I'm laying up my Bonneville T120 for the winter - the roads are salty, the weather's cold and my boots aren't waterproof. My shed is not as dry as I'd like it to be so I've ordered a Vac-Bag. I plan to keep the bike in that until the spring. I was thinking to take the battery out and put it on the Optimate on the bench for the winter, allowing me to vacuum pack the bike without a cable letting damp air in. This bike is the first bike I've owned with digital stuff going on in the instruments. What are the implications of leaving it without power for four months? Any advice appreciated. John
We’re a fairly analogue bunch on here but I am confident the rational answer to your query is ‘not a lot’. If you think about it, the bike was electrically dead during assembly right up to the point the battery was fitted. The ECU is partly a memory device so you won’t lose the embedded tuning map and it only reads lambda sensors when it’s running. You are quite safe to remove the battery and put it on the tender. Cars are a bit different with security, radio codes etc., and I dare say you might lose any old hidden fault codes - unless they reappear on start up they weren’t causing you any problems anyway.
Thanks - that's reassuring (although I've no idea what a lambda sensor is). I had visions of my speedometer resetting to zero, and the service reminder turning off etc. I'll risk it. If the bike never works again, I'll walk over the hills and borrow yours.
It’s a stiff walk. Just got back in from a local circuit with the wee broon dug and we are pooped! The lambda sensor is the thing sticking out of the RH finned header flange that reads oxygen content in your exhaust gases and constantly tunes the fuel/air ratio I.e. your fuel injection.
You worry too much! The most important data is stored in a non-volatile memory. In any case, the battery must be connected to the charger during this time, if one doesn't want it to turn into a "lead sulphate collection box". The motorcycle should be fully refuelled beforehand and the oil level should be just below the maximum. Last but not least, an insider tip, before the last refuelling, pour a small sip of two-stroke oil into the tank, which preserves it and protects against rust by condensation. You want to know what a lambda sensor is? Then read here!
I know I worry too much! Always have and always will. And now I know much more about lambda sensors than I need to (luckily, I'll forget it all quite quickly). Thanks both for your answers. At the risk of hijacking my own thread: Is the booster plug thingy that stops the bike surging at low revs connected into the lambda sensor?
Oh - and thanks too for the advice about the fuel, Nightrider. The Vac-Bag website says to drain the fuel but I was thinking more to fill the tank. I'm glad of your advice - and the 2 stroke tip.
