I had to drop off four Honda S600 hub caps at the platers so I decided to take the FJ1200. Asked the wife if she wanted to come too as she hasn't been on the bike in over six months due to having hip replacement surgery in February. I knew that the FJ's battery (Motobat) was on its way out but I had charged it up last weekend and thought it should be ok - it wasn't. Took the hub caps in to the plater and when we went to leave the FJ wouldn't start. Got the missus to give me a push along the street and on about the 4th attempt to bump start it fired up.
Decided on the trip home to call in to my local reliable bike shop, Sportcycles, and pick up a new battery. Kept the motor running while there and also ordered a new Metzler Marathon for the front and booked it in for its annual roadworthy. On the way home we pulled up at an intersection and I stalled it. Bugger. Pushed it off to the side of the road, got the tool kit out and swapped in the new battery, the missus passing me the tools as needed. Should have changed it back at the shop - doh.
Happy to say that her new hip was just fine after climbing on and off the bike and pushing it down the road. We have a 200k VJMC club ride coming up on Sunday so looks like she's fit to go.
G'Day Krusty, good to see other FJ1200 pilots out there, I love my 1TX. Bike batteries don't like sitting for long spells, so I've invested in several trickle chargers over the last few years, and so far I haven't had a battery die in the last 7 years. (My 2007 Triumph Rocket III's original battery is still in excellent shape even though it sat unused for 2 years before I hooked it up to the charger)
As I've said, I've tried a few chargers, from 35 dollar cheapies right up to the 300 dollar BMW charger that the Triumph is plugged into, but the best by far are the two Optimate 4 chargers that "recondition" batteries and are able to recharge them, even after they discharge to the point where a regular charger won't put a charge back into them.
When I bought my 1TX the seller told me that the battery in it was stuffed, so I took it out and hooked it up to the Optimate4, and it charged it right up, and 6 months in, it's still holding it's charge. My old ride-on mower has been sitting for a year outside without getting a run, so last weekend I hooked it up to the Optimate, and even though that battery is 8 years old and had 0 volts according to my multimeter, it's now holding 13.8 volts.
If you haven't thrown your old Motobatt out yet, you might be able to throw a charge back into it, and keep your other bike batteries well maintained too. Cheers, Terry.
http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html/_W0QQ_sopZ12?_nkw=optimate%204%20battery%20charger&_fromfsb=0&_trksid=m270.l1313
