Okay, NOW I'm PISSED!

[RadioHowie]

Monday morning addendum.....

Was outside the office, having a smoke, when the station's ChIef Engineer drives up....Jeff.

Now Jeff is a 1st Class Wire Wizard (as we call them "in the biz") and has all the wonderful toys. So I grab him, his clamp-on ampprobe and top-quality DVM and do a quick battery and charging check.

He probes the battery...13.4 volts. I turn the key on, voltage starts dropping...12.8v - 12.7v - 12.6v - 12.5v - 12.4v - 12.3v - 12.2v - 12.1v - etc.

"You've got a bad battery" Jeff opines.

I crank up the bike and voltage drops to 9.3. Starter pulls 58 amps. Bike starts and voltage jumps right up to 14.0. Rev it up to 4k, 14.4v.

"You've got a bad battery" Jeff repeats. I add "but it's only 10 years, 9 months and 85 thousand miles old!" He laughs so hard he snorts like a pig. "You cheap bastard," he adds, "get off your wallet you cheap sonofabitch and buy a new battery. You've got your money's worth out of this one!"

Needless to say, I'm gonna get a new one. A Yuasa from Amazon.

Have to admit, though, it was REAL gratifying to see 14.4 volts at 4,000 rpm. I'd MUCH rather buy a new battery than a new stator! Also nice to see nice, low cuxrrent draw on the starter.

SUPERIOR GEN I RULZ!!

 

[Old Michael]

Needless to say, I'm gonna get a new one. A Yuasa from Amazon.

Not gonna wait for a sale?

 

[RadioHowie]

OM, funny you say that....

I'm checking around various websites for "best" prices, and dayum, they're all OVER the place...from $60 to nearly $200! And for the same model # Yuasa, as in YT14B-BS.

Anyone know what the hell is the difference in the price variants???

 

[Bustanut joker]

Yep! Most have gotten word yer a jackass.

Hence the higher pricing. 64 cents at home depot and you can be just like Odot.

 

[Spud]

OM, funny you say that....
I'm checking around various websites for "best" prices, and dayum, they're all OVER the place...from $60 to nearly $200! And for the same model # Yuasa, as in YT14B-BS.

Anyone know what the hell is the difference in the price variants???

When I got my new Yuasa last year I noticed a lot of places that were cheap would come up in the search, but they weren't really Yuasa, or made up for it with a big shipping cost. The best I could find on the real deal was about $100. And yes, it's definitely the replacement choice. Loved knowing my new battery was out there in the bike last week when it was parked overnight in sub-freezing weather 500 miles from home--fired right up.

 

[HotRodZilla]

Monday morning addendum.....
Was outside the office, having a smoke, when the station's ChIef Engineer drives up....Jeff.

Now Jeff is a 1st Class Wire Wizard (as we call them "in the biz") and has all the wonderful toys. So I grab him, his clamp-on ampprobe and top-quality DVM and do a quick battery and charging check.

He probes the battery...13.4 volts. I turn the key on, voltage starts dropping...12.8v - 12.7v - 12.6v - 12.5v - 12.4v - 12.3v - 12.2v - 12.1v - etc.

"You've got a bad battery" Jeff opines.

I crank up the bike and voltage drops to 9.3. Starter pulls 58 amps. Bike starts and voltage jumps right up to 14.0. Rev it up to 4k, 14.4v.

"You've got a bad battery" Jeff repeats. I add "but it's only 10 years, 9 months and 85 thousand miles old!" He laughs so hard he snorts like a pig. "You cheap bastard," he adds, "get off your wallet you cheap sonofabitch and buy a new battery. You've got your money's worth out of this one!"

Needless to say, I'm gonna get a new one. A Yuasa from Amazon.

Have to admit, though, it was REAL gratifying to see 14.4 volts at 4,000 rpm. I'd MUCH rather buy a new battery than a new stator! Also nice to see nice, low cuxrrent draw on the starter.

SUPERIOR GEN I RULZ!!

Jeebus...You're dumber than Bust looks. THE BATTERY IS 10 YEARS OLD. IT IS TIME TO REPLACE IT. Turd.

 

[stevec677]

So, what are you going to do with the old battery? I'm sure it has some value left in it. I'll start my bid at $3.00 (you cover shipping).

 

[majicmaker]

Howie, I'm not an "I told you so guy". But........ )

It's 10 freakin' years old for Christ's Sake! )

 

[rushes]

Walmart has motorcycle batteries....

 

[yamafitter]

Monday morning addendum.....
... Have to admit, though, it was REAL gratifying to see 14.4 volts at 4,000 rpm. I'd MUCH rather buy a new battery than a new stator! Also nice to see nice, low cuxrrent draw on the starter.

SUPERIOR GEN I RULZ!!

I didn't think electricity even existed when those antique Gen I's were built. I learned something new today.

By the way, Carver wants to know if the points were pitted.

 

[airboss]

No need to buy Howie. You can do DIY at home.

https://www.ehow.com/how_4865930_build-homemade-battery.html

 

[gixxerjasen]

Walmart has motorcycle batteries....

Last I checked, they did not offer a replacement for the FJR, or I'd have had it. Sure you could make something else work, but still, the one on amazon was pretty cheap when I got mine.

 

[rushes]

Walmart has motorcycle batteries....

Last I checked, they did not offer a replacement for the FJR, or I'd have had it. Sure you could make something else work, but still, the one on amazon was pretty cheap when I got mine.

I was joking.

I've not had much luck with them.

I bought one for the FJR a while back and another for the KLR this past weekend from Bike Effects.

 

[beemerdons]

Howie, I'm not an "I told you so guy". But........ )
It's 10 freakin' years old for Christ's Sake! )

Vic, you want to know how damn cheap that Bastard RadioHowie is: RH will fart on a rock to save the grease and he uses both sides of the toilet paper! JSNS!

 

[dcarver]

...soo, the Howie, did you file the points down to fix the battery problem?

 

[beemerdons]

Monday morning addendum.....
SUPERIOR GEN I RULZ!!

Jeebus...You're dumber than Bust looks. THE BATTERY IS 10 YEARS OLD. IT IS TIME TO REPLACE IT. You Giant Turd!

Fixed!

 

[kaitsdad]

...soo, the Howie, did you file the points down to fix the battery problem?

I'm thinking he needs to replace the distributor rotor.

 

[blassoff]

That's probably pitted too. What you need is some emery cloth, that'll clean the rotor right up (points too), check the gap and you're good to go. Did you replace the condenser yet? That'd be important to check.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Walmart has motorcycle batteries....

Last I checked, they did not offer a replacement for the FJR, or I'd have had it. Sure you could make something else work, but still, the one on amazon was pretty cheap when I got mine.

I was joking.I've not had much luck with them.

I bought one for the FJR a while back and another for the KLR this past weekend from Bike Effects.

I wasn't! I checked.

 

[dcarver]

Well, 'Owie, what did u do?