Randell Posted January 20, 2020 Share Posted January 20, 2020 Is there any reason why with a brand new battery (1250 baht ) that the bike should run a bit better. A bit more acceleration just a bit more crisp all around? Or is it totally in my imagination. Not that i noticed any lack before the battery issue. It was two years old and two or three time before it wouldn't start took a bit extra to get it to fire up. I just put it down to the extra cool mornings here in Chiang Rai. and then two days ago it wouldn't fire up and quickly had no cranking power. Got a push start with a bit of effort 2 or 3 attempts. Got to my local Honda shop in Wiang Chai and he first put the battery on the charger but there were so few lights showing once hooked up he said it need changing and so I did. But the thing is of course I was glad to have it back running again but the difference in the final trip to the Honda shop and the trip home after the new battery seemed to me to be very different. Will some one please tell me if its all in my head or what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katana Posted January 20, 2020 Share Posted January 20, 2020 I've noticed that as well when changing from a an old battery that is struggling to hold charge to a new one. Bike immediately runs better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papa al Posted January 20, 2020 Share Posted January 20, 2020 all in head 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwasaki Posted January 20, 2020 Share Posted January 20, 2020 3 hours ago, Randell said: Will some one please tell me if its all in my head or what? Not necessary a new battery fitted and with the terminals cleaned up will make a difference marginally to electronic components on a motorcycle that had an old end of life battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johng Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 I've had a strange problem with a battery going short circuit and the bike would not start for love or money it was an old kickstart only bike drove to immigration ( for 90 day report) parked up for 10 minutes came back it wouldn't start..got it pushed to a local repair shack and they diagnosed the battery but I was doubtful as the thing had run without a battery for years...but changing the battery did indeed do the trick..the battery I had only recently installed had gone bad resulting in no spark at the spark plug ( could have also just disconnected the bad battery and run without it ) so I can imagine that a bad battery could result in a weak spark and so poor performance...with new battery lovely big spark and back to full power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randell Posted January 21, 2020 Author Share Posted January 21, 2020 Well either way its definitely running better so I'm happy. Still a 50 50 call it seems with no definitive answer but one unexplained from Papa. So no worries here I just thought maybe there was something more to it. One finally question is two years good for a battery. Should they last longer? Possibly not charging good any more? At 1250 baht still fine for two year running with out a glitch. So thanks to all for your quick responses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papa al Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 22 minutes ago, Randell said: unexplained from Papa ceeber, like most bikes, runs same/fine without any battery. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randell Posted January 21, 2020 Author Share Posted January 21, 2020 Ok got ya it was all in my head. I knew my memory was going I just didn't think it would be so creative on it way out. thanks for the note papa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johng Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 39 minutes ago, papa al said: ceeber, like most bikes, runs same/fine without any battery. yes but having a bad/dodgy battery in circuit can cause problems. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randell Posted January 22, 2020 Author Share Posted January 22, 2020 So is 2 years a good life time for the battery or is my charging not quite what it should be and therefore using up the life of the battery more quickly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johng Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 I would say 2 years is a little on the low side..but (lead acid) batteries don't last long in Thailand they don't like heat and they don't like being deeply discharged, or not being fully recharged after use... so lots of short journeys starting the engine with the starter motor,lights on all the time maybe the brake light switch faulty so it stays on, after market gizmo's could all lead to shortened battery life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randell Posted January 22, 2020 Author Share Posted January 22, 2020 6 minutes ago, johng said: I would say 2 years is a little on the low side..but (lead acid) batteries don't last long in Thailand they don't like heat and they don't like being deeply discharged, or not being fully recharged after use... so lots of short journeys starting the engine with the starter motor,lights on all the time maybe the brake light switch faulty so it stays on, after market gizmo's could all lead to shortened battery life. So would the way it quit, good one day and gone the next couple be indicative of bad charging and shorter life . I live quite a ways out of town so even shortest trips for me are 20 to 30 minutes driving. So I would think if the charging unit working properly that the battery shouldn't degrade so quickly. But that said if that's the added to the maintenance cost over 2 year its ok with me. I just felt that the battery's should last a fair bit longer thanks for your reply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johng Posted January 22, 2020 Share Posted January 22, 2020 8 minutes ago, Randell said: So would the way it quit, good one day and gone the next couple be indicative of bad charging I don't think so ..thats just how they fail. its quite easy to check the charging circuit with a voltmeter on the battery terminals with the engine running you should see a DC voltage of above 13 volts 13V - 14.8V lower or higher than those values likely means there is something wrong. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randell Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 Thanks again fellows always nice to get input from some one in the know. And although I have ridden them for more than 40 years I am ashamed to say my mechanical knowledge of them is very "Challenged" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnasher328 Posted January 24, 2020 Share Posted January 24, 2020 Quite possible. I had a battery die suddenly but I was due to set off for a rally so I bump started the bike and went. When it was time to go home, the bike just started, reluctantly then ran badly and wouldn't stay running. Reckont he bad battery was taking all the charge leaving none for the ignition. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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