Hi all. Been having a few problems starting the bike up recently. All was well until last week when I jumped on to go to work and it wouldn't start. i'd not been on it for a couple of weeks and done a couple of short journeys the night before so figured I might have flattened the battery. So out it came, after discovering that you have to lift the back of the tank to get it out , and on charge it went. charged up fine, put it back in and started it up with no problems so I kept the revs up until the engine was up to temp. and then switched it off and congratulated myself on a job well done. Next morning jumped on again and it failed to start. I gave up until today when I thought i'd get the battery charged and go for a nice sunday blast so I charged it up and tried to start it without success. back on charge it went and then I finally decided to measure the voltage across the battery and came out with 9.5v on a full charge. So I need a new battery obviously and my first question is do any of you have any recommendations? I didn't know if it has to be a certain type of battery because it lives on its side in the battery bay. But also from what I've said does it sound like I might have another problem? The only reason I ask is because after I charged the battery up the first time it started fine but not the times I've tried afterwards. So the question is was I just lucky that it started that first time or is the dead battery hiding a more serious problem? as always any thoughts or opinions will be welcome, I've only had the bike a few weeks and i'm already starting to get frustrated with it. Until I ride it round a corner and then I will forgive it literally anything!
I bought my old SIII new in 07. I've done 45,000 miles on it. I'm on my 7th battery! I'm not on my own with this problem talking to other owners. When it's tested at the dealers there is nothing wrong, apparently. It doesn't seem to be detrimental to the bike in any other way, but be prepared to replace the battery more often than you'd think. Keep the receipt and buy from a dealer that guarantees them for 2 years. Hope this helps....
It's an '06 plate with about 13,500 miles on it. Not sure how many batteries it's already been through as I've only had it a couple of months. I should be getting a new battery soon and i'm thinking about a gel battery as they seem to give more amps for cranking and being as it goes on it's side a gel one seems a safer bet. Just don't want to get the new battery and be all excited about getting back on the road and then it turns out I've got a bigger problem that's ruining my battery and end up back at square one.
