Left my taillight on...

[jonathan180iq]

Maybe I can catch up with you this time. Not into NASCAR though.

[alanmcorcoran]

Believe they wrapped up the regular earlier this season than any AL west evah... Poor, poor Yankees. Sniff. Feel so bad for them.

What were we talking about? Oh yeah, my goddamn taillight.

[jonathan180iq]

I don;t know what you guys are complaiing about with the taillight.

There is a little "P" with shiny light rays coming off of it to indicate the parking lights.

[alanmcorcoran]

Did I mention how old I am? I see a little tiny | that I have trouble fitting the key into. I know it's "on" when he lights are on, and off when the lights are off, and "locked" when you can't move the handle bar. There's writin' on there? Maybe I can feel it if I run my fingers over it.

How often have you used that "feature"? It seems the battery has the power of a half dead firefly and one doesn't dare even turn it to "on" unless one is planning to immediately start the engine. Running a light with the engine off just seems right out.

In any event, now that I know it's there, it's not a problem anymore.

[Magnar Infectus]

I never noticed it 'till this thread. I don't remember seeing it in the manual either. And when I check the PDF (just now) the page that shoud have it on it (page 14) is missing. Maybe it's a conspiracy between Suzuki and the battery makers for us to kill the batteries so we'll have to buy new ones?

[jonathan180iq]

The only time that I used that parking light feature was to take a photo on the side of the road one night, high up in the mountains where there were no other street lights.

[mrlmd1]

It's supposed to be a safety feature so that if you're stopped on the side of the road at night for a short while, someone might notice you instead of plowing into your rear.
Just take a quick glance at the rear of your bike when you walk away from it and look at the lights so you don't leave the key in the wrong position.

[primal]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

How often have you used that "feature"? It seems the battery has the power of a half dead firefly and one doesn't dare even turn it to "on" unless one is planning to immediately start the engine. Running a light with the engine off just seems right out.

In any event, now that I know it's there, it's not a problem anymore.

To be fair, leaving the parking lights on is NOTHING compared to the power-sucking headlight. I left the bike on for about an hour when I cleaned my chain for the first time and had to charge the battery with a charging unit. In comparison, I accidentally left the parking lights on for about 6 hours one day before I realized what I had done. Put the key in and it started right up. I make sure to double check whenever I park my bike now.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by primal

To be fair, leaving the parking lights on is NOTHING compared to the power-sucking headlight.

You got that right, for sure. I ran mine down testing/installing turn signal buzzers. Ended up having to get a new one.

[Jenny]

Originally Posted by primal

I've done that a few times (though not overnight). I really hate the parking lights... I wish they would have designed the ignition to not allow you to remove the key when the parking lights are on...

I wouldn't think that discharging it once would do much immediate damage.

I have no idea of the truth of this, but I've been told that the reason for that parking light option is that the a law in the state of California requires the parking lights be left on in certain situations.