Battery Problem!!!

[Aaron_Day]

I NEED HELP ON CHARGING THE BATERY!! thanks for anyones help!

[Madman]

Purchase a low amperage battery charger at auto-zone, or advanced auto, etc... Should be a 2 amp charger.. clip red clip to posotive (+) side of battery, black to negative (-) side of battery. Turn on or plug in charger, then let sit overnight.
Best solution is to purchase a battery tender an leave it plugged in when not ridden. Battery Tender should be able to be purchased from Cyber Poet on this site, or worst case, the stealership.

[KatanaSoldier]

Wally World has them for cheap too.

[Aaron_Day]

sorry i forgot to say i just got the bike yesterday. its an 06 and i dont think the batterys bad i think its died. could it be that it only has 1 mile on it or is that just retarded? i dont know anythink about batterys!

[Madman]

If it has been sitting for a long period of time, it can go dead. If you are slightly mechanically savvy, remove the battery and take it to auto-zone. They will charge it up and do a load test to make sure your battery is ok.

[The CyberPoet]

(A) Max continuous charge rate for the 98+ is 900 milliamps (0.9 amp-hours). Do NOT use a 2-amp charger, such as a car charger that has a 2A setting. Pre-98's go from 1 to 1.2 Amps, depending on the year/model. Running too high a charge level can overheat the battery, causing the case to warp, and in worst-case scenarios, causing the battery to spray battery acid everywhere as the case fails.

(B) If the battery is dead, it may be dead-dead. Each time you discharge the battery to dead, it loses 25 - 40 % of it's remaining storage capacity. Discharge it too often, and it simply won't hold a charge any more. I have methods for testing a battery for this condition with an ohm meter listed on my Motorcycle Electrical Charging and Battery Problems, diagnostics, solutions page .

(C) IS THE KAT A CALIFORNIA MODEL? I ask because they have after-run fans that can decimate the battery fairly easily...

(D) Odds are you left your running lights on. In that case, small trickle-float charger overnight (900ma or under) and all should be good.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[ontariokatana]

How often should you charge the battery over the winter?

[The CyberPoet]

Using a trickle/float charger means you can leave it connected the entire time you're not riding -- the charger will automatically throttle up & down as needed.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[AKA AllyKat]

CP so leaving a battery tender on is ok. I always thought if you left it on it would cook off or evaporate the battery fluid faster. But I guess the tender doent overcharge it so no excess heat.

[BarMatt80]

i think the battery tender has something to keep it from cooking a battery. to me the name implies that.

[The CyberPoet]

CP so leaving a battery tender on is ok. I always thought if you left it on it would cook off or evaporate the battery fluid faster. But I guess the tender doent overcharge it so no excess heat.

As long as the max charge rate on the trickle/float charger is lower than the max charge rate recommended on the battery, it shouldn't be an issue unless you have a heavy drain going on the battery at the same time (such as headlights on). At minimum floating-charge rate after the battery is full, most of the better chargers drop to something like 0.05 amp-hours, which is basically nothing.

Regular maintenance batteries (stock on pre-98's) should have their fluids topped off before winterization and again when they get de-winterized (both times with distilled water); maint-free batteries (stock on 98+) normally salvage the fluids unless they get way-over-charged and don't need any topping-off.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet