Theoretically --- if you're out in the middle of nowhere and you've managed to boil the battery dry what can be done to extricate yourself from the do-do..??

My LC4 has a rather large capacitor under the tank that is supposed to let it run without the battery, but ... I dunno fo'sho'

So - if your battery's cream-crackered how can you modify the electrics to get you home?

Greg

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I wish my wheelies were intentional...

Pour hot water over the battery, kill all lights and don't use the e-start.

get a new and proper Gel-battery, fit it in advanced, before you do a trip, preventing it from going dry in the first place... the benefit is that you end up with a higher Amp that way which is an advantage.

depending on what model year your LC4 is... depending on size, a 2003 LC4 with plastic battery carrier would cope with a:
TECNO = YTZ10-S
L:150 x W:85 H:93 / 12volt - 8,6AH / 190A

a LC4 before 2003 like the 2002 with a steel battery carrier need a:
GEL.type: SHIM YO = YTX11-BS
L:150 x W:87 x H:105 / 12volt - 10Ah / 175A

the standard battery and size of a 2002 LC4 is
Std.size: L:152 x W:88 x H: 106 mm
Std.type: Hi-Q = YTX9-12BS/9-12B / 12volt - 8Ah
Varta = 50812

so, why not spending £50 quit, upgrading your LC4 before you run in to trouble... had a faulty acid battery one's which was unable to hold the charge, I was unable to start the bike, had to disconnect the head light just to make use of the little bit charge that was left and kick the bastard in to live to bring me home, road that way about 250Km, luckily it was summer and still daylight when I arrived.

originally my LC4 "used to be a 2002", but with a lot of mods, it's now on a stage of a 2003 upwards.. to be able to use the later type battery, I converted the battery carrier to the plastic one as well... now with all the options and benefits that come with the latest upgrades up to the 2005 LC4 bikes, did cost me only a few more quit.

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The trouble is that he was talking in philosophy, but they were listening in gibberish.

My battery was poor and died in central asia so I got in the habit of finding somewhere 'high up' to camp and then jump starting it every morning, I could cycle enough charge through it to keep the bike running but it woulod lose it all overnight. I had fitted a dash voltmeter because of ducatis reputation for electrics but all that did was tell me how shafted I was!

I had a magneto on an old triumph that worked fine, no battery required at all but I'm not sure how that would work on a newer bike

Whither the kickstarter???

I think that's almost the most important deciding factor on any bike I buy for long journeys to far-away places.

Other than that I think it's been answered.

Except:
carry jump leads - in the UK you can get them lighter and smaller than for cars, designed for motorbikes.
Before you depart, learn to bump-start your bike, especially on level ground (there's not always a hill). I find a lot of youngsters are completely unable to do this, but I'm lucky, having learnt to do it in the 60s when road-races started with a dead engine.
But you have to remove all the luggage and gizmos (well, I do), to make it as light as a 750 Norton!

Finally, I've only recently started using gel batteries (they're a bit new to me!) and have been told if you let them discharge a significant amount (maybe through an alarm) they won't last very long at all.
Anyone have any views on that?

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TTR250 - London to Cape Town

That's true.

When they start to get weak (for whatever reason) they don't take charge very well and die fast. I wouldn't used it for an extended trip in remote regions but I love it for my enduro-bike.

Thanks for replies so far ...

Spooks, yes in an ideal world that's a solution, in fact my 400 has the battery from my old 950Adv 'S' in it right now...

But my question was kinda hypothetical... I was looking for an option for a battery eliminator, or something you could connect in place of the battery - which is what the capacitor does on my little Katy..

So - if the battery's buggered to the extent that it doesn't take charge will it still conduct electricity? What if you just junk the battery altogether - what potential damage could be done to other parts of the electrics? Crank, the LC4 has the kickstarter on the wrong side of the bike for some unfathomable reason and is a complete b!tch to start on the lever ...


I think Henry's solution is halfway there, but somewhat hill dependant!



G

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I wish my wheelies were intentional...

How is that ???
wrong side ??
I'm confused...
that's very new to me... a LC4 is one of the most easiest 600+ bike to start with a kickstarter... "well if done right" even without the decompression leaver or snapped cable.. done that for over a year before I had the pennies to get the free-wheel-gear repaired... even did a trip to Scandinavia that way with a non working free-wheel-gear.

absolute no problem starting the bike with the left foot sitting fully loaded on the bike, just find the dead centre, push the leaver ones more down half way after that, let it come up again and give it a good kick and off you go.

Even now with the e-starter fully working again, do I use the kickstarter if the bike is cold, in the morning to prevent the e-starter from getting used more than necessary or worn down... only use the e-starter if the bike is warm, using the e-starter when the bike is cold puts a lot of strain to the starter and battery.

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The trouble is that he was talking in philosophy, but they were listening in gibberish.

Seriously......Pee In It!! there will be enough acid in there to make it work with urine till you get to somewhere that you can rinse the cells amd refill.

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I don't think my aim is good enough for that !chug

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Blessed are the cracked, for they let in the light. - Spike Milligan
"When you come to a fork in the road ,take it ! When you come to a spoon in the road ,take that also ."

I think Grant has provided the only sensible answer so far to this problem.

I had a cell die in my battery in Russia 2 years back. Although I was able to eventually get a jump start (I have no kick start and the CVT on my bike will not allow you to roll start), the bike only ran for 100km further before it died completely. I was most fortunate in having a passing local stop and assist me. He had a bike in the back of his FWD and by some miracle the battery from that bike fitted mine.

The problem is that with modern FI bikes, the FI shuts down if it is receiving < 11 volts from the battery - even though the alternator is pumping out 14+ volts.

I pulled all fuses to non-critical electrical components (lights etc.) but the bike still wouldn't stay running until I put in a good battery with all cells functioning - even though the replacement battery was a lower AH rating it still worked fine (ran all elecrics including the electric start) for 5 days until I could replace it

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Garry from Oz - powered by Burgman

So how does the FI/ECU 'know' that the voltage is coming from the battery or the alternator? 12V is 12V no matter where it comes from...

I honestly don't know the answer to that question, and I wish I did. If there any auto-electrical boffins on the site I'd be very pleased to hear from them.

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Garry from Oz - powered by Burgman

For the record. Urine is usually around PH 6.0 so it is acidic, this could actually work as urine is also distilled by the kidneys. Although urine has salts and is not demineralised so it is not ideal but still it's a good point. Has anyone used urine to recover a battery?

The trouble is if the batter is either sealed or gel then urine wouldn't be even a temporary solution.

Incidentally on this topic of Urine, it can be used to relieve pain from box jellyfish and bluebottle (also know as Portugese man-of-war) stings due to the high quantity of amonia.

references:
pH - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jellyfish Sting Treatment - Will urine relieve the pain of a jellyfish sting

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TurboCharger + Francois (our BMW R1200gs) '07
www.riding2up.net, blog.riding2up.net

Just the thought of battery acid on my bell-end is making me wince

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I wish my wheelies were intentional...