Thursday, 16 April 2015

First ride of the year, almost.

Okay. The new tire is installed. The front fork oil has been changed, as has the engine oil and oil filter, and the transmission oil. The additional USB outlet is installed and ready to accept the GoPro plug-in. The bike has been gone over in detail to make sure everything is nice and tight and there won’t be any bits falling off as I go down the road. I even cleaned last year’s bugs off my riding glasses (although they remain on the windshield – tsk, tsk.)

It’s a bit cool this morning but the sun is out and it should warm up quickly. I’m good to go.
All right then – gear on, helmet on, gloves on, ignition on… click… click… click. CRAP!
The 8-year-old battery decided it had finally had enough. I knew it was getting on but I thought I had a few more months in it. Apparently not.

battery

So instead of the first ride I got a 160-kilometre round trip 4-wheel jaunt into the city for a new battery. I guess I’ll try again tomorrow.

And if anyone wants a dead battery, you can have it. It’s free of charge.

18 comments:

  1. RichardM16 April 2015 at 18:09

    Almost...

    Regular wet cell battery or AGM?

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    Replies
    1. Canajun16 April 2015 at 19:14

      Richard - Regular wet cell. It's what was available right away. Perhaps I'll try an AGM battery again in 8 years or so. :)

      Delete
  2. Coop a.k.a. Coopdway16 April 2015 at 21:59

    Bugs off?? ' no need to rush things, always time for tidy down the road. I've still been buying cheap wet cell batteries and with my sort-of record keeping system think I'm doing OK. So frustrating to be that close to heading out the driveway......

    Good luck with that new one and your next 8 years.

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    Replies
    1. Canajun17 April 2015 at 20:27

      Thanks Coop. Not too concerned about battery life if I can get 8 years between changes.

      Delete
  3. SonjaM17 April 2015 at 02:38

    8 years has been a good life span for a battery. Well, a new one is quickly obtained and then you can go play outside.

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    Replies
    1. Canajun17 April 2015 at 20:28

      Sonja - Now I'm REALLY ready to go as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

      Delete
  4. Gary Pickering17 April 2015 at 06:45

    Yes, eight years is a long life for a battery

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    Replies
    1. Canajun17 April 2015 at 20:30

      Gary - Keeping them on tenders year round seems to add a few years. This is the longest I've ever owned a motorcycle (coming up on 7 years); usually they are someone else's problem before the batteries go.

      Delete
  5. HighwayMan17 April 2015 at 15:10

    Free of charge...punny! I've managed to get in a few hundred kms on the winter bike. Still cool and lots of snow around down here on the rock.

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    Replies
    1. Canajun17 April 2015 at 20:33

      HighwayMan - Yes, well you had an even worse winter than we did so not surprising there's still snow on the ground. We have some left in shady areas, but the ice is still on the lake (may finally go tomorrow or Sunday), a testament to how cold it was and how thick the ice was this winter.

      Delete
  6. David Masse18 April 2015 at 08:21

    Does anyone remember kickstarts?

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    Replies
    1. Canajun18 April 2015 at 10:21

      David - True. Remember them very well. Also remember the hue and cry when bikes started coming out without them - early 80's if I recall correctly.

      Delete
    2. RichardM18 April 2015 at 20:37

      My newer bike still has one and it gets regular use...

      Delete
  7. Trobairitz18 April 2015 at 10:37

    Doh! Did you at least make vroom vroom noises while you were sitting there or were they just a few curse words perhaps?

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    Replies
    1. Canajun18 April 2015 at 19:45

      Trobairitz - The air was a bit blue I must admit. But I was in a hurry for an appointment so had to revert to Plan B quickly and didn't have time to rant.

      Delete
  8. Conchscooter19 April 2015 at 19:55

    Some elderly Vespas don't have batteries at all.

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    Replies
    1. Canajun20 April 2015 at 15:15

      Conchscooter - True, back in the magneto days.

      Delete
  9. Conchscooter19 April 2015 at 19:55

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

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