My bike has been a turd to start for the past week, although i don't ride as much as i'd like.

my battery dropped to 12.5v and lower recently, Is that too low to start? When riding it would only go upto 13.5-13.7, it cranks but wont fire. Pretty sure the battery i got wasn't the best quality.. But its only starting to play up now, if its the battery. It's around 2 years old, so not even that old.. But i've only done 2000kms (1242 Miles) on the bike in 2 years

* Last updated by: j0no on 6/12/2018 @ 6:23 AM *

I think so.

On these bikes if the battery has any weakness it won't start. And push starting won't work either. I found...or , rather, my son found that out the hard way. By pushing my fat ass around a parking lot for an hour.

Mad

I don't really keep an eye on this but 12.5 is low. It may even sound like it's cranking fast enough but won't start. 11V, not a chance. high 13.9 to 14 V is normal for a fully charged battery and the bike should bring it right about there. Your battery may be ready to quit on you if it's not fully charging. Also, if it's dropping a full volt over night that is a lot bigger drop than normal.

I remember starting a season with a low battery and it started after a lot of cranking and a couple backfires. After that, it started easily every time. It took about a week of daily riding before the battery came up to 13.9 V while riding the bike. After that it stayed pretty much at 13.9 ~ 14 while riding. It might go down to 13.5 after sitting a day. Charge the battery up to 100% and it should be close to 14 V. If not, there's a problem. If it drops all the way to 12.5 over night, there's a problem.

Are there a few accessories hooked directly to the battery? That will cause a constant low draw. Otherwise charging system or battery might have a problem. I don't hear about problems with the 14's charging system.

I'd wait and see if the battery perks up but if it's hard to start every day, I'd say just try a new battery immediately.

I do remember 11.9 was too low to start mine so I'm not surprised you're having trouble.

Are there a few accessories hooked directly to the battery?

Nothing, Completely standard except for Yoshi exhaust, Air filter.

I'm just going to put it down to nor riding much, Just got back from holiday and the bike sat for about 3 weeks. And being winter here in Australia, That's probably adding to it also?

On these bikes if the battery has any weakness it won't start. And push starting won't work either. I found...or , rather, my son found that out the hard way. By pushing my fat ass around a parking lot for an hour.

LOL definitely not pushing around this!! my driveway is too steep and i wont get it back up!!

* Last updated by: j0no on 6/12/2018 @ 8:49 AM *

Pretty sure the battery i got wasn't the best quality

This.

If it's one of those cheap fill yourself acid batteries, then 2 years is
about right.

Make sure to get at least get a AGM / GEL battery and would be a great time
to install a battery tender too!

Amazon - Battery Tender

* Last updated by: piken on 6/12/2018 @ 9:08 AM *

I'm just going to put it down to nor riding much, Just got back from holiday and the bike sat for about 3 weeks. And being winter here in Australia, That's probably adding to it also?

Three weeks is not a problem for a good battery. My Shorai sat for three months before I installed it and it still started right up. It may be starting to loose it's charge after sitting many days but I don't know if that's the battery or the things I have hooked up to the battery.

I believe the Shorai is 8 years old now. My stock battery only lasted 2 years. It was 9 lbs heavier than the Shorai too.

* Last updated by: Rook on 6/12/2018 @ 1:38 PM *

CONFIRMED: 12.5 is too low to start. I just tried mine which was reading 12.6 and it made a soft buzz from the tail but didn't even crank. It might have had I tried again but I figured why wear the motor cranking needlessly. I'll just charge it up.

The voltmeter was reading about 13.9 after I ran it at idle a week ago. It's that constant draw of my gauges hooked to the battery I'll bet. ...or maybe the Shorai is finally giving in.

It's that constant draw of my gauges hooked to the battery I'll bet.

While not on trickle charge, How long til your red light stops blinking on the dash? My 08 seems to stop after a couple of days.. Is that normal?

If it's one of those cheap fill yourself acid batteries, then 2 years is
about right.

Make sure to get at least get a AGM / GEL battery and would be a great time
to install a battery tender too!

Amazon - Battery Tender

Would something like this be alright also? http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/Projecta-Battery-Charger-12-Volt-900mA/292784?menuFrom=1021637

Not sure how long it'll take to get one from amazon to australia

My last battery was a Dynavolt MG14-BS-C With Nano-Gel technology apparently.. It cost me a whopping $70 AUD!! LOL

* Last updated by: j0no on 6/12/2018 @ 8:30 PM *

Amazon - Battery Tender

Would something like this be alright also? http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/Projecta-Battery-Charger-12-Volt-900mA/292784?menuFrom=1021637

I really like the "Battery Tender" model(s)

Been around and proven for many years.

Has a very universal pigtail adapter with several accessories that you can plug in.
A few off the top of my head.....

plugin Jumper leads, able to jump start without removing anything

adapters for male and female barrel connectors, good for various heated garments
and other barrel connector items.

USB adapter

USB adapter battery pack,

standard cigarette lighter adapter.

Install extra pigtails on all bikes and can move tender around.

But I'm sure about any model of battery tender will work fine.

Not sure how long it'll take to get one from amazon to australia

Less then 2 years!

It's that constant draw of my gauges hooked to the battery I'll bet.
While not on trickle charge, How long til your red light stops blinking on the dash? My 08 seems to stop after a couple of days.. Is that normal?

The bikes are in a storage unit. No electricity.

Red Light? Blinking? That might be Gen1 Euro spec. Where is this light located in relationship to the others? In the US, you should never see the one on the top left stay on or there's trouble. Mine comes on for a few seconds when I turn on the ignition then it goes out. Top right is oil pressure and that might stay on for a second or two right after an oil change (BTW, if you don't let every drop of oil run out of the filter port, that avoids the need for the oil pump to self prime and you don't have to start without oil pressure--screw the new one on as quick as you can).

Would something like this be alright also? http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/Projecta-Battery-Charger-12-Volt-900mA/292784?menuFrom=1021637

My Shorai requires a special Shorai charger to properly charge and maintain it. Might be why it's lasted so long. I use it. Normally I've had to take the battery home to maintain over winter in the ladt year because of the no power at the shed. PITA but what can a guy do?

Red Light? Blinking? That might be Gen1 Euro spec. Where is this light located in relationship to the others? In the US, you should never see the one on the top left stay on or there's trouble. Mine comes on for a few seconds when I turn on the ignition then it goes out

It's on the dashboard, I assume its the immobiliser, It doesn't blink when the bike is running or anything just while its sitting in my garage.

According to the manual its a 'warning light'? That flashes for 24 hours?
http://www.bluegauges.com/images/tachcolors/kawasaki/concours/08_concours.jpg

* Last updated by: j0no on 6/13/2018 @ 12:33 AM *

Ours is called a warning light too but I've never seen it flash and it shuts off within a couple seconds of turning the key on. The flashing after shutdown must be a Eurospec thing. It will help you find your bike at night.

Ours is called a warning light too but I've never seen it flash and it shuts off within a couple seconds of turning the key on. The flashing after shutdown must be a Eurospec thing. It will help you find your bike at night.

its the immobiliser

This.

I was wondering about blinky light too. It's part of the security system built into
the bike is a good guess. Special programmed key to start bike etc. We don't have in the US.

It's in the manual.

Australia, a lot of criminal kinds down there, it's in the DNA

* Last updated by: piken on 6/13/2018 @ 10:42 AM *

J0no, I just thought I'd let you know, I had the battery charged to 13.1 today and it still made the soft vibration noise (relay, perhaps) when I hit the starter. It's not every time. It's been a quirk on mine since new but it seems to be getting more frequent and sometimes louder. I better have a close look at that ASAP. I hit it again and it started right up.

Anyway, I thought I'd let you know. 12.5 V might be low but My bike probably isn't the best to exemplify normal starting. Don't go chasing any red herrings over what I said earlier. Maybe someone else knows for sure what voltage is too low to start.

Static:
1. 12.8v = Ideal sitter right after a full charge. The 13v or so on the instant you remove the charger off the post say, whereas the surface charge settles out at 12.8v next day. Starts instantly.

2. 12.5v = For watt it's worth, the motherboard's function works in a higher milliamp setting. Here is your hard starting/takes more turns of the engine spiking the alt to increase the output to the battery.

3.Volt/Reg = This is where the capacitor fills up a Threshold of voltage from the alt. There is a Trigger point that shows 14.6v at the dash, and the rest of the charge is Discharged to ground. The DTT Box I call it.

4. Alt = There is an AC output of say half of the output made is north or 16v and the other half of the sweep is 16v on the south end = 32 amp stator. So every half sweep of 360° you have 16v going up the wire to the v/r. The Threshold is met and over a volt is sent to ground.

5. 13v at the dash = Possible the battery is in need of a charge for the quick and dirty test. If it does not run 14.1v or so at idle with a fully charged battery we look at the stator.

6. 14.6v at the dash = This is running at speed... any speed. There is no v/r, nor stator, nor battery issue of the 3 basic parts making up the charging system.

So the weekend is here which means it’s time to ride.

I just put a new battery in which was recommended to me by the shop, it’s an SSB V-spec Vtc-14-bs high performance AGM battery with 295 CCA. I started my bike today on the second try and let it idle for about 20 minutes.

I’ll be riding tomorrow, how long should I ride for to make sure the battery gets sufficient charge/it’s fully charged. It read just over 13V when installed in the bike and went up to 14.1v I think. But o think the battery was probably sitting for a few months in store.

I don’t think a 20 minute idle was enough or would have been enough to put some charge back into the new battery.

was away for a bit more than a month...
bike at home with battery installed
when key on, screen display reading 12.2 volts
bike started at the first attempt, no hickups
screen display reads 14.4V with engine running

I don’t think a 20 minute idle was enough or would have been enough to put some charge back into the new battery.

I'd trust the voltmeter. If it's 13 or more when you key on the next day, I'd trust it. It's possible it will hold more of a charge after you run the bike a while mine seemed to do that. If it goes down to 12, I guess I'd be cautious about taking a long trip until you know for sure if the battery will hold enough of a charge to start.

It's a new battery.

So hopefully after 30-40 minutes riding at speed (100 kilometers an hour/60 miles an hour) the battery would be fully charged. I wont turn my bike off til i get home just encase lol.

Was hesitant to start cold this morning, but fired up after a few tries. Bike is idling in my driveway now and reads 13.7v-14.1v.

* Last updated by: j0no on 6/15/2018 @ 6:46 PM *

It appeared that just idling mine for 5 minutes brought it up to 14v but it was not very low to begin. I don't think it will stay at 14v for long if the bike is shut down.

Formula goes something like this:
12v = The size of the battery.
14a = The amp hours of the battery.
Letter = Polarity of the posts and at what corner combinations.
12n12a = One size battery.
12n14a = Another size battery.

For amp hour rating, move the decimal point over to the right for charge amp rating:
For example, 12n12a = Use a 1.2a battery rated charger and charge for literally 12 hours.
For a 12n14a = Use a 1.4a rated charger and literally charge the battery for 14 hours.

Here at Squid City Cycles, we hang our "Garage Schlongs" by their testicles for wearing down the engine hours charging a battery for 20 min vs. Hours of Formula.

Thanks :)

Looked at a few local shops, if buying locally heres my charger options. Can anyone tell me which is best/recommended? if they;re all pretty much the same i'll just get the cheapest one lol. otherwise i'll order that one from amazon probably.

https://www.jaycar.com.au/3-stage-6-12-battery-charger/p/MB3609

http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/Product/Projecta-Battery-Charger-12-Volt-900mA/292784?menuFrom=1021637

https://www.repco.com.au/en/brands/ctek/ctek-battery-charger-12v-0-8a/p/A9434525

* Last updated by: j0no on 6/16/2018 @ 12:54 AM *

I bought an inexpensive Schumaker and it worked just as well as my Battery tender Jr. I haven't used it in years I guess because I bought the Shorai charger for the 14. The BTJr is for my busa. I guess it is a little nicer because the power pack itself plugs right into the outlet instead of having a cord coming in from the outlet and out to the battery. The BTJr also has an inline fuse which is nice, I guess but it's never blown so I don't know how necessary it is. I'm sure the Schumaker is still laying in a box among my other stuff I haven't used in years. It was working just fine though.

https://www.fleetfarm.com/detail/schumacher-battery-companion-charger-maintainer/0000000038243?gclid=Cj0KCQjw6pLZBRCxARIsALaaY9Y2l2u4hcP2vdMiGhTQVJQ8niFNMwQaD7w_3d6SHAbuaTr1DIPiMvwaAiWHEALw_wcB