Continuing - So what did you do to your bike today...?

[Will14]

My bike has other problems now but as for the battery I thing you could try a new one as my bike starts first prod now (as it always did).  You should be able to ride up to tayna and ask them to test it for you and buy a new one if required.  I got a Leoch battery with a two year warranty for £30(+ delivery), chap at Tayna recons they are as good as Yuasa for less than half the price.

@mjgt I have checked my battery today and it is a Powerline, the cheapest on sale by Tayna and unsurprisingly the CCA is only 150 whereas most others have a minimum CCA of 200 the same as yours and the standard Yuasa YTX14-BS, the YTX14H-BS has a CCA of 240A but not sure if there is a need for that in our climate?

Will, You don't need the "H" version if you are going Yuasa, my MZ does but the 14 doesn't.  I would ride over to Tayna and spend a few quid.

So a bit of an update, I bit the bullet and purchased a new battery this week, as @mjgt I went for the Leoch LT14-4 based on price, two year warranty and spec that matches what would have been originally fitted

Before fitting I tested the new battery voltage and it was down at around 11.8V, but once the battery was in and the stoopid bolts and square nuts were tightened (Could do with a slightly longer bolt on the earth side due to the additional earth cable, PC3 earth & optimate earth) I couldn't resit but give it a try before topping the battery up with charge, bike fired straight into life first push of the button and the speed that she cranked over was noticeably faster although the cold start didn't seem to kick in fully

After leaving on the trickle charger over night the standing battery voltage was up to around 13.8V, gave her a try and literally fired into life immediately, the engine didn't seem to hardly turn over but made me realize how sluggish the old battery actually was, cold start straight up to bang on 1500 RPM and gradually dropped to normal idle speed as it should, have tried this now two days running with the same result & for literally the first time since buying this 14 in late 2018 she starts first try

Fingers crossed things stay like this now, Iv'e been scratching my head trying to solve the bike not starting until the third or forth attempt for some time now, but hadn't really thought to much about the battery being the issue as the bike always turned over & was holding good charge, so the increase in cold cranking amps from 150 to 200 seems to have made all the difference and hopefully solved the mystery

All being well I can get out at the weekend, will then find out if it has also cured the poor starting and idle with a hot engine, but after being stood for an hour or so 

Cheers

Pete

[grog]

Will, agree with longer bolt for earth terminal with extras fitted. PIA to get started. Ill find one next week and post size/thread etc. A good battery is heart of system, all sensors etc are set at factory with a dedicated voltage. Input to ECU from them is in volts. If your batt is no good, high resistance, bike/generator will run at wrong voltage. That will change all sensor readings, can change fuel consumption, performance, idle speed etc etc. Perfect batt is essential. Mine went from 13.8 to 14.2 charging volts by changing batt. Thats got to affect what sensors are telling computer. Work job, changed out 5 yr old batt in V10 BMW, extra 180 ks from tank of fuel.

[Hooli]

Talking of the battery bolts. Just snip a 1/4" length of car washer piper off & shove it under the nut inside the battery terminal. It holds the nut right at the top so the bolt always reaches, stops the damn things falling out and getting lost too.

[Eric GSX1400K3]

Will check mine today. I've got a feeling my battery charger is cactus.  Charged up the yuasa on the '14 ok, a bit too quick actually.  Red power light on the charger is flickering.

Fully agree with grog, battery is the heart of the system.

[grog]

Hooli, magic trick, thank you sir.

[Nic]

What the hell is "car washer piper"

[Mick_J]

Well done Will,  glad you got it sorted.  Still can't believe the price of the battery at that level of performance and warranty, never look a gift horse up the arse or something like that

[Hooli]

What the hell is "car washer piper"

It's like windscreen washer pipe, but described worse with more typos. Any thin plastic tube would do, I've used airline for a tropical fishtank in the past.

[seth]

I use a bit of old sponge under the nuts on a battery to help when connectingvup the terminals 

[grog]

Ill use Hooli trick, glue some hose under nut. How i couldnt think of that simple trick messes with my head. All i thought about was longer bolt, not lifting the nut. Thats just paid for my admin fees. Always need another view of problem, why this place is brilliant. Im always amazed with stuff i learn on here. That neg terminal has bugged me maybe 5 yrs.

[Hooli]

I don't glue it, I use a bit of hose big enough it needs squashing slightly to fit in. It's never moved yet.

One bike I bought had sponge but it rotted in few thousand miles

[gsxbarmy]

Will, agree with longer bolt for earth terminal with extras fitted. PIA to get started. Ill find one next week and post size/thread etc. A good battery is heart of system, all sensors etc are set at factory with a dedicated voltage. Input to ECU from them is in volts. If your batt is no good, high resistance, bike/generator will run at wrong voltage. That will change all sensor readings, can change fuel consumption, performance, idle speed etc etc. Perfect batt is essential. Mine went from 13.8 to 14.2 charging volts by changing batt. Thats got to affect what sensors are telling computer. Work job, changed out 5 yr old batt in V10 BMW, extra 180 ks from tank of fuel.

Put a small piece of rubber tube under the nut @grog  @Will14 before you start to do it up - lifts the nut to the top, easy to do up then, and you can either leave the bit of tube in or pull it out afterwards.

[Will14]

Will, agree with longer bolt for earth terminal with extras fitted. PIA to get started. Ill find one next week and post size/thread etc. A good battery is heart of system, all sensors etc are set at factory with a dedicated voltage. Input to ECU from them is in volts. If your batt is no good, high resistance, bike/generator will run at wrong voltage. That will change all sensor readings, can change fuel consumption, performance, idle speed etc etc. Perfect batt is essential. Mine went from 13.8 to 14.2 charging volts by changing batt. Thats got to affect what sensors are telling computer. Work job, changed out 5 yr old batt in V10 BMW, extra 180 ks from tank of fuel.

Put a small piece of rubber tube under the nut @grog  @Will14 before you start to do it up - lifts the nut to the top, easy to do up then, and you can either leave the bit of tube in or pull it out afterwards.

@grog @gsxbarmy I'm going to try and squeeze a bit of tube or similar in there underneath the nut while it is tightened up, not a chance am I fighting with the little sh!t again if I dont have to 

[Mick_J]

I use a bit of a straw from the pub, costs nowt.

[Hooli]

I went for a wee toddle in the sun as it was nearly warm out. There was a bit of a draft too, but I've never noticed them being a problem when riding so it didn't bother me. Got almost 38mpg from the last tankful, which with the amount of short trips in frosty weather & the strong breeze today seems pretty near back to normal for me. Only 815miles to the next service too, it's about due a wash as well.

Breakfast at a local bike cafe, Revs n Relics Maltby, was good. I'd been meaning to go for ages, now I'll have to make a habit of it.

I still can't get used to how small a 14 looks without luggage on either.