GS500F wont start

[meriGS500F]

Hi,
i have a 06 GS500F in excellent condition, took her for a ride last thursday no problems at all. Sunday was awesome weather so i got all geared up for a ride and the bike just wont start, it just gave this clicking noise, from what i read, i could have a bad battery, I live in Jersey City NJ, anyone know a good/cheap place i can take my bike and get it checked out?
how much would a new battery cost me anyways? i think these are zero maintenance batteries and die in abt 3 yrs. (I am assuming it is the battery hopefully its nothing bad...)
please help me out, this is my 1st bike and i have never been to a motorcycle mechanic for anythning.

[Paulcet]

I didn't think they put maintenance free batteries in the GS, but I could be wrong.  Yes, it does sound like it's the battery.  If you remove the battery, and take it in to any auto parts store, they can check the battery for you.

[meriGS500F]

thanks for the reply,
how easy is it go get this done by yourself, i called up a motorcycle palce and they said, they will charge me 160 for the daignostics just to find out whats wrong with it and then more to repair, sounds like a rip off to me,
please help me out on this one, this will be my 1st problem and i dont want to pay hundreds just for a battery change...

[jrains89]

make sure that the emergency shutoff switch isn't engaged, if it's engaged it won't start. take the battery to autozone or oreilly's they test batteries for free.

[gsf500RR]

Yes it's a ripoff. Maybe you are out of battery. It is really easy to remove the baterry (need to remove the seat, then remove on the battery FIRST the screw that is not recoveerd by a red thing, THEN remove the screw recovered with a red stuff) and recharge it with a charger that you can foud in any store (just make sure it work with bike, car charger are to powerfull) for at least 10 hours then put it back and see if then work. But on my bike when I'm out of battery it make a big sound: CLAC CLAC...

With my volmeter it take me 2 secondes to see if a batery is dead, 160 dollard for this is pretty easy money  


"make sure that the emergency shutoff switch isn't engaged" If this thing is on then when you try to start the bike it make no noise at all.

[meriGS500F]

thanks for the +ve replies, i will try to pull the battery out tommorrow

oh i did make sure that the kill engine switch is in the rit position, i tried with it in OFF position and it doesnt even make the cliking sound

btw,
i have a few more questions for the more experienced guys out there.
1.I have not been driving a lot how do i know if it time to replace the battery or its just due to less driving lately?
2.if i do need a battery which is the best place to get it and how much does it usually cost, same Q for the battery charger as well.
Thanks
A

[the mole]

You need to get your battery charged (probably worth buying a good quality small "smart" charger rather than pay someone to do it) and see if the problem happens again. If the battery looses charge in a day or two, its time to replace it. If it dies after a couple of  weeks of no use, you could put it on the charger while its stored, then it'll always be ready to go. A good "smart" charger will not overcharge the battery no matter how long it is connected. You can charge the battery in place without disconnecting it, just be careful you don't touch the frame with the positive lead.

[jeremy_nash]

I got my battery at advance auto, was around 50 bucks, but that was 2 years ago.  I got a digital smart battery charger from big lots for $15 it will stop sharging when the battery is full.  if you do get a new battery, you are supposed to put them on a 2 amp charger before using them.  make sure you do that

[glynnd89]

And just a nomenclature thing here.  We "ride" motorcycles, we don't "drive" them.  As told to me by many seasoned bikers.

[lamahug]

My battery went dead this past April.  It would no longer hold a charge. The battery was the original one, a Yuasa - 2004 GS500F, so it lasted 5 years.  I bought a new battery at the Suzuki dealer (another Yuasa) and paid $85.  It was fully charged, and had a manufacture date of 3/09, so I know that I got a 'fresh' battery.   The box that it came in said to charge it between 1-1.25 amps.  There was a strict warning that said something like 'Do not under any circumstances apply more than two amps current for extended periods of time!'  So, when you get your charger, make sure that it doesn't go over 2 amps, otherwise it could damage the battery.

Good luck on getting a new one.  Before I went to the Suzuki dealer I checked out Sears/Walmart/Autozone, but couldn't find the exact match...

   

[meriGS500F]

i plan to do this the coming tomorrow or this coming weekend, i will keep posting updates here.
btw regarding removing the battery, i dont see any screw other than the 2 that are just the +ve and -ve terminals for the battery, i tried to pick the battery up and its pretty loose there, i dont know if i am missing anything. one thing to not is that on the rit side i saw black stick which is holding on to the battery not sure how to remove that, dont see any screws etc on it.

finally i do agree on the nomenclature, i should i have typed Riding instead of driving, will try to be correct the next time i post;)

[meriGS500F]

wont be able to do it today, will shoot for it tomorrow,
btw, if anyone has pics/vdo on battery replacement pls share.

[gsf500RR]

i plan to do this the coming tomorrow or this coming weekend, i will keep posting updates here.
btw regarding removing the battery, i dont see any screw other than the 2 that are just the +ve and -ve terminals for the battery, i tried to pick the battery up and its pretty loose there, i dont know if i am missing anything. one thing to not is that on the rit side i saw black stick which is holding on to the battery not sure how to remove that, dont see any screws etc on it.

finally i do agree on the nomenclature, i should i have typed Riding instead of driving, will try to be correct the next time i post;)

Yes there are only 2 screws. Just  remove the black stick (pinch it and take it away) then you can take the bat away.

[Andy13186]

you make sure it wasnt in 1st with kickstand down? wont start with kickstand down and in 1st

[gsf500RR]

wouldn't have made any noise then.

[meriGS500F]

ok,
more updates, i manged to get a jump start and it started rit away phew what a relief, so its definetly the battery, i kept the bike running for 40 minutes and then took her for a ride for abt 45 mins, so the bike was running for 1.5hrs atleast, when i got back, i killed the engine and tried to restart and boom, same klicking noise, i thought, 1.5 hrs should have given it enough jiuce to atleast start it back once. not sure if i should charge it all nit and then try it, if that fails just replace the battery.
i called up local autozone and he said he didnt have the battery in stock but can order it and would cost arnd 80$ which i think is a good deal(i did not find out what brand the battery was)

[jrains89]

the battery will not charge if the bike is idling, rpm must be around 3k for it to charge, just sayin. and a shaZam! battery won't hold a charge.

[meriGS500F]

more updates
i got a battery from Autozone and it looks like some No Brand battery and comes with the battery fluid seperate, i would need to charge it before i can use it
do we get batteries that are just good to go , meaning i can just pick it up from the shop put it in and get going?? or i have to get battery and fluid seperately, charge it overnit and only then it is ready for use?

[bigfatcat]

more updates
i got a battery from Autozone and it looks like some No Brand battery and comes with the battery fluid seperate, i would need to charge it before i can use it
do we get batteries that are just good to go , meaning i can just pick it up from the shop put it in and get going?? or i have to get battery and fluid seperately, charge it overnit and only then it is ready for use?

I gave up on the 'cheap' batteries sold by Advance/Zone/Wally World etc and bought one of these:

http://www.batterystuff.com/batteries/motorcycle/sYT10L-A2.html

with a Battery Tender Plus, leave it on the tender all the time, no troubles starting due to flat battery .  The agm batteries are sealed you don't have to add acid.  And they say fully charged and ready to go out of the box - yeah maybe.

[jrains89]

i mean, i bought a $40 battery from walmart, that you add the acid, charge it. and it has always started perfectly, it's been a year now, acid level is still perfect. i dunno what the issue is with unsealed batteries