hmm... let's see where I can start... so many questions at hand....
Have YOU check the charging system? Or, were you told it was good?
Got a meter? Check it yourself.
I'll bet you have a marginal charging system that you can improve on. It's not simply a go/Nogo situation.
Cheers,
I didn't drop my baby off and have it checked out and then come back and pick it up. My local Honda shop had me jump through hurdles before they would replace the battery. I checked everything out at my house, and reported my findings to them. They wanted to see the bike and check its charging system before replacing the battery.
THEY WANTED TO FAULT MY CHARGING SYSTEM SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT HAVE TO REPLACE A BATTERY. They put their meters on my bike, just as I had done, and could not find fault..... Therefore replaced the battery.... This was in September 2007.
Hey question for you,
I'm not as familiar with the 550's but I know that I once had a bad starter relay in my 750. The screw posts had become so rusty that I wasn't getting full current to the starter. Have you examined your starter circuit for corrosion? Check the screw terminals and all the cable ends from the battery post to the starter. This may help.
Regarding batteries, I must admit that I just run down to Walmart and score whatever el-cheapo battery they have for my bike. The are cheap and usually last me a couple of years, but then I use the kick starter 8 times out of 10, just from preference.
Best of luck to you on the carbs
mystic_1
I usually kick my bike off. The electric start works just fine, but I prefer to kick to prime anyhow, and I usually try to start it with kicking it off. I haven't noticed any corrosion around the starter or posts.
After being told you have stuff in your bowls with an obvious external fuel filter and possibly one in your tank also, PLUS nice clean looking carbs, I think you may be getting the "you''re a girl" treatment "so what do you know" or your shop is less than adequate. Or maybe liquid milky stuff did pass through both filters but only that 1 time?!
Yes, I have an internal filter in the tank, and two external filters. Thanks for saying my carbs look clean. That's what I thought too, when I dropped the bowls.
that stuff around your gaskets looks like silicone sealant to me. i could be wrong but i don't think it holds up to gasoline all that well. could have dissolved into your bowls.
I wiped the sealant clean (if it was sealant) before putting the bowls back, shouldn't be a contributing factor now.
If it was stood you can get a "white" powdery deposit that may have looked milky when re-mixed with gas so they are not NECESSARILY trying it on ( I put that in capitals cos its also possible they are!)
Batteries dont normally go dead in batches check the voltage when trying to crank--if it drops waaay low the battery is flat or US if only to 10 ish volts its a starter circuit problem
I agree that batteries don't normally go bad in batches... but please folks, before you fault my charging system or my starter, take into consideration that the guy who replaced the battery had an attitude with me about having to replace my battery.
He wanted my charging system to fail his rigorous series of tests so he wouldn't have to replace a battery. He all but told me that my bike was a piece of sh*t bike that destroyed the battery, but the charging tests proved him wrong. When he fetched the new battery, HE DID NOT FILL THE ACID COMPLETELY (they don't give you the container that has acid in it - they fill the battery with acid out of a box). He also told me that the "new battery would not fix my problems" (referring to my carbs).
I left there so pissed that when I got home, I just put distilled water in the battery where it was short in acid, then put the battery on trickle for 10 hours.
Hopefully now you see why I have doubts about what/where the source of the milk is/was, or if it really existed, and am looking for good recommendations for a good battery.
That being said, I've read many of the threads around here about batteries. Looks like the general consensus is an AGM battery and Yuasa. Considering my 2 latest experiences with Yuasa (and Honda), I've been looking at my other options.
I contacted the guy at bikebatts.com. He said my Battery Tender Plus may be a little much for my Yuasa battery, and that the tender may actually be the fault of the battery failure. He recommended the Battery Tender Junior for Yuasa batteries. He also stated that the sealed battery for the CB550 is out of stock, but he expects the shipment in April - link to that battery -
http://www.bikebatts.com/product_info.php/products_id/79 - I asked him to put my name on the list for that battery. He said 1st come 1st serve for that battery.
Well, not wanting to wait until April, I stopped by my local Advance Auto Parts and picked up a Magna Power battery. When I was there, I asked them if they had a sealed battery, (because I remember this post:
Finally bought an AGM battery for my bike . The one in it was an agm I took the number off it and found one with the + and - on the right side. It was a magna power etx 15 I think. You just have to maje sure the * and - are right. Its fits okay. I figured it was in there and it worked and I got another just like it. I think I paid like 46 or 48 dollars for it. Hope this helps people with 550"s.
They said that they could get that one in by Tuesday. Provided that the purpose of getting a battery tonight was so that I can crank the bike, I didn't want to wait until Tuesday... so I went ahead and got the regular wet battery.
I want to crank the bike so the carbs don't sit with the same gas in them and get any worse than they are... So I guess I will be running the wet battery until the sealed one comes in from bikebatts.com.
As for the comments from the bikebatt's guy regarding the tender, do you guys agree with his statements about the amperage?
FYI - because it is normally warm enough down here to ride 9-10 months out of the year, many folks don't use tenders so it is possible that my local shop was wrong in recommending the Plus for my Yuasa battery. I read many threads on the SOHC before buying the Plus, which is why I was a little surprised when the bikebatts guy said that it may be too much amperage for the Yuasa...
Alright, I've rambled enough.... looking for as much input as I can get...
