Dead Battery Reply #9 - 11/22/17 at 23:01:55 I cut a two wire connector out of the wiring on an old car for my pigtails.
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