Very sad day in Ossland --- for the Valkyrie

[Oss]

Was up to 28 degrees from 22 at breakfast at 1130am when I decided to take the Dragon for a ride. After all the wind has finally died down and the sky is clear blue

Holy crap it has been almost a month now since the Dragon has flown? I really didnt think so as I thought I rode at least twice since New Year day.  Its been cold tho and no heat in the garage

I suited up, opened the garage door, checked the tires for proper air and then sat on the bike, gave it a pat on the tank and turn key to first position

Hmmm turn signal is on, so I  turn it off

press start button for a second, not much oomph pull down choke all the way and try again

uh oh the ooomph is getting weaker, check kickstand up bike in neutral (ish) as the bike never wants to show me that green light always been like that since it was new

S H I T   bike wont start  wait a minute and try again with same result

So promptly looked for and found the trickle smart charger took off the seat and radio from above the battery, unhooked the neg side wires from the battery and taped them together with my blue painters tape and put the alligator clips on the terminals

So my brothers I guess I wont get to ride today as only a few hours left till the sun glare will make it tough to be seen, bummer as I will be out of the house all day from 8am tomorrow

Well in every life Stuff happens, just REALLY hate when it happens here to my Valkyrie, still have the beemer but I didnt want to ride it today, it was a Valkyrie kind of glorious day

Guess the dog is gonna get a nice long walk in a few minutes  

Ride em if ya got em

[The emperor has no clothes]

Whew ! Had me really scared for a minute there. Maybe you'll get lucky and have some squirrels or rabbits to take care of.  

[Hooter]

Sorry bout that OSS. I wish I could ride but too much ice and snow in the drives.  Really too much salt and sand anyway.

Just told the bride I'm going to the garage and fire up the heat and finish cleaning the ol girl. Gotta pull the bags and finish the back end and under the fender pad. Then to wax the same. Rest of the bike has been cleaned and waxed.

Then, time to nut and bolt the entire bike. I will start it before I come in later this afternoon. Think I'm gonna purchase a Digi Sync here pretty quick, no one around here has one, or even  Valkyrie for that matter.  This is how I spend my winters not riding and it beats setting in the house! Good luck to ya, be safe.

[old2soon]

You EVER scare me like dat again I'll drive to N Y and smack ya a good un! It's mechanical-THEY-yup-even our beloved Valkyries some time choose to say NO! Sorta kinda like the Female of our species!  And if you ask Ross-da prez-he'll tell you there was/is a REASON you Weren't sposed to ride today. Think and ponder on that one fer a bit. RIDE SAFE. PS-Ride safe when ya can!

[Hook#3287]

Whew ! Had me really scared for a minute there. Maybe you get lucky and have some squirrels or rabbits to take care of. 

Yeah, me too.  Saw that headline and went "Oh, Crap"

Oss, glad it was just a dead battery, those ain't nothing to sweat about.

[Disco]

Had me worried, Oss.  

You're closer to a solution than you might think.  You have a spare bike, but you don't have a spare Valkyrie!  

That said, I fired up the IS last weekend.  Easy - it's on a battery tender.  Then I fired up the GS.  Easy - it was the last one out for a day-long jaunt.  Then, because it was its turn for a jaunt, I went to the bee - and had an experience like you described.  It's on the charger now and another battery tender is on the shopping list.  

[Oss]

fixed the title at top of the thread  Sorry didnt mean to upset anyone

 

my first battery lasted over 8 yrs, now I am lucky to get 3 yrs

[Moonshot_1]

I saw the subject line before you changed it too.

Don't do that again. On a number of levels we are getting too old for it.

[cookiedough]

yah,  sort of same thing a few years ago first ride in April letting it sit for 4 months not riding during winter.  It fired right up, went for a short 3-4 miles ride and came back and fiddled with the preset radio stations, etc. with key turned on and then wanted to fire it up again.  DEAD.  Battery was NO more after about 5 years of use.   I had it fully charged prior and then all of a sudden would not hold a charge, so had to get another Yuasa off Amazon.com ASAP.

[scooperhsd]

Upper 40's here (a bit on the chilly side for me), but I had other errands to run today - get all 3 cars their NC Safety Inspection (2 needed new batteries, , and one of them needed new tires).

And yes - I said Safety Inspection ONLY - NC does not require emissions inspections on
A. vehicles that are too old for an OBDII port (I have a 1988 Acura Integra)
B Light Duty automotive DIESELS (I have a 2000 VW TDI New Beetle and a 2015 VW Golf TDI SE).



OSS- you need to get  Battery Tenders (trickle chargers) for your bikes when parking them for the winter - I easily go 4-5 years between bike batterys using it. Plus - my bike is ALWAYS ready to start...

[Challenger]

No riding in the Republic of Illinois today, Maybe tomorrow if it doesn't snow. but I did get some quality time in the garage, My wife was waxing and cleaning while I installed the new "smart switch" from Digisync and replaced some vac lines.
Just a note on that. Voltage at headlight (engine off) was 10.2 volts. with the smart switch installed I had 12.45 volts. at the light. Definitely an improvement. Thanks Bons.

[Jersey mike]

geeze Oss, you really know how to scare the crap outta people.

when I read the title I had a gut feeling you hit a patch of ice since I know you have a habit of cold weather cruising around.

glad it's just a battery. be safe.

[Jess from VA]

I felt the same way about another thread title on here that started........ I'll be passing on...from Old somebody.  (FL chapter)