think my battery is dead after the winter. left it in there

[dannylightning]

so i charged it up, it cranks a few times than starts cranking slower and slower till it will crank no more, what a bummer. first nice day we have had in months, i at least wanted to take it around the block a few times today. probably better off, my tags are expired. thursday is going to be up to about 60 degrees, got to get a new battery by than and renew my tags, and the best part about that is i should have the day off thursday.

[alanmcorcoran]

It might not be. I'd try charging it up before I gave up on it. Also, as many other threads cover, you should be able to start it up with a near dead battery by coasting downhill and popping the clutch. (I figure if I can do it, it can't be that difficult.) I've run both of my batteries completely down (due to stupidity) and successfully recharged them (the GZ twice!) and they still start the bike a year later. Eventually I'm sure I'll have to buy new ones, but a year is a year.

[patrick_777]

Like Alan, I doubt you need a new battery. Charge it, or push-start and ride it for 20-25 minutes straight at speed (no turning it off to go into a store) and go back home. It should fire back up right away.

Look into buying a battery tender. Especially when you know you're not going to ride for a while.

I have two of these and alternate my non-riding bikes on them weekly. Never had a problem.

Battery Tender Jr. (http://tinyurl.com/6ljwlw)

Look around at different parts sites...sometimes you can get lucky and find one on sale.

[blaine]

If not a BATTERY-TENDER any 2 amp charger will work fine.

[patrick_777]

True, but Tenders will turn themselves off when the battery is fully charged.

[Water Warrior 2]

:2tup: Yup, the Tender is an electronic babysitter for your battery.

[dannylightning]

i should get one of those, i left it charge for a while last night and it looked like it charged up. last time i had to charge it, after putting in my jet kit it was hard to start till i got the gas back in the carb and i ran the battery dead, it only took about 20 min to charge. but after setting so long it seems that it needed a longer charge. when it gets warm out today ill try to fire it up and see what happens.
for it.

i should get a tender, one of my friends uses one on his bike.

[alantf]

i ran the battery dead, it only took about 20 min to charge.

???????????????? What charging rate did you use? This seems very quick for charging up a flat battery if you used the correct charging rate. Don't forget that you can harm the battery by charging at too high a rate. :jo:

[blaine]

I have a MOTOMASTER 2 amp charger.It goes on "float" mode at 95% to keep battery toped up.As do several other brands.

[Easy Rider]

If not a BATTERY-TENDER any 2 amp charger will work fine.

True, but Tenders will turn themselves off when the battery is fully charged.

Well, it is NOT true that a plain low capacity charger is OK for continuous use during storage. It has no automatic function and will try to keep the voltage ABOVE the fully charged level. This is not good.

If you DO use a non-automatic charger, it should only be for 12 hours or so, once a month.

The objective is to keep the battery fully charged. Exactly how you accomplish that isn't really important........except that too much charge can be as bad as too little.

[Easy Rider]

i ran the battery dead, it only took about 20 min to charge.

This seems very quick for charging up a flat battery if you used the correct charging rate.

AND if it DID come back that quickly with a low charging rate......that is a dead give-away that the battery capacity is almost GONE.

[blaine]

My charger has float mode so it don't over-charge when left on battery.

[Easy Rider]

My charger has float mode so it don't over-charge when left on battery.

OK but that's a little different than "any 2 amp charger". :cool:

[alanmcorcoran]

AND ONE MORE TIDBIT:

Tenders are NOT designed to recharge a battery. The Battery Tender people specifically recommend using them for that purpose. They are strictly for maintaining a properly charged battery when not in regular use. I think they said if it is down more than 3V than don't use the tender. Might have been less.

Danny, when my went dead (all three times) I charged the batttery on the "low" setting (2amps) overnight. That's what's recommended and it worked for me. If the battery is still poopy afterwards, and you don't want to try the clutch start, give the jumper cable method a try - mrmld has it described in detail on here somewhere - basically connect your battery to a car battery but don't run the car. That works too.

[dannylightning]

well the bike fired up yesterday after i left it charge for 4 or 5 hours the night before. my charger charges at 4 amps, that is the only setting it has, you cant no leave a normal charger on your battery unless you want to ruin it, unless it has some kind of tender mode where it will turn off when the battery is fully charged. not sure why it charged so fast last time. i could be mistaken but i don't remember it taking long at all

it took a few tries to get it started but as soon as enough gas got back in the carb it fired right up. so i assume the battery is working fine or it would have died again. i was thinking about hooking it up to a car battery and not running the car but decided against it just in case, don't want to blow any thing up, i cant see how it would but better safe than sorry.

[alantf]

it took a few tries to get it started but as soon as enough gas got back in the carb it fired right up.

Hasn't your petcock (fuel tap!) got a "prime" position? If it has, that's what it's there for - to let fuel flow freely into an empty carb!

Next time you suspect that there's no fuel in the carb, set it to "prime", leave it for a coupla minutes, then start up. As soon as it's running, set the switch to "run". :yes:

[Easy Rider]

Hasn't your petcock (fuel tap!) got a "prime" position?

Maybe not. My Honda doesn't.

[dannylightning]

it took a few tries to get it started but as soon as enough gas got back in the carb it fired right up.

Hasn't your petcock (fuel tap!) got a "prime" position? If it has, that's what it's there for - to let fuel flow freely into an empty carb!

Next time you suspect that there's no fuel in the carb, set it to "prime", leave it for a coupla minutes, then start up. As soon as it's running, set the switch to "run". :yes:

NO NO NO NO it does not haha, i do not have a petcock with adjustable settings mine runs off of a vaccume and it shuts its self on and off when turning the bike on and off, you got to put the key to the on position and give it some gas a few times to start getting some gasoline flow.

unless i am getting it confused with something else, i remember reading it runs off vacuum but it definitely has no adjustments.

[mrlmd1]

It probably has off, on, and reserve positions, no prime.

[Easy Rider]

It probably has off, on, and reserve positions, no prime.

If it has a fuel pump, it might not even have that.

[zenbutcher]

I tried to find this somewhere in the manual and couldn't. But, I know that I read somewhere that this bike does "prime" the carb if you put the switch to reserve. I'll keep looking, but since our version of the manual is not searchable, I may not find it.

[Easy Rider]

But, I know that I read somewhere that this bike does "prime" the carb if you put the switch to reserve.

This WHICH bike? Not the GZ as it has a PRIME setting.

[zenbutcher]

OK, just FYI... here's what I found in the Owner's manual from this site...


"PRI" (PRIME) position:
If the motorcycle has run out of fuel or has been stored for an extended period, there may not be any gasoline in the carburetor. In this instance, the fuel valve should be turned to the "PRI" position. This will allow the fuel to flow directly int o the carburetor even though the engine in not operating. Upon starting the engine, be sure to return the fuel valve to the "ON" position.

[zenbutcher]

Oh, easy rider... I just assumed we were talking about the GZ.... maybe not... my bad...

[Easy Rider]

But, I know that I read somewhere that this bike does "prime" the carb if you put the switch to reserve.

Oh, easy rider... I just assumed we were talking about the GZ.... maybe not... my bad...

OK.....now you are confusing me. What I was TRYING to say is that the GZ......or any bike that actually has a PRIME setting.....will NOT prime when set to "reserve". I think you must have dreamed that. :)

[Sarris]

Also, please note that the petcock lever appears to be ass backwards from the actual position it's in, so be sure to look for the little tiny arrow on the lever. Many a GeeZer has run out of gas with the lever 180 degrees backward!!

:)

[patrick_777]

Leave me outta this, old man. :redflip:

[Easy Rider]

Leave me outta this, old man. :redflip:

:shocked: :lol: :crackup

Actually, that hasn't been mentioned in a LONG time.
Good reminder I say......even if it does cause flashbacks for some. :biggrin:

[patrick_777]

My legs hurt just thinking about it.

[dannylightning]

But, I know that I read somewhere that this bike does "prime" the carb if you put the switch to reserve.

Oh, easy rider... I just assumed we were talking about the GZ.... maybe not... my bad...

OK.....now you are confusing me. What I was TRYING to say is that the GZ......or any bike that actually has a PRIME setting.....will NOT prime when set to "reserve". I think you must have dreamed that. :)

never set the bike to prime and ride. put the petcock switch to the on or run setting when riding, and if it ever runs out of fuel switch it to reserve. there are 2 hoses that feed gas in the gz, best way to explain this is that on the run or on setting there is a shorter hose so you dont completely run out of gas, and when you do run out of gas you can switch it to reserve and there is a longer hose that goes down in to the gas tank that will now be drawing the fuel to the engine. this longer hose will suck up the last little bit of gas left in the gas tank, than meas get to the gas station asap if that ever happens

the reserve is not going to prime any thing. the prime setting is what you use to get the gas flowing back into the carb and as soon as you get the bike started make sure to put it back to the run or on setting.

i no longer ride a gz we were talking about my suzuki volusia, it DOES NOT have a adjustable pectock.

[zenbutcher]

ER - Yes, I'm afraid I worded that wrong. I simply meant that it was possible to prime the GZ; I mis-spoke when I said that you do that by setting the switch to "reserve".

[mrlmd1]

Danny - you're wrong about the 2 tubes for Run and Reserve- you got it backwards. Nothing is sucked out of the tank.
The GZ has a gravity-fed fuel system. The taller of the two tubes is for the Run position, the shorter one, closer to the bottom of the tank, is for Reserve. When you run of out fuel in the Run position, and you then switch to Reserve, you now can draw fuel out of the lower portion of the tank from the lower opening of the Reserve tube, another 0.8gal for another 50 miles or so (if you are lucky).
Both Run and Prime are vacuum operated, the valve is open to let fuel flow when the engine is running. Prime opens the valve so it can flow with gravity. Don't leave it on here for more than a minute or two or there will be fuel all over the floor from an overflowing carb.

[Water Warrior 2]

Danny - you're wrong about the 2 tubes for Run and Reserve- you got it backwards. Nothing is sucked out of the tank.
The GZ has a gravity-fed fuel system. The taller of the two tubes is for the Run position, the shorter one, closer to the bottom of the tank, is for Reserve. When you run of out fuel in the Run position, and you then switch to Reserve, you now can draw fuel out of the lower portion of the tank from the lower opening of the Reserve tube, another 0.8gal for another 50 miles or so (if you are lucky).
Both Run and Prime are vacuum operated, the valve is open to let fuel flow when the engine is running. Prime opens the valve so it can flow with gravity. Don't leave it on here for more than a minute or two or there will be fuel all over the floor from an overflowing carb.
Do you mean : Both Run and Reserve are vacuum operated. Prime is used before the engine is running and has vacuum.

[blaine]

Both run & prime need vacume to operate, prime does not need vacume to operate.your bike starts on fuel already in carb bowel,when running vacume opens valve I carb is empty use prime to fill as it don't need vacume.

[blaine]

Sorry,ment to say "run & res" On older bikes their was no vacume on petcocks. You had to shut gas off every time you shut bike off.

[Easy Rider]

Don't leave it on here for more than a minute or two or there will be fuel all over the floor from an overflowing carb.

You were doin' great.....up to here! :)

Unless there is a fault in the carb.....bad float or needle valve......leaving it on PRIme will not cause a fuel spill. It is not a good thing to do because it defeats the safety shut-off AND the reserve function but it should not cause any immediate problem.

[Easy Rider]

Do you mean : Both Run and Reserve are vacuum operated. Prime is used before the engine is running and has vacuum.

I think that is what he said, isn't it......well, maybe not exactly. :cool:

I think the terminology has Danny confused. It might be better to say: In the Run and Res. positions, there is a vacume shut-off that blocks the flow when the engine is not running.

The actual flow of the gas is not "vacume operated". :)

[blaine]

Easy-Rider,right on.you said it much better than I did.

[Easy Rider]

Easy-Rider,right on.you said it much better than I did.

My feeble old brain only had to work on that unconsciously for about 6 months before it all became clear!! :shocked: :crackup

[CMS]

Battery Tender, the only way to go. When I'm done riding I park the bike and plug in the battery tender[ Summer and Winter] The bikes have never failed to start due to battery problems. CMS :)

[Easy Rider]

Battery Tender, the only way to go. When I'm done riding I park the bike and plug in the battery tender[ Summer and Winter] The bikes have never failed to start due to battery problems. CMS :)

Ok, one more time..........
IF you do that long enough, you likely WILL live to regret it.

Doing that will "mask" a weak charging system or a failing battery and ENSURE that it starts every time when leaving your garage. It will THEN fail somewhere else.....and Mr. Murphy says it will happen at the worst time possible.

It happened to me TWICE long ago about 4 years apart before I wised up. Since then, I have had a few batteries go bad and it always shows up in the garage first thing in the morning when the starter turns slowly and it just BARELY starts. That's a sign to NOT ride it until I get a new battery. I stopped doing the daily connection thing about 25 years ago and since have NEVER had a battery fail away from home.