So jsut for the fun of it today I went to the warehouse and looked at the two sleeping motorcycles. They're not in a heated room and I havent pulled thee batteries ... yet. Maintenance willl happen before spring. Changing oils on the Gold Wing is a snap. The Guzzi 1100 is a bit different. it's a pain. a REAL pain to change the oil. but anyhow....

So the bikes are out of the wind and it was a little warmer in their parking spot than outside and I thought. hmmm lets see what happens. I hit the key on the Wing and all lit up. I turned the choke on and it grunted a couple times on a compression and locked.

I then went to the Guzzi and with no choke it made a couple snerks and fired right off. I lightly rapped the throttle a couple times and it settles right into idle.

If Id been dressed better I would have taken it around the block.

Odd thing is, that both bikes are 1100's, the wing is a 4 cyl and the Goose is a V-twin. a two of the same displacement is harder to roll over than a four which tells me the battery inn the wing is headed south. I thought that was the case this fall before it turned cold. The battery is a year and a half old, and IMO isn't much especially when you pay a premium for a wet cell. But n that bike I may go lithium. a lot of money but it will be the end of dead batteries.

Now the Guzzi? I installed the finest lawn tractor battery that Walmart had to offer. a whole 29 bucks worth. And it rolled and started the bike like brand new at approx +20 degrees f.

BTW right before I left, I hit the wings starter button one more time. Same grunt, same disappointment. Oh well. March isn't that far away. but Ill pull the battery so it doesn't freeze and throw acid. but this case tells that what costs more isn't always better...

On Sun, 18 Dec 2016 17:10:40 -0800 (PST), Tim wrote:

So jsut for the fun of it today I went to the warehouse and looked at the two sleeping motorcycles. They're not in a heated room and I havent pulled thee batteries ... yet. Maintenance willl happen before spring. Changing oils on the Gold Wing is a snap. The Guzzi 1100 is a bit different. it's a pain. a REAL pain to change the oil. but anyhow....

So the bikes are out of the wind and it was a little warmer in their parking spot than outside and I thought. hmmm lets see what happens. I hit the key on the Wing and all lit up. I turned the choke on and it grunted a couple times on a compression and locked.

I then went to the Guzzi and with no choke it made a couple snerks and fired right off. I lightly rapped the throttle a couple times and it settles right into idle.

If Id been dressed better I would have taken it around the block.

Odd thing is, that both bikes are 1100's, the wing is a 4 cyl and the Goose is a V-twin. a two of the same displacement is harder to roll over than a four which tells me the battery inn the wing is headed south. I thought that was the case this fall before it turned cold. The battery is a year and a half old, and IMO isn't much especially when you pay a premium for a wet cell. But n that bike I may go lithium. a lot of money but it will be the end of dead batteries.

Now the Guzzi? I installed the finest lawn tractor battery that Walmart had to offer. a whole 29 bucks worth. And it rolled and started the bike like brand new at approx +20 degrees f.

BTW right before I left, I hit the wings starter button one more time. Same grunt, same disappointment. Oh well. March isn't that far away. but Ill pull the battery so it doesn't freeze and throw acid. but this case tells that what costs more isn't always better...



I would first invest in a Battery Tender Junior and give it a shot. You can always claim it as a
business expense and save a bit.

12:09 PMPoco Loco
- show quoted text -
I would first invest in a Battery Tender Junior and give it a shot. You can always claim it as a
business expense and save a bit.
....

Well as the year went on I had a feeling it was losing cranking capacity anyhow. And the cold snap proved it'd low worth. I don't think a tender is going to help this one. However, I have thought of installing a larger battery in the left side luggage box seeing I don't put anything in there anyhow..

On Mon, 19 Dec 2016 10:24:27 -0800 (PST), Tim wrote:

12:09 PMPoco Loco
- show quoted text -
I would first invest in a Battery Tender Junior and give it a shot. You can always claim it as a
business expense and save a bit.
...

Well as the year went on I had a feeling it was losing cranking capacity anyhow. And the cold snap proved it'd low worth. I don't think a tender is going to help this one. However, I have thought of installing a larger battery in the left side luggage box seeing I don't put anything in there anyhow.

Wal Mart here we come!!!

12:33 PMPoco Loco
- show quoted text -
Wal Mart here we come!!!
......

I might do better than there. In St. Louis there's a massive cycle salvage place that gets in plenty of late model used lithium batteries that sell for less than half a new lead acid job, so...

On Monday, December 19, 2016 at 2:22:22 PM UTC-5, Tim wrote:
12:33 PMPoco Loco
- show quoted text -
Wal Mart here we come!!!
.....

I might do better than there. In St. Louis there's a massive cycle salvage place that gets in plenty of late model used lithium batteries that sell for less than half a new lead acid job, so...

I'm sure you are aware that the charging characteristics are different, so it won't be a plug-n-play.

Its Me wrote:
On Monday, December 19, 2016 at 2:22:22 PM UTC-5, Tim wrote:
12:33 PMPoco Loco
- show quoted text -
Wal Mart here we come!!!
.....

I might do better than there. In St. Louis there's a massive cycle
salvage place that gets in plenty of late model used lithium batteries
that sell for less than half a new lead acid job, so...

I'm sure you are aware that the charging characteristics are different,
so it won't be a plug-n-play.


Talking to a battery company at a sport show earlier this year, it appeared
the replacement batteries are plug and play.

On 12/19/2016 1:09 PM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Sun, 18 Dec 2016 17:10:40 -0800 (PST), Tim wrote:

So jsut for the fun of it today I went to the warehouse and looked at the two sleeping motorcycles. They're not in a heated room and I havent pulled thee batteries ... yet. Maintenance willl happen before spring. Changing oils on the Gold Wing is a snap. The Guzzi 1100 is a bit different. it's a pain. a REAL pain to change the oil. but anyhow....

So the bikes are out of the wind and it was a little warmer in their parking spot than outside and I thought. hmmm lets see what happens. I hit the key on the Wing and all lit up. I turned the choke on and it grunted a couple times on a compression and locked.

I then went to the Guzzi and with no choke it made a couple snerks and fired right off. I lightly rapped the throttle a couple times and it settles right into idle.

If Id been dressed better I would have taken it around the block.

Odd thing is, that both bikes are 1100's, the wing is a 4 cyl and the Goose is a V-twin. a two of the same displacement is harder to roll over than a four which tells me the battery inn the wing is headed south. I thought that was the case this fall before it turned cold. The battery is a year and a half old, and IMO isn't much especially when you pay a premium for a wet cell. But n that bike I may go lithium. a lot of money but it will be the end of dead batteries.

Now the Guzzi? I installed the finest lawn tractor battery that Walmart had to offer. a whole 29 bucks worth. And it rolled and started the bike like brand new at approx +20 degrees f.

BTW right before I left, I hit the wings starter button one more time. Same grunt, same disappointment. Oh well. March isn't that far away. but Ill pull the battery so it doesn't freeze and throw acid. but this case tells that what costs more isn't always better...



I would first invest in a Battery Tender Junior and give it a shot. You can always claim it as a
business expense and save a bit.


When I had motorcycles I discovered that often the 3 cycle "smart"
charger I had would not work on a badly depleted battery. The smart
charger would default to "off" and report a bad battery during the
initial charge cycle. This happened several times on one of the
batteries I had and I decided to try an old fashioned "dumb" charger on
it. It worked fine and after about half and hour I switched back to the
smart charger which then went through it's charge, absorption and
maintain phases perfectly. That battery was only a year old and, after
the charge, performed fine for another season.

On Monday, December 19, 2016 at 3:03:21 PM UTC-5, Califbill wrote:
Its Me wrote:
On Monday, December 19, 2016 at 2:22:22 PM UTC-5, Tim wrote:
12:33 PMPoco Loco
- show quoted text -
Wal Mart here we come!!!
.....

I might do better than there. In St. Louis there's a massive cycle
salvage place that gets in plenty of late model used lithium batteries
that sell for less than half a new lead acid job, so...

I'm sure you are aware that the charging characteristics are different,
so it won't be a plug-n-play.


Talking to a battery company at a sport show earlier this year, it appeared
the replacement batteries are plug and play.

Ah, I first read it as just a salvage place, and thought it would be generic batteries. Now I see it's a *cycle* salvage, so they should have the new, lead-acid compatible ones.

2:36 PMIts Me
- show quoted text -
Ah, I first read it as just a salvage place, and thought it would be generic batteries. Now I see it's a *cycle* salvage, so they should have the new, lead-acid compatible ones.
----

They said that if the get a lithium that is a year old or less it's $85-100.00 depending on size. A new lith. for my wing is about $235.00 minimum...