![]() 09/08/2020 at 23:50 • Filed to: #twowheelsgood | ![]() | ![]() |
Went to ride the WR250R today for the first time in close to two months, wheeled it out of the enclosed porch, turned key, lights came on, instrument cluster lit up. Turned kill switch to run. Finally, pushed the starter button and everything instantly went dead.
Oof.
Wheeled her back into the porch and pulled the battery out, took it to my workbench and tested. 13.1 volts, my DMM said. I even checked with a second DMM. Suspecting something was fishy, I scrounged around for some wire and cut some off a dead ATX power supply I had waiting for a scrap run. Found an old 250GB hard drive and hooked it up to the battery to provide a load. Bingo, instant voltage drop down to 3 volts, and after a few seconds it rose up to 6.8 volts. Still, battery is RIP.
Managed to find a Duralast replacement
GSX5L battery at a nearby Autozone (at a massively inflated price compared to an X5L size battery on Amazon, but at least it has a 3 month warranty)
, hooked it to a charger for an hour to top it off, and all is well again. Just got back from doing a gingerly
night ride on the WR and the KLR650, about 45 minutes on each. Did about 15
minutes of practice on each one doing low speed maneuvering, figure-8s and slaloms. Cycle skill
s are perishable, use em or lose em!
![]() 09/09/2020 at 00:34 |
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I would have tried
for the bump start just to ride and then grab a fresh one after, heh.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
Always on butterflies after wheeling
out after the months in
winter storage.
![]() 09/09/2020 at 01:08 |
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Bump start would not have worked, as the battery was so dead after the initial start attempt that the fuel injection ECU would not initialize and signal for spark (coil on plug) or fire the injectors even when the engine is turning over.
Now if it happened to the KLR, I would most assuredly have done that as it’s still old school carbureted.
![]() 09/09/2020 at 01:15 |
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Oof, b last this newfangled FI!
Kidding, I like that my bike isn’t finicky in the cold, the fueling is always near perfect, and I don’t need to play with a choke.
![]() 09/09/2020 at 09:02 |
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having a battery tender causes me to feel that if i just rode more, i wouldn’t need it. MC batteries don’t do well without being used, and even then don’t have a long lifespan.
![]() 09/09/2020 at 10:17 |
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What annoys me, is that this battery was religiously hooked to a tender. Still died.
![]() 09/09/2020 at 11:37 |
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I had a NAPA MC that barely made it a year.