Battery alternative
- Thread starter ferraiolo1
- Start date
EllenGtrGrl
Active member
Time for me to semi-necro an old thread:
After a week and a half of not riding my FTR 1200 due to bad weather, I decided to take her out today, to recharge the battery - especially since Fearless Governor for Wisconsin has decided to put the state in lockdown mode starting tomorrow, due to Covid 19. I can drive to work (I work in what is conisidered an essential industry, so we're staying open), to the doctor (if I have to), and to the grocery store (again, if I have to), but no motorcycling for me. Well, despite my FTR 1200 being kept in a heated garage, the battery is dead. It wouldn't turn over enough to start the bike. I get the feeling that the FTR 1200 is a battery current hog, like my old Triumph Thruxton 900 was. Tomorrow (because I need to get a large piece of scrap cardboard at work, since I'll be laying on a dirty garage floor), I'll pull the battery , and throw it on the charger (as you may recall, I have NO ELECTRICAL OUTLETS where my bike is parked [in front of my car, in my apartment building's underground parking], to hook a battery tender up to). I may end up swapping out the lead-acid battery for Lithium Ion battery, like I did with my old Thruxton, when I got sick of the battery wimping out. Lithium Ion batteries usually have charge controller circuits on them to prevent complete discharge. Unfortunately, I checked Shorai's website, and they don't offer a Lithium Ion battery for the FTR 1200, so it looks like I'll have to do some looking.
After a week and a half of not riding my FTR 1200 due to bad weather, I decided to take her out today, to recharge the battery - especially since Fearless Governor for Wisconsin has decided to put the state in lockdown mode starting tomorrow, due to Covid 19. I can drive to work (I work in what is conisidered an essential industry, so we're staying open), to the doctor (if I have to), and to the grocery store (again, if I have to), but no motorcycling for me. Well, despite my FTR 1200 being kept in a heated garage, the battery is dead. It wouldn't turn over enough to start the bike. I get the feeling that the FTR 1200 is a battery current hog, like my old Triumph Thruxton 900 was. Tomorrow (because I need to get a large piece of scrap cardboard at work, since I'll be laying on a dirty garage floor), I'll pull the battery , and throw it on the charger (as you may recall, I have NO ELECTRICAL OUTLETS where my bike is parked [in front of my car, in my apartment building's underground parking], to hook a battery tender up to). I may end up swapping out the lead-acid battery for Lithium Ion battery, like I did with my old Thruxton, when I got sick of the battery wimping out. Lithium Ion batteries usually have charge controller circuits on them to prevent complete discharge. Unfortunately, I checked Shorai's website, and they don't offer a Lithium Ion battery for the FTR 1200, so it looks like I'll have to do some looking.
EllenGtrGrl
Active member
I thought it was kind of funky that it was so weak after only a week and a half of not riding. I'm still kind of leaning towards a lithium Ion battery.
K9F
Well-known member
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Unless you're doing an uninterrupted journey of approximately 7 miles once starting your FTR you do not fully replace what it took out of the battery to start it in the first place. In such circumstances it becomes a case of diminishing returns where the battery gets weaker and weaker. Maybe a booster such as the above may be your answer or as your bike is parked securely in a garage if the garage has a roof a solar charger? Where does your garage derive it's heat from storage heating or piped? Just wondering? Adapting for your circumstances may be the key here as with your suggestion of a lithium ion battery which realistically is just a sticking plaster fix instead of dealing with the fundamental cause and issue.
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Yep. The oem batteries seem to be hit or miss as to what ones loose charge. Mine is fine in a non heated garage for weeks. Others go dead within a week.
EllenGtrGrl
Active member
Sorry, no solar power, and the heating is via convection through ducting. Even during the coldest seriously subzero weather, the garage temp is at its worst in the mid 50s (about 12 degrees C). The garage is underground. When I last took the bike out, I had it out for a just shy of a 20 minute ride. I would have stayed out longer, but the rain started so, back home I went.
My previous BMW R1200R, with all of its electronic rider aids (LCD muti-function display, power modes, and suspension adjustment) could typically go about a week and a half to two weeks before the battery started getting weak. As I said, there are no outlets in the underground garage for a battery tender. Since Indian recommends keeping the FTR 1200 on a battery tender, when not riding, and I can't, I doubt they'd replace the battery under warranty. So, a new battery for me it is. The only thing I'll do warranty-wise, is ask Indian if my warranty is voided if I switch to a Lithium Ion battery.
My previous BMW R1200R, with all of its electronic rider aids (LCD muti-function display, power modes, and suspension adjustment) could typically go about a week and a half to two weeks before the battery started getting weak. As I said, there are no outlets in the underground garage for a battery tender. Since Indian recommends keeping the FTR 1200 on a battery tender, when not riding, and I can't, I doubt they'd replace the battery under warranty. So, a new battery for me it is. The only thing I'll do warranty-wise, is ask Indian if my warranty is voided if I switch to a Lithium Ion battery.
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The battery is also VERY easy to remove on the ftr, if you know your'e not going to be riding for a long time, remove it and bring it inside and put it on the tender
EllenGtrGrl
Active member
Yeah, I know. I got lazy, due to it being so close to the start of riding season. Normally I disconnect the battery if I know the bike is going to sit for a long period of time.
I have a question for everybody - I haven't checked, but does the FTR 1200 have a battery tender cable hooked up (like my BMWs did)? If so, would I be able to run a motorcycle jump starter through the plug on the end of the battery tender cable?
yes, its behind the little plastic cover on the left side under the fake tank, its fused, so i wouldnt use it for jumping the bike.
Your owners manual talks about it.
Your owners manual talks about it.
EllenGtrGrl
Active member
I kind of had a feeling that was the case. Still, I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask.
EllenGtrGrl
Active member
Well, I finally got off of my lazy butt, and removed the battery. I just finished it about 10 minutes ago. What a PITA! The cover was pretty straightforward (I thought I had a 6mm Allen Wrench, but I didn't, so hello multi-tool! [that thing was in in it's holder TIGHT!!]), and the battery terminal bolts were a little funky to unscrew (more on that later), the main hassle was removing the battery from its tray. That stupid thing would not come out! Every time I tilted the battery forward to pull it out, the corner of the battery over by the positive terminal, would hit the header pipe for the front cylinder! Ugh! I finally got the battery out, and brought it up to my apartment, where it's sitting in the closet at the present time.
Depending upon how things go, I may take it to the dealer I bought my FTR 1200 from (Indian Motorcycles of Metro Milwaukee), tomorrow, or on Saturday, for them to check it out. If it's a bad battery, they'll replace it with an upgraded battery under warranty. Still it depends upon whether or not the State of Wisconsin tightens up the definition of "essential business" with the state lockdown, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I'm still working because the company I work for makes flow measurement systems for municipal water, sewage, the petroeum industry, etc. I was told, that as a "transportation related industry", my Indian dealer could remain open. Considering that there was a big jump in confirmed Covid -19 cases within the past day (we now have over 700 confirmed cases in WIsconsin, with 347 of them being in Milwaukee County [where I live], and another 56 being in Waukesha County [which is just 2 miles west of me, and is where the Indian dealership is located]), the state may end up locking everybody down. It doesn't help, that there has been potentially a case or two of Covid-19 at work (the indviduals are in quarrantine at the present time, but it has not been confirmed that they have Covid-19). I'm holding up OK at the present time, but things could change (I hope not for the worse - as an asthmatic whose had bronchitis several times, and pneumonia once, I'd hate to find out that my "immune system from hell" [due to an overactive immune system, I'm allergic to quite a few things] lets me down at the worst possible time, despite me practicing "social distancing", and washing my hands umpteen million times a day).
BTW, about the battery terminal bolts being funky to unscrew - they seemed to unscrew a lot easier/be on looser, than I'm used to for battery terminals. So, bad battery connection? Maybe, but, the resistance from the battery to the starter couldn't have been that adversely affected, since I was still able to turn over the starter, when I first tried to start my FTR 1200 on Monday, and even on subsequent attempts, the solenoid for the starter relay fired. Still, I prefer the bolts on my battery terminals to be on a bit tighter.
Depending upon how things go, I may take it to the dealer I bought my FTR 1200 from (Indian Motorcycles of Metro Milwaukee), tomorrow, or on Saturday, for them to check it out. If it's a bad battery, they'll replace it with an upgraded battery under warranty. Still it depends upon whether or not the State of Wisconsin tightens up the definition of "essential business" with the state lockdown, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I'm still working because the company I work for makes flow measurement systems for municipal water, sewage, the petroeum industry, etc. I was told, that as a "transportation related industry", my Indian dealer could remain open. Considering that there was a big jump in confirmed Covid -19 cases within the past day (we now have over 700 confirmed cases in WIsconsin, with 347 of them being in Milwaukee County [where I live], and another 56 being in Waukesha County [which is just 2 miles west of me, and is where the Indian dealership is located]), the state may end up locking everybody down. It doesn't help, that there has been potentially a case or two of Covid-19 at work (the indviduals are in quarrantine at the present time, but it has not been confirmed that they have Covid-19). I'm holding up OK at the present time, but things could change (I hope not for the worse - as an asthmatic whose had bronchitis several times, and pneumonia once, I'd hate to find out that my "immune system from hell" [due to an overactive immune system, I'm allergic to quite a few things] lets me down at the worst possible time, despite me practicing "social distancing", and washing my hands umpteen million times a day).
BTW, about the battery terminal bolts being funky to unscrew - they seemed to unscrew a lot easier/be on looser, than I'm used to for battery terminals. So, bad battery connection? Maybe, but, the resistance from the battery to the starter couldn't have been that adversely affected, since I was still able to turn over the starter, when I first tried to start my FTR 1200 on Monday, and even on subsequent attempts, the solenoid for the starter relay fired. Still, I prefer the bolts on my battery terminals to be on a bit tighter.
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Fyi. If you look near your oil filter. You will see the “tool kit” that’s to remove the battery.
EllenGtrGrl
Active member
Yep, that's the multi-tool, and that's what I used to unscrew things. As I mentioned, it was pain and then some to remove from its holder (especially lying on a hard cement floor on a piece of cardboard), due to it being held very tightly (it would not snap out).
Ellen
EllenGtrGrl
Active member
Let us know how you go - hopefully you are safe but also able to ride soon
I may just bring the battery to work with me today, and in the worst case, drop it off at the dealer after work. I have to work until 3:30 pm, and the dealer is only open to 5. I have a 25 mile commute home, and the dealer is another 7 or 8 miles away, so by the time I get there, there may not be enough time to check out the battery. With that being the case, I'll leave the battery, and pick it, or the replacement battery up on Saturday, or (heaven forbid I get sick, or the dealership closes until the crisis is over) when the dealer is next open.
Ellen
EllenGtrGrl
Active member
An update about the battery situation - I received a phone call from Indian Motorcycle of Metro Milwaukee (where I bought my FTR 1200 from), and sure enough, the battery was bad. They offered to stop off at my place, and install a new battery in my FTR 1200 for me, but I told them that it was no big deal for me to install it myself, so I'll stop off there, and pick up the battery after work.
Thats some good service!