Battery dead = epic fail

['08-M50 Rider]

Hey guys,

Hope everyone is having a great time. I am sitting on the sidewalk in the middle of town waiting on a tow truck to come jump my bike. Retardedly(that is now a word), I left the bike in the parking light mode instead of just the locked steering mode that I thought I'd left it in. It is totally dead, but luckily I have roadside assistance. Man it is boring sitting here waiting. If the seat wasn't off my bike right now it woukd be great but I'll just have to sit on cold cement...

Serves me right for being a retard. Dunno how I turned the key that far without noticing. Anyway... All you guys watch out for that cuz the tail light isn't that noticeable in the daytime LoL.

So ashamed...

[sarjent]

guess you get to play more Rock band

[womper]

that's the one downside with an FI bike... battery goes less than 9volts and you can't push start it...
mine drained 3 times during my trip... i was able to push start it twice

[Zinje]

what do you have to do to push start the bike. I would like to know incase.

[womper]

Firstly, i've only ever tried to do it twice... and it worked both times so i'm no expert...
since it's fuel injected, you need a minimum of 9volts for the FI. if the needle on the speedo doesn't move and you don't hear the FI turn on, it won't work.

secondly, it helps if you are on top of a hill..
Put bike in 2nd gear, make sure the bike is in the ON position and the killswitch is ON (ie: the way you ride)

pull in the clutch and push the bike as fast as you can (or go down a hill) and once you think you're going fast enough (running speed) let go of the clutch and the motor might stumble to life... give it gas... and once it catches, pull in the clutch.

i hope i'm describing it properly.

it sucks to have a dead battery... it's the heart of the bike. no juice = dead bike.

['08-M50 Rider]

very informative, thank you for sharing that.

[womper]

should work... worked for me...
I read it on here... gotta love m-j.com

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by womper

pull in the clutch and push the bike as fast as you can (or go down a hill) and once you think you're going fast enough (running speed) let go of the clutch and the motor might stumble to life... give it gas... and once it catches, pull in the clutch.

Good description.

A couple of clarifications: Before you engage the clutch, you need to be ON THE SEAT in riding position. If not, your speed and that of the bike might end up being different enough that you both end up on the ground!!!

If you have a large, high compression engine (1000 cc+ "R" bike) you might want to try 3rd gear first. 2nd might slide the rear tire.

[womper]

it's pretty much what i did... run with it... jump on it (sitting sideways) and drop the clutch...
it's the only time i wish i didn't have an FI bike...

[donny662]

You probably don't want to sit sideways. Like ER said, you want to be in your normal riding position; sitting sideways doesn't allow you to make strong enough corrections if your bike starts falling towards one direction or the other. Also, If there's enough juice to get the FI going, I don't think it's any easier to push start a carbed bike. On the other hand, if you have a kick start, who need's a battery

[omegajim]

bikes won't start with dead batteries; just take my word on that one.

[womper]

on a carb bike, how much voltage is the minimum to get it started?
wish my M had a kick start

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by womper

on a carb bike, how much voltage is the minimum to get it started?
wish my M had a kick start

Hard to say for sure. Depends on how the ignition and charging system is designed and whether or not there is enough fuel in the bowls.....if it has a fuel pump.

My guess: 10 V. with the headlight ON....that is, with a load.

If the battery reads 10 V. or less with NO LOAD, it is usually toast and will go MUCH lower with the application of a load (headlight). In that case, the "blip" of voltage as the engine turns won't be enough make it fire.

Having typed that, I believe that is probably near the threshold for a bike with FI too. Your odds are a tiny bit better with carbs..........but not much!

[omegajim]

so you need to pull the fuse that says "headlight" and it will get you there with a near dead battery, a small hill and some luck.

Even a modern bike should pop start in 2nd on a hill. I think. Don't know how carried away the safety features have gotten.

[womper]

i started mine, wouldn't roll over the starter, but it pop started in 2nd... twice...

[omegajim]

you had to perform said trick more than once?

[womper]

ya... on my trip in in the middle of the night i had all my lights going and had to pee... left in neutral and jumped back on and jammed into 1st. forgot about the kickstand and it died.
lights winked out really. so i push started and off to the races i went (that 1st time scared me as i had never done it before only read about it on here)

2nd time i had a battery problem was a short in a switch due to rain overnight... recharged and off the to races..

3rd time (2nd push) was like the 1st time, except i wasn't running lights or anything. it just wouldn't roll the starter.
i push started and got home, took off all the gear, the seat and checked the voltage on the battery... it was 12 volts at idle.
i looked at the terminals and the were really loose..

i got some accessory connector shims and tightened everything down. been fine ever since and starts better than ever...

here's a dumb/noob question...

is it safe to start a bike with a car battery? not with a car running but with booster cables to a battery? i'd assume yes... but that's an assumption...

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by womper

is it safe to start a bike with a car battery? not with a car running but with booster cables to a battery? i'd assume yes... but that's an assumption...

Yes, if you do it carefully AND if there is a tiny bit of life left in the bike battery.

If the bike battery is absolutely, totally DEAD, then it gets a little IF'FY. In that case, you might be connecting the healthy car battery to a bike that has a short somewhere. Not too likely but possible.

[omegajim]

everybody is so afraid they'll ruin their bike battery off of a car.

Current works a bit like this; it goes where it's needed; if your bike starter needs 25 amps to crank, it will draw 25 amps, and not any more.

The proviso, as mentioned, is it cannot be a completely dead battery, then you're toast. As the battery may explode, or at the minimum boil over.

[womper]

i'm still learning here

here's another question... what about just starting the bike off a car battery? i don't see a problem why it wouldn't work, but that's just me

what i mean to say is, do you need a battery for operation or will the alternator keep the bike going?