Strange Battery Issue

[olie05]

My bike did not start on its own the other day, so I brought out the jumper cables to see if it would start, and sure enough it did. I drove around a bit, and then turned it off, and tried to start it again, and it would not start.

I started diagnosing according to the manual. First I checked the main fuse... OK
then I moved on to the battery.

I tested it with a volt meter and it was reading 11 volts. Totally unacceptable, but at the same time I expected it since I had not been able to start the bike. I pulled the battery and looked through it (translucent-ish case) and noticed there was only fluid in some of the chambers of the battery.

Solution: top it off with an ozarka water bottle, and go for a drive. Sure enough the battery came back to life!!!

Any of you guys experience anything like this? My bike has been down before, but on the right side. The battery's vent is on the left side, so that doesn't explain how the fluid left the system. Also, the bike had been working flawlessly for the past couple of months.

[ragedigital]

Like most batteries, they run low on water over time. Generally adding "distilled" water is best since it contains no contaminants.

[95FZR600]

Get a maintenance free battery and you wont have that problem any more. Sealed!

[reelrazor]

The electrolyte is producing gas whenever the battery is under charge-which is pretty much always.

The gas escapes via the vent. Level goes down. The amount of gas is constant and becomes a larger percentage of the remaining electrolyte....so it's a vicious cycle.

Checking electrolyte is one of the first steps in "periodic lubrication, maintenance, and tune up procedures' for that reason.

Neglect of this is why they invented 'maintenance free/sealed' batteries.

[zfr1000r6]

anyone know if Optima makes a sealed battery small enough for the fzr?

[reelrazor]

I don't think optima does, but I'm sure you can get a glass mat battery for the FZR. Talk to your local Napa store.

Or you could get really spendy and get a LiPo battery like the custom chopper guys use...size of a wallet...enough cranking amps to lightoff a big inch Harley. They're only $1000 or so.

[zfr1000r6]

only $1000? put me down for a dozen or so

[the_finch]

only $1000? put me down for a dozen or so

Then my FZR600's value would increase by about 50%....

[shredex]

also, you can remove your stator and flywheel if y0ou put one of dem batterys in and save weight!