francois_payen Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 So...for one of the first times this season, the weather was actually nice here yesterday and I decided to go for a ride to cheer myself up (because I just joined the club of the legally separated Saturday). Somehow, the right hand side factory bag was not properly latched/secured to the luggage rack and fell off. It took me several hundred meters to realize it. I turned around, located my bag, pulled over and stopped my bike. After assessing the damage (badly scuffed and chipped - full paint job required) I put it back on the rack and make sure it is secure. At this point I'm already bummed out. Then I try to restart my bike to get going - nothing. My battery died right there and then. Waited an hour for a tow truck to show up and jump start the bike, then headed back home (total distance covered on my bike that day: 2.4 km). I'm done venting. Sorry. I guess my question is: What do you guys recommend as a replacement battery for a 6th gen? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Ryanme17 Posted May 14, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted May 14, 2012 I've had good luck with the Yuasa battery that is for the ST1300. It is a bit smaller, and has more cranking amps. Others have had good luck with other battery brands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer jeremy77 Posted May 14, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted May 14, 2012 Every motorcycle I've had I've used a trickle charger on the battery whenever it was parked. You can pick them up pretty cheap from an auto parts store or WalMart. It seems to help the battery last and prevent those surprises from when you've used up the last remaining charge to get it started and then haven't driven far enough for the charging system to do any good. So sorry to hear of your separation. My wife and I were separated about 2 years ago. It was rough. Our church sent us to a workshop that made a huge difference. We had been married for 11 years at that time and felt like we didn't really have the tools to make a marriage work. The workshop helped a bunch for both of us. I'm not sure of your situation but since it sounds like you're pretty bummed out, I'm guessing your wife was the one who wanted to go. My wife was the departing party in our situation (I was certainly not a victim). Hopefully she's willing to work on things with you. If you're interested the website for the workshop is http://www.savemymarriage.com/ ... don't worry... it's not too churchy if that's not your thing. PM me if I can be of any help or if you just need to vent some more. Sucks about dropping the bag and getting stranded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer dawson Posted May 14, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted May 14, 2012 If you're looking for someone in Halifax to redo your bags, there's a local guy who does a lot of work on bike fairings. Mainly race bikes, but some street stuff too. He's done some stuff for me and it's all turned out well. If you shoot me a PM I can pass his contact info on to you. Not sure how he'd feel about me putting his phone number up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baileyrock Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Sorry dude, hope things pick up for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viffer88 Posted May 14, 2012 Share Posted May 14, 2012 Battery issue is easy enough to fix. My mobile "paintless" dent removal guy has full paint matching, waterbased, eco-friendly paint trailer. He painted my top case for $100. As for your marriage, I highly recommend A Weekend to Remember put together by Family Life. It's a Christian based approach, and therefore is very "churchy". My wife and I went there within the first year of our marriage and didn't find it very useful since we were still in the honeymoon period. 3 kids and 13 years later, we went back and found it to be extremely relevant and helpful. http://www.familylife.com/events/featured-events/weekend-to-remember Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 i think you may be talking about Mike Gieslinger, of Slinger Cycles in Dartmouth. He is good, and reasonably priced, but very busy. He has painted two of my race bikes in the past with outstanding results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Marriage, bag damages, battery dies. That's three, you're good to go now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Polarbear Posted May 15, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted May 15, 2012 Sorry about your mishaps François. God knows that life can be challenging sometimes. Like other said, battery issue is easy to fix. The saddle bag, well, it's only plastic --but I was pretty p!ssed too last summer after I dropped my bike while leaving from a restaurant, forgot the disk lock... doh! and it can be fixed. As for your relationship, sorry, I'm not the one you wanna take advice from. But I'm sure things will get better. You're alive, right? Good luck man, and ride as much as you need to, it definitely is good for cheering up someone. Works for me anyway. Heck, ride to the west coast? Gotta a crashing couch for you. C PS Isn't the VFR a chick magnet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OkieMatt Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 The other day, I was performing a fender-ectomy on the bike (I really like the results BTW) and I turned the key to make sure I got the brake/license/turn signals all hooked back up right. I probably had the key on for a little longer than necessary - but maybe only 5 mins or so. Later, went to start the bike and the battery was dead as a doornail. First thing I did was go out and buy a battery tender. That solved the problem. Sorry to hear about the relationship. My wife and I were seperated for a year a few years ago. We're together again and stronger than ever, but both of us had to make some changes to make it work. For us, that was the right answer. There were some days; however, when I was pretty sure the whole deal was over and was glad for it. One great thing that came out of it: she HATES bikes, so I took that opportunity to invite one into the garage. That sweet little SV650 saved my sanity, and I've had at least one bike every since. She still doesn't like it, but it was "grandfathered" in when she moved back in. May you also find the silver lining of the cloud, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted May 15, 2012 Share Posted May 15, 2012 Good luck with the bike, and everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
francois_payen Posted May 15, 2012 Author Share Posted May 15, 2012 Thanks for all the replies, guys. The battery is indeed an easy fix, and I must admit I had it coming. I've been putting off replacing it for too long (it looks like the original battery, and it's a 10-year old bike). I've always used a trickle charger and the battery showed no real sign of weakness...until Sunday. I'm going to check local bike shops for a Yuasa battery or equivalent. I'll also check Canadian Tire, maybe they have bike batteries that could match (had good results with their store-brand batteries in my other vehicles, and their warranties are usually very good). As for the bag, I might turn this into a project and repaint the whole bike. Last November, some crazy strong winds knocked my bike off the centerstand and the front cowl has some small cracks near the right-hand side signal: I want to repair them soonest otherwise they'll grow wider from the vibrations. The side panels have some minor road scars as well. I might decide to take it off the road for the season, take it apart, buff everything, fix the cracks and nicks, and repaint the whole bike a different colour. I really like the pearl white of the more recent models. I'm thinking pearl white, with red decals (to match the red piping of the Sargent seat). If you have any suggestions/warnings/words of wisdom regarding repainting a bike different colour, all input is welcome. And just in case he's reading: No, Tim, I'm not interested in flat black. And regarding the "other" issue, thanks for all your kind words. The least I can say is that it's been a shitty year, and I've been subjected to a lot of stress from a lot of different directions. I don't mean to bore you all with my life story, but, in short, I'm leaving my job in a couple weeks to head back to school in an effort to turn my life around and do something I might actually enjoy for a living. Even though this is a planned event, it is still stressful to know that the paychecks will soon stop coming in after 9 years with the same employer. Also, the education system of the province where I'm registered to take the course is currently at a standstill (student protests against proposed tuition fee hikes) and I don't know when that's going to end, how it's going to affect the fall semester and what kind of climate I'd be going into...All this coupled with our numerous relationship issues, amongst which is our "geographical disagreement" (I want to move to Montreal for better employment opportunities, cheaper cost of living and overall better quality of life, she looks like she wants to stay here forever and just bought a huge house), the sale of my house (I have to leave in 5 weeks and I don't have a place to move to yet, and I haven't packed either - this kind of improvisation is not like me at all and honestly I'm starting to freak out), etc. So the small bike misadventure of last Sunday was the poverbial straw that broke the camel's back... Anyways, thanks again. PolarBear: I take good note of the invitation and might take you up on it. Probably won't be this year, but sometime in the near future. I love the west coast and it's been way too long since my last (and also first) cross-continent trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vanion2 Posted May 15, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted May 15, 2012 And with all that being said you can only go up from here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Polarbear Posted May 15, 2012 Member Contributer Share Posted May 15, 2012 Hey François, Boy, you have had a tough year man! As for the education system in Québec, I understand your frustration. I'm sure a lot of students are also frustrated becasue they don't know when they'll be able to start their summer jobs on top of maybe having to go back in August to finish up the spring semester before they start the new one. It may be at a stand still, but I believe universities will have an easier time than colleges to start things over when the strike is over. Not sure where you're going, but things will work out. As for packing up the house, time for a beer and pizza party with friends? I'm sure some of them will want to help out and anyone can pack clothes, dishes and such. Not sure what the bike means to you, but if riding is therapeutic, are you sure you want to tkae it off the road this summer, when you may need it the most? Just saying man, you know what's best for you. Reminds me that I should do that too, get her all fixed up and repainted. But then I won't have time to ride, and THAT would be a shame now that summer is here. The offer stands --as long as you can live amongst the controlled chaos of a larger family (3 young kids...). Good luck and keep at it man! It'll get better. C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
francois_payen Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 Hey it's been a while but...I'm back! I just graduated from school 2 weeks ago and landed a good job in my new trade (electronics engineering tech), so now I can finally afford to take my beloved '02 out of storage and get her running again...yay! To be honest, with everything else I had going on lately, motorcycles were not on the top on my list until one of my friends called me last week. He had registered for some demo rides at the local BMW dealer but couldn't make it anymore, so he offered to give me his spots. I accepted but I was a little apprehensive: after all I hadn't sat on a bike in 3 years...but it's true when they say you never forget how to ride. I was hooked after the first few gear shifts...and now I NEED to have my bike back. I tried the F800GS and the R1200GS (realized boxer twins weren't my thing), but the most fun I had that day was on the F800R. As for my VFR, I'm getting a few parts tomorrow, then dropping her off at the local dealer for some maintenance and a thorough inspection hopefully this week or next. She should be all good to go and street-legal between now and July. Looking forward to planning my next trip...I miss that feeling so much. As for the other issue, I'm now fully divorced and feel great about it (no sarcasm here). Excuse my language but...I thank the universe almost every morning that I'm not with this b***h anymore! In retrospect, I now fully realize the extent to which she mastered the art of manipulation and how much I've been a fool. I deserve better, and my life is already SO much better now that she's totally out of the picture. See you guys around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted June 16, 2015 Member Contributer Share Posted June 16, 2015 Welcome back Francois! Dunno if it is offered in Canada, but what you could do is book (half) a day with a mc instructor to follow you for a while, give pointers as to where you are rusty and practice those with him. U turns, high speed braking, evasive manouvres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
francois_payen Posted June 16, 2015 Author Share Posted June 16, 2015 Thanks Dutchy! Not a bad idea (and feasible here too). I was considering either that or renting a small "standard" 500cc bike for a weekend just to ease back into it. The half day with an instructor could be a cheaper option, though...I'll look into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 Thanks for reviving the old thread Francois. It's good to her some crappy situations are resolved and things are looking up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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