Broke down again :(

[MikeyC]

I broke down. Rode the bike to the petrol station, filled up, everything was ok. I went to start the bike. Nothing.

Battery died!

Waited bout 20 mins for RAC, they gave it a quick charge, but said to sort it asap. Checked alternator, said it was fine. Had to come straight to work, theres nowhere around here that sells bike batteries.

There's a halfords up the road, whats the chances on them selling them? If so, how much?

[Suzuki]

Chances are good.

Expect to pay about £35, or £55 ish for a top of the range one.

Get yourself an Optimate III too.
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<Simple> no I'm shaven Jon
<Simple> it is a big enough hole.. I'll leave it now
Ride: 1999 Suzuki GSXR600 (yellow/black) IRC: Stats - Relationship Map

[LustyLew]

Chances of them stocking them are slim to none. Chances of them being able to order them are better. They have started to get into bike parts recently.

Not sure on delivery times or prices though.
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Like a Yorkie - I'm not for the girls

[MikeyC]

I'll take a walk up at lunch, got nothing to lose! Are they easy enough to fit?

The main question going round in my head is whats caused the battery to die?

[Suzuki]

Might just be old age. How old is it?

Also, battery life is largely dependant on the use of your bike. Lots of small journeys will knacker the battery a lot faster than using the bike once a week to do a 200mile trip.

If you have the tools (and you will if you've got the standard Suzuki toolkit under the back seat) it'll take you about 5 minutes to fit.

Remove the rider's seat (squidge back the back corners of it to get at the bolts), and you'll see the battery underneath.

Undo the bolts holding the battery connectors on, and undo the rubber clip. Battery slides out.
____________________
<Simple> no I'm shaven Jon
<Simple> it is a big enough hole.. I'll leave it now
Ride: 1999 Suzuki GSXR600 (yellow/black) IRC: Stats - Relationship Map

[Annabella]

[MikeyC]

Sounds like an easy job, nice one!

Call me naive, but whats an optimate III?

[Suzuki]

The best affordable battery charger around.

https://www.accumate.co.uk/it010003.html
____________________
<Simple> no I'm shaven Jon
<Simple> it is a big enough hole.. I'll leave it now
Ride: 1999 Suzuki GSXR600 (yellow/black) IRC: Stats - Relationship Map

[numark1]

[MikeyC]

Thanks peoples!

[Kickstart]

Hi

Seems to depend on the particular branch of Halfords. Hopefully your local one is OK, and hopefully a GSXR battery is common enough for them to keep in stock.

Should be easy to fit. Just undo the earth cable first (this way if your screw driver slips while undoing it you will only connect the earth to the frame, and once that is out of the way you are not going to get sparks should the screw driver slip and connect the +ve terminal to the frame).

How old is the battery?

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[MikeyC]

I'm pretty convinced a new battery was put in last year when I had my big service

[Kickstart]

Hi

Has the battery been allowed to go flat? That tends to kill them pretty rapidly.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[MikeyC]

Not from memory, no... on the odd occasion I turn the ignition on and leave it for less than a minute before firing it up, but thats all? I'm just hoping Halfords have one in, don't wanna call out the RAC again tonight with the same problem as this morning

[doggone]

They are easy to fit but be careful not to short across teh terminals or to any metal earth point on the bike.
Disconnect the neg/earth first on the old one, reconnect negative terminal last on teh new one.
This minimises the chance of arcing through your spanner.

[MikeyC]

Thanks for the advice.

Went to halfords, they don't stock any bike batteries. However, went to start the bike, it started on the button. I'm confused? Thought it'd be dead?

[Type_Mo]

Just consider yourself luckily

Take it for a niice long spin when you get a change to give the battery a charge.
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- Typhoon ?0 - Yamaha DT125R - Aprilia SR125 - Yamaha DT125R - Honda Hornet 600 -

[LustyLew]

If it's been given a jump start then you've ridden it tow work, it may have charged up a little.

My car has a short somewhere and drains the battery if left connected for more than 24 hours. My current trick is to disconnect the positive terminal while Im not using it. Saves me having to jump start every time.
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Like a Yorkie - I'm not for the girls

[numark1]

Sometimes they recharge themselves a tiny amount so it will start. I think your battery is probably a Y9-8BS (something like that) should be quite a common battery.