tiki01 Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Hello all, I was hoping for some advice from the collective here... I have a 4th gen vfr that I bought last summer. For the winter, my bike is covered and in my building's garage...full tank of gas with sea foam. I go down there and run it every three weeks since I thought I needed to do so in order to keep it running ok. With full choke, it usually takes three or four turns to start...then I get the revs up before it dies. I do some circles in the parking garage for a few minutes before putting the bike back. It's been cold the last few days and I went down to start the bike up. This time, it tried to turn over but couldn't. I noticed after 6 times, the battery was getting weaker so I stopped before I killed it. I shouldnt have kept trying but it always turned over in the past so I couldn't help myself. I just came back upstairs and I have a bunch of questions... What do I do now? LOL I feel like an idiot. Should I just leave the bike under cover until spring? Was it even necessary for me to run it every few weeks or would it have been fine come spring time if I left it alone? I dont want to have to call the local shop to pick up the bike if I can avoid it but the battery may not have enough juice anyway, so I wonder the best way to proceed. I dont want to waste the last of the battery on a hopeless attempt. I am just learning about bikes in general so I don't think I can run any complicated tests on the bike myself to diagnose what is wrong but I would like to hear any advice. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer YoshiHNS Posted February 19, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 19, 2013 Sounds like your battery might just be getting weak. Riding around for a few minutes might not be enough to get it back to full juice. Put it on a charger and try it again. Also, try not using full choke and see if it starts up any easier. In addition, put a little seafoam in the tank and start the bike up every two weeks. I found that three weeks is just a bit too long to let fuel sit in the carbs. Even better yet, drain the carbs and don't worry about them clogging! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Remove the battery, take it inside and charge it. You should have already changed the oil before fall, and added fuel stabilizer to the tank, then run it until the carbs have stabilizer in them, right? Starting the bike periodically in the winter is not necessary, and can possibly be detrimental, if the engine coolant/oil/exhaust systems are not FULLY brought up to normal operating temp. Draining the carbs like Yoshi said is also a good idea, and the fuel stabilizer is a double good idea on top of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Polarbear Posted February 19, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 19, 2013 Sorry, cannot help regarding the bike other than what other people said-take battery inside, charge it and try again; after, leave plugged on trickle charger if you can. Veefer800canuck, why would it be detrimental if not brought up to operating temperature?? C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veefer800Canuck Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Sorry, cannot help regarding the bike other than what other people said-take battery inside, charge it and try again; after, leave plugged on trickle charger if you can. Veefer800canuck, why would it be detrimental if not brought up to operating temperature?? C Condensation in the oil/crankcase and inside the exhaust system. Unless the engine is right up to temp, long enough to drive off the condensation, it will remain in the oil. I can really tell with my bike, since I have the clear clutch window. After starting, there is condensation in the window, until the bike has run about 20 min + at normal temp. And yes, my thermostat is working correctly. If one is worried about rings and valves getting rusty, you can take out the air filter, open the throttles wide, and squirt a tablespoon of oil down into each intake tract, then crank the engine over several times without starting it. That will coat the innards and keep them nice and oily until spring. Use 2-stroke oil because it burns off more readily than motor oil. Less deposits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer Dutchy Posted February 19, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 19, 2013 I woke up my 4th gen after 4 months in an unheated shed. Had an Optimate charger hooked up. Full choke (she liked that since 1997) and after 7 tries she fired up. From what you desribed, all you did was drain the battery. All other thoughts are in the posts above. No worries, easy fix. Live and learn. AND RIDE THAT NACA, THEY ARE THE BEST!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer vfr Posted February 19, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 19, 2013 Two words: Battery Tender Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer BCmcrider Posted February 19, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 19, 2013 Two words: Battery Tender This is correct. If you let your battery sit and discharge, you will certainly kill it. When you buy a charger, it is critical that it is a smart charger, not just a trickle charger as that also will kill your battery by slowly boiling it. Battery Tender Jr is a great way to keep your battery alive. You plug it in, leave it on and forget it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiki01 Posted February 20, 2013 Author Share Posted February 20, 2013 Thank you everyone for all the responses and advice. It's been very helpful and informative! Our garage doesn't have outlets by the bike parking so I will pull the battery and buy a charger for it. Hopefully that will take care of things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
race549 Posted February 21, 2013 Share Posted February 21, 2013 It's the battery. It will loose charge with time has it is not being used. Also your bike has a clock which slowly will drain some charge. Battery tenders work if you have a way to keep it hooked up in your garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer YoshiHNS Posted February 21, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 21, 2013 If you already have a car charger, look into buying a battery tender for the bike. It will let you keep the battery hooked up to it all winter without worry of overcharging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiki01 Posted February 27, 2013 Author Share Posted February 27, 2013 I was looking into the Battery Tender Junior. Any thoughts on the 6V@.75A vs the 12V@.75A? Does it just mean that the 12V charges up faster or something but either is fine? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer YoshiHNS Posted February 27, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted February 27, 2013 No. Totally different. Almost all vehicles have a 12V battery. You need the 12V charger. Amperage would define 'speed' in absolute basic terms. You want the 12V .75A version. Battery Tenders are not meant to charge a dead battery back to full health. For that, I would suggest a charger that did 12V @ 2A. The tender will be good enough if your battery is low. Either of these will be good. Many places sell them, even brick and mortar stores. http://batterytender.com/products/motorcycle/battery-tender-plus-12v-at-1-25a.html http://batterytender.com/products/motorcycle/battery-tender-junior-12v-at-0-75a.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiki01 Posted February 27, 2013 Author Share Posted February 27, 2013 Thank you Yoshi! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 5, 2013 Share Posted March 5, 2013 Battery Tender makes a solar charger, if sun can get into your garage. Definitely charge the battery though. Now that it is in a discharge state, if you leave it that way until Spring, it may not charge back. And I agree, worst thing you can do it run your bike for a few minutes, every couple of weeks. Besides the engine/oil/exhaust reasons mentioned above ... you are taking a lot out of the battery, and then not really charging it back all the way, so every time you start in the winter, the battery gets worse and worse. If no electric in the garage, take the battery out and put it in your house. It does not need to be "warm", it will not freeze in your house, or even in your garage in NJ. Cold is good for battery storage. Warm temps make it discharge quicker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiki01 Posted March 7, 2013 Author Share Posted March 7, 2013 Battery Tender makes a solar charger, if sun can get into your garage. Very cool...unfortunately no sun in my garage. Finally received the battery tender jr though. Skimmed the manual and pulled the battery from the bike (much easier than I thought) and connected it to the tender. It's charging up now...will update later how it goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VFR4Lee Posted March 7, 2013 Share Posted March 7, 2013 I put Ballistic batteries in both bikes recently. Allegedly last about twice as long, and only lose 10% of their charge sitting unused for a year. No charging required. Of course they cost about double your Yuasa lead acid battery. I can only say for sure that the VFR and the Tuono both crank over good and fast with the 12 cell batt. The Tuono especially cranks noticeably faster than it ever has in my 4.5 years of owning it. Sweet. It's a bit cold blooded to start. They weigh a few pounds less, and you have to trim the foam packing to customize the fit, it's smaller and shorter than the stock batt. The battery cables are not very flexible, but small pita, no biggie. Ask me how it lasts in 3 - 5 years. So far so good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiki01 Posted March 16, 2013 Author Share Posted March 16, 2013 Just an update. Today I went back down to the garage and reconnected the charged battery. Took four tries and the bike started up. Everything looked good. I was truly worried when it wouldn't start last month and was kinda lost but with the fine advice I received on here, success! Thanks again all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Contributer YoshiHNS Posted March 17, 2013 Member Contributer Share Posted March 17, 2013 Don't forget to drain your carbs if you're going to have it sitting for longer than 2 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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