So, I’ve had quite an adventure trying to ride my motorcycle again. I’ve been unable to ride for a month and a half. I had my kids for two weeks, then I had surgery on my hand, then once I recovered enough, I got my kids for another two weeks. So my bike has been neglected and sad.
About a week ago, I needed to mow the lawn, so I had to pull the bike out to get my mower out. I started the bike up and pulled it out in the driveway to park while I mowed. Four hours later, I finished mowing and went to pick my bike away, and it wouldn’t start. The battery was completely dead. Some idiot left the key in the bike, in the on position....
Well, I wasn’t reall sure how to jump a motorcycle battery, so YouTube to the rescue. That evening after a little charging I was able to start it up. I didn’t know how long it would take to charge, so I left it running for about 10 minutes. I was just going to run it up the road and back real quick, but made a mistake and put it in first, with the kickstand still down and it stalled. I could not restart it. So it hadn’t charged enough to start on its own yet. I didn’t want to go through all of that again, because my kids were still home and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get it out on the road to properly recharge it.
So, it sat, fully drained for almost a week. Until today. After work, I immediately got to work again trying to jump start it off m car battery. This time, for some reason, I wasn’t having any luck getting it started.
Sometime while trying, I knocked the battery cover off my bike, and the bolt that holds it on went flying, but I didn’t see where it went, and it was in the grass somewhere. Geez, this just keeps getting worse! So I went into the house to get a strong magnet that I use for magnet fishing, and proceeded to drag it though the grass, for about 10 minutes until I finally found it.
I attempted to start the bike again, with no luck. I had read that motorcycle batteries don’t like being discharged for long and that can wreck them, so I thought it was toast. I decided to take the battery out, and I’d just take it to the cycle shop tomorrow and have them check it out, and if dead, I’d just buy a new one. Well, as I started to disconnect the negative terminal to the battery, I heard some clicking. This was more than I heard while trying to jump it, so I decided to hook it back up and try to jump it one more time..... and it worked! Finally got it started.
I drove it up the driveway to my house, and left it running while I got my jacket, helmet, and gloves on. I went outside to get ready to ride, and I don’t remember exactly what happened, but I think I let the clutch out too fast as I was trying to turn around and it stalled.... you’ve got to be freaking kidding me!!!
Luckily, I when i hit the starter, it started right up. Finally, a good sign! So I took it out for a nice evening ride through the country and did 90 miles round trip. It felt really good to get back on the road, and that was my longest ride to date. (I’m still a beginner rider). When I got it back home, I turned it off, and attempted to restart it, and it started right up, so I think the riding did it’s job of recharging my battery. I’ll find out for sure when I go to start it tomorrow.
It was a beautiful evening, slightly cool and overcast. This was my view for a good portion of the ride:
And no, I wasn’t riding down that dirt road, I just pulled off to take the pic.
Also, while going through one of the small towns I came across this:
With so many Daves on the site, I figured someone would like it!
Now, I’m back home, relaxing with a glass of whiskey. Need to go to bed soon. I need to get to work extra early tomorrow!
About a week ago, I needed to mow the lawn, so I had to pull the bike out to get my mower out. I started the bike up and pulled it out in the driveway to park while I mowed. Four hours later, I finished mowing and went to pick my bike away, and it wouldn’t start. The battery was completely dead. Some idiot left the key in the bike, in the on position....
Well, I wasn’t reall sure how to jump a motorcycle battery, so YouTube to the rescue. That evening after a little charging I was able to start it up. I didn’t know how long it would take to charge, so I left it running for about 10 minutes. I was just going to run it up the road and back real quick, but made a mistake and put it in first, with the kickstand still down and it stalled. I could not restart it. So it hadn’t charged enough to start on its own yet. I didn’t want to go through all of that again, because my kids were still home and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get it out on the road to properly recharge it.
So, it sat, fully drained for almost a week. Until today. After work, I immediately got to work again trying to jump start it off m car battery. This time, for some reason, I wasn’t having any luck getting it started.
Sometime while trying, I knocked the battery cover off my bike, and the bolt that holds it on went flying, but I didn’t see where it went, and it was in the grass somewhere. Geez, this just keeps getting worse! So I went into the house to get a strong magnet that I use for magnet fishing, and proceeded to drag it though the grass, for about 10 minutes until I finally found it.
I attempted to start the bike again, with no luck. I had read that motorcycle batteries don’t like being discharged for long and that can wreck them, so I thought it was toast. I decided to take the battery out, and I’d just take it to the cycle shop tomorrow and have them check it out, and if dead, I’d just buy a new one. Well, as I started to disconnect the negative terminal to the battery, I heard some clicking. This was more than I heard while trying to jump it, so I decided to hook it back up and try to jump it one more time..... and it worked! Finally got it started.
I drove it up the driveway to my house, and left it running while I got my jacket, helmet, and gloves on. I went outside to get ready to ride, and I don’t remember exactly what happened, but I think I let the clutch out too fast as I was trying to turn around and it stalled.... you’ve got to be freaking kidding me!!!
Luckily, I when i hit the starter, it started right up. Finally, a good sign! So I took it out for a nice evening ride through the country and did 90 miles round trip. It felt really good to get back on the road, and that was my longest ride to date. (I’m still a beginner rider). When I got it back home, I turned it off, and attempted to restart it, and it started right up, so I think the riding did it’s job of recharging my battery. I’ll find out for sure when I go to start it tomorrow.
It was a beautiful evening, slightly cool and overcast. This was my view for a good portion of the ride:
And no, I wasn’t riding down that dirt road, I just pulled off to take the pic.
Also, while going through one of the small towns I came across this:
With so many Daves on the site, I figured someone would like it!
Now, I’m back home, relaxing with a glass of whiskey. Need to go to bed soon. I need to get to work extra early tomorrow!
