So I have a 04 GS500F, about 5000 miles.  I went for a ride Saturday for about 25 minutes, everything was fine, although I did notice that the engine started a little "funny" on that trip.

Fast forward to this morning, and I can't get the bike started.  All the lights, headlights were on when the key is in the "on" position, but when I press the start button, it just makes a very "weak" cranking noise.  My question is:

- could it be the battery? I just rode for 30min on Saturday though, wouldn't that be fully charged?  Plus the headlights were on and as bright as usual.....if it is the battery, can it be solved by simply taking it out and putting it on a charger myself?  What charger should I get?

- if it is anything else, I will probably take it into the shop.  I know most people encourage working on your own bike and I whole heartedly agree.  But I work 12 hour days, park my bike on the sidewalk and dun really have space to work on the bike, and I am completely not mechanically inclined(as evident of my post).  If I do have to take it in the shop, are there specific tow companies for bikes? (such a n00b question)

Sounds like a battery issue. It probably wouldn't fully charge on that short of a ride, I believe that in order for the battery to really charge you have to be running around 5000 or 6000 rpms. Try putting it on a charger for a few hours. Any (12v) charger should work, I believe they have a decent motorcycle battery tender at wal mart fairly cheap. If you do have to take it to a shop I suggest getting a friend, neighbor, family member with a pick up truck, a lot easier and cheaper than a tow bill, may want to save some money for the shop because that probably won't be cheap. Good luck and be sure to let us know how things progress.

I had the same issue recently....and it was definitely the battery.  Purchased a tender at Wal-Mart as mentioned above worked like a charm!

DLW

im going to have to agree with everyone else and say its the battery.  Even though the battery is low your lights can still come on.  There are two quick ways to test this to make sure though.
1 put som jumper cables on it and if it starts right up then its the battery problem...if not then its something more.
2. if you dont have cables you can try to bump/push start it.  Even with a low battery you can still get it started.

cool, i'll go get a battery charger, any specific brand recommendations?

The one I picked up at Wal-Mart was a Schumacher brand.  1.5 Amp.  Came with clamps plus a lead that I can perm mount on the battery so I don't have to remove it to charge.  It was less than $20.  It also just charged up my brand new battery.  Turns out my old one had a busted possitve battery terminal.

DLW
Newbie '92 GS Rider

I had this happen recently. For me, it turned out that somehow the 2 wires coming out from under the clutch lever got disconnected. Must have snagged them on something.  I also drained my battery the first day I got my bike because at the time it wouldn't start without the choke being on. So of course I tried to start it until the battery was dead. I gave my bike a jump from my car and went for a long ride to get some juice back to the battery.


If you do this BE SURE THE CAR IS OFF when you jump your bike. You could fry your bike electrics.

ok...more n00b questions, do I need to get a specific motorcycle battery charger or any old car battery charger will do?

Hi Richy,
That's NOT a stupid question actually.
You should NOT use a big powerful car battery charger because it will overcharge your battery and shorten its life.
What you should use is a charger that charges at no more than 10% of your battery's voltage and amperage rating, which in this case is 12 volts and 12 amps.
Therefore you should use a charger that puts out no more than 1.2 amps or volts to properly charge the battery. Typically this would mean you should get a motorcycle-specific charger that can charge at this low rate. Car chargers typically charge at much higher rates, such as 4 or 5 amps. They will fry your battery.
Some car chargers allow you to reduce the charging rate with a switch, but be sure it is a good quality unit.
A Battery Tender is great for keeping a battery on a constant trickle charge, but it will NOT work as a battery charger to give it an initial charge when the battery is dead.

Good luck,
Todd

Quote from: DLW on August 22, 2007, 07:15:46 AM
The one I picked up at Wal-Mart was a Schumacher brand.  1.5 Amp.  Came with clamps plus a lead that I can perm mount on the battery so I don't have to remove it to charge.  It was less than $20.  It also just charged up my brand new battery.  Turns out my old one had a busted possitve battery terminal.

DLW
Newbie '92 GS Rider

What he got from wal mart.  Or if you have a motorcycle shop near you.  Get a battery tender

http://www.cyclegear.com/spgm.cfm?L1=&L2=&L3=&L4=&item=TUC_21-2100&tier2=38

 Thats just one style available.

Nope....this is the one I got....maybe my price was wrong.....but it wasn't too expensive....

http://www.amazon.com/Schumacher-SEM-1562A-Charge-Battery-Companion/dp/B0009IBJAS

DLW

ok so I bought a battery tender from the local shop, brought it home and hooked it up to the battery.

But the minute I plugged it in, the solid green light came on indicating its already fully charged??

owells I'll give it a few hours to charge and see if that fixes the problem

Yup!!! it was the battery

charged it up over night, filled it up with distilled water (one of the cells was low), put it in this morning, and it started up like nothing was ever wrong.

I did notice the tach meter being a little funny during the first 3 minutes of my ride tho....

Thanks everyone! now I can add batteries to the list of "things I can do myself to my bike" to a grand total of 1 !!!!!!

Quote from: RichyT415 on August 23, 2007, 05:54:52 AM
Yup!!! it was the battery

charged it up over night, filled it up with distilled water (one of the cells was low), put it in this morning, and it started up like nothing was ever wrong.

I did notice the tach meter being a little funny during the first 3 minutes of my ride tho....

Thanks everyone! now I can add batteries to the list of "things I can do myself to my bike" to a grand total of 1 !!!!!!

Riding counts. so that means you are at 2