[eddie]

Before I bought a SCR950, I also had a FZ-8 and a Super Tenere 1200. The ST is officially the bike I've had the longest out of the 20+ over the years. It's got just over 37k miles and runs great with one exception: It eats batteries. Or at least it's on #4 in 2.5 years. The charging system checks out both hot & cold. The 1st replacement battery was a LiFePO cell that didn't like cold weather and, per the maker, needed to be taken out of the bike if I was going to let it sit more than a few days(!).
Read the fine print, campers and don't do what I did and put a race battery in your street bike at $$$ expense.
Replacement #2 was good until this past November. #3 was a 'net sale that'd not been stored properly and a hassle to send back. #4 is in it now and fine until about 45 minutes ago when I was greeted with the dreaded clack-clack-clack sound of a starter solenoid doing it's best with the starter making exactly zero revolutions.

Off came the side panel for a closer look. I tried the starter again and was met with a brief shower of sparks from the solenoid area!!!
:surprise:
The cable going from the solenoid to the starter was loose. There was carbon build up on the bolt, the cable end and the brass fitting on the solenoid itself. I cleaned and sanded each component and put it back together.
It cranked just fine afterward.
Now I have to wonder if any of those other batteries were actually good after all?

Hi, my name is eddie and I learn some things the hard way.
:grin2:

 

[SCRBen]

Now I have to wonder if any of those other batteries were actually good after all?

First thing I thought after reading your story!! :grin2:

Ah well......
Ben

 

[[email protected]]

Don't feel bad, Eddie. It's very easy to get fixated on one thing that you just " know " is bad.
Here's my story; I too had a
"bad" battery, starter, solenoid on my boat motor. Long story short, the 6' long battery cables were encased in a rubber sheath ( which holds water very well) and the insulation had cracked over the years from repeated turning of the motor and allowed water to slowly corrode the cables. So after many days and much $, I accidentally bumped the steering wheel while trying to start it... and AH HAH! When you turned the wheel a certain way, the corroded cable would make contact with the few strands of wire and it would start. Turn it the other way and no contact.
VOLT METER! For God's sake, START out with a
VOLT METER! Oh well, most of my hair has since grown back. And yes, that IS the short version of the story! Glad you finally got her fixed though, Eddie! Jevers

 

[eddie]

snip*
VOLT METER! For God's sake, START out with a
VOLT METER! Oh well, most of my hair has since grown back. And yes, that IS the short version of the story! Glad you finally got her fixed though, Eddie! Jevers

The goofy part is twofold. I have a Matco/Fluke meter that I use a lot and yet had only checked the cranking voltage at the battery before.
The Nov. battery dropped to barely 10V. It was definitely bad.
The other part is I drove a 74' Cutlass through college and 8 years afterward. The cable at the starter was a little loose from when I changed it, but I was too lazy to crawl under the car and fix it. Every once in a while, I'd turn the key to crank it and get nothing. So, I'd open the 2,000 pound driver's door and slam it hard while turning the key again and it would start 99% of the time.
I'd never touched the Yamaha's cable, so it couldn't have been that, right? LOL

 

[[email protected]]

Hah! I had an old convertible that I was fixing up paycheck to paycheck. Drove it to a wedding and noticed the radiator was leaking. Stopped by the local parts store and poured in a bottle of Stop Leak. Drove the 30 miles home, no problem. Got home, opened the hood to check on things, A-OK. Slammed the hood and the radiator blew out!!! God, I miss that car!

 

[psalwasser]

I like to use battery contact grease on the batt terminals, contacts at starter and ground contacts on the engine and frame after cleaning. cured my latest guzzi of of the dreaded click-click-click. whats been written off as an italian thing was actually a maintenance issue.

 

[Skidbladnr]

Well at least, (with a nod to all the Brits I've seen on here) you didn't have to deal with Lucas electrical parts. Lucas aka the prince of darkness.

http://mez.co.uk/lucas.html

 

[eddie]

Well at least, (with a nod to all the Brits I've seen on here) you didn't have to deal with Lucas electrical parts. Lucas aka the prince of darkness.

Lucas - Prince of Darkness - Lucas Electrical Humor Jokes

I'm just glad Lucas didn't produce computers.
Their reasoning being they couldn't figure out how to fail miserably and make it leak oil.