FJRiders.com

LKLD wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 7:43 pm Rode it to Tifton, GA. Avoided Atlanta (per Marie’s instruction/order), and no interstates. Negligible traffic the whole way. It was a good day riding.

https://www.relive.cc/view/vPOpZr8PVRq

That's funny...my wife is driving to Tifton tomorrow... On her way down to Tampa Monday. She asked me which way to get there...I said follow the gps, but don't go through Atlanta. Sorry it was so cold and wet while y'all were up this way.

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 8:43 pm

LKLD wrote: ↑Sat Apr 16, 2022 7:43 pm Rode it to Tifton, GA. Avoided Atlanta (per Marie’s instruction/order), and no interstates. Negligible traffic the whole way. It was a good day riding.

https://www.relive.cc/view/vPOpZr8PVRq

That's funny...my wife is driving to Tifton tomorrow... On her way down to Tampa Monday. She asked me which way to get there...I said follow the gps, but don't go through Atlanta. Sorry it was so cold and wet while y'all were up this way.

It wasn’t bad. We had a fabulous time, and great memories.

Celebrating our 32yrs around the Sun together.

I removed the Garmin 595 octopus cable and installed my new zumo XT cable and mount. Huge difference in brightness but definitely a different animal for routing. At the end of the day I was about 120 miles from home on the road I actually live on but I could not get the XT to take my straight down that road to my house. But I'll figure it out. I knew when I bought it it has some weird algorithms.

I also re-did the shimming of my wind shield. Several people said to shim the bottom out more. That sux for me so I went the other way- shim the top out to stand the wind shield up straighter. Mucho gooder! First time in a while I didn't end the day with a neck muscle tension headache.

Nice mix of highway and country roads for about 330 miles.

edit: and as I told our local text group, "if I ever meet up with the bass turd that designed the Gen3 battery cover he's gonna hear some unpleasant things about his intelligence, his lineage and his pets!" I've already got the newer version but geez, that's a giant PITA. I can't imagine ever having to do it on the side of the road in the dark.

We made it to our hotel in Key West yesterday around 5 after much stop and go traffic heading south. Got up early this morning to go take a bike pic at the buoy and then over to the lighthouse for a pic there. Now to go get some breakfast then relax by the pool for a little.

New battery. I think the Yuasa I took out may have been the original from the factory.

rbentnail wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 6:13 pm New battery. I think the Yuasa I took out may have been the original from the factory.

I still have the original factory Yuasa in my 2011. Reserve capacity appears to be down a bit and doesn't turn over with as much authority as it used to - especially if it hasn't been ridden in a week or more. (I never use a tender but do a "top-up" charge every month or two in the winter off-season.) I will probably be looking for a replacement by this time next year...

FJRoss wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 6:21 pm

rbentnail wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 6:13 pmNew battery. I think the Yuasa I took out may have been the original from the factory.

I still have the original factory Yuasa in my 2011. Reserve capacity appears to be down a bit and doesn't turn over with as much authority as it used to - especially if it hasn't been ridden in a week or more. (I never use a tender but do a "top-up" charge every month or two in the winter off-season.) I will probably be looking for a replacement by this time next year...

FJRoss,

Just a quick thought, but dirty battery wiring terminals and battery posts can act just like a weak (or dead) battery.
Clean shiny metal at all battery connections keep the battery and working and charging better.

Red wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 10:08 pm

FJRoss wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 6:21 pm

rbentnail wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 6:13 pmNew battery. I think the Yuasa I took out may have been the original from the factory.

I still have the original factory Yuasa in my 2011. Reserve capacity appears to be down a bit and doesn't turn over with as much authority as it used to - especially if it hasn't been ridden in a week or more. (I never use a tender but do a "top-up" charge every month or two in the winter off-season.) I will probably be looking for a replacement by this time next year...

FJRoss,

Just a quick thought, but dirty battery wiring terminals and battery posts can act just like a weak (or dead) battery.
Clean shiny metal at all battery connections keep the battery and working and charging better.

Terminals and connections are clean (and tight). I think I will be satisfied if I get 13 years and in excess of 100,000 miles out of this AGM battery. The one in my '07 only lasted 11 years and 160,000 miles or so.
Note: I agree with your comments but it doesn't apply in my case. The other thing to consider is that a starter motor with problems is not uncommon and will appear to have similar symptoms as a weak battery. Starting amps will be higher and usually worse when starter and engine are hot. Measure starting current with a clamp-on DC ammeter. Bad starter will draw more than 80 amperes.

I figure 8-9 yrs is nothing to complain about with a battery. It was getting a little tired, sometimes the needles would do a second sweep when starting the bike. And yes, clean and tight terminals. And yes, clean and tight casing ground connection. Geez, really?

I decided to go lithium, it's warm down here where I live and I am not a cold weather rider anyway. https://www.motobatt.us/MBT12B-4-Motobatt-12V-Battery_2

Interesting, do you notice the weight difference??

FastPappy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 8:11 am Interesting, do you notice the weight difference??

Yeah, I think his car tire is heavier than the standard mcy tire. Ooops. Good question, because that was all the focus when the lithium batteries came out.

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 10:09 am

FastPappy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 8:11 am Interesting, do you notice the weight difference??

Yeah, I think his car tire is heavier than the standard mcy tire. Ooops. Good question, because that was all the focus when the lithium batteries came out.

I can't believe one can really tell a difference between lithium and AGM battery in how the FJR rides. Seems akin to expecting a difference in handling when my GPS is mounted or not.

N4HHE wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 11:06 am

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 10:09 am

FastPappy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 8:11 am Interesting, do you notice the weight difference??

Yeah, I think his car tire is heavier than the standard mcy tire. Ooops. Good question, because that was all the focus when the lithium batteries came out.

I can't believe one can really tell a difference between lithium and AGM battery in how the FJR rides. Seems akin to expecting a difference in handling when my GPS is mounted or not.

Not to mention the difference between full tank and empty. I barely notice that 40 lb difference except when putting the bike on the centerstand.

N4HHE wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 11:06 am

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 10:09 am

FastPappy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 8:11 am Interesting, do you notice the weight difference??

Yeah, I think his car tire is heavier than the standard mcy tire. Ooops. Good question, because that was all the focus when the lithium batteries came out.

I can't believe one can really tell a difference between lithium and AGM battery in how the FJR rides. Seems akin to expecting a difference in handling when my GPS is mounted or not.

I fix the imbalance of the battery weight on the right by putting my BMW sippy cup holder on the left handlebars as well as letting my extra long dongle dangle on the left side of the tank.

FastPappy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 8:11 am Interesting, do you notice the weight difference??

Not a bit, makes no difference to me. What I did notice is how quickly the bike starts but any new, freshly charged battery will do that. No car tire yet.

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 10:09 am

FastPappy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 8:11 am Interesting, do you notice the weight difference??

Yeah, I think his car tire is heavier than the standard mcy tire. Ooops. Good question, because that was all the focus when the lithium batteries came out.

Hence the question. Since Russ can provide a valued opinion interested to hear his impressions.

FJRoss wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 11:17 am

N4HHE wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 11:06 am

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 10:09 am

Yeah, I think his car tire is heavier than the standard mcy tire. Ooops. Good question, because that was all the focus when the lithium batteries came out.

I can't believe one can really tell a difference between lithium and AGM battery in how the FJR rides. Seems akin to expecting a difference in handling when my GPS is mounted or not.

Not to mention the difference between full tank and empty. I barely notice that 40 lb difference except when putting the bike on the centerstand.

I actually notice the difference between half and full tank and I would venture to say the AGM battery weighs much more than a GPS so just looking for some impressions. Nothing earth shattering.

rbentnail wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 7:24 pm

FastPappy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 8:11 am Interesting, do you notice the weight difference??

Not a bit, makes no difference to me. What I did notice is how quickly the bike starts but any new, freshly charged battery will do that. No car tire yet.

Good to know. Don't think I would go that route up here where the temperatures do dip quite a bit and since I'm a (cheap) frugal SOB think I could go 3 or 4 AGMs to the price of the lithium.

FastPappy wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 7:55 pm

FJRoss wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 11:17 am

N4HHE wrote: ↑Thu Apr 21, 2022 11:06 am

I can't believe one can really tell a difference between lithium and AGM battery in how the FJR rides. Seems akin to expecting a difference in handling when my GPS is mounted or not.

Not to mention the difference between full tank and empty. I barely notice that 40 lb difference except when putting the bike on the centerstand.

I actually notice the difference between half and full tank and I would venture to say the AGM battery weighs much more than a GPS so just looking for some impressions. Nothing earth shattering.

Yuasa says that the YT14B-BS weighs 11.8 lb. Typically, Lithium batteries are around a third of the weight of AGM which would suggest maybe 8 lb lighter for Li. (The Motobatt linked by rbentnail claims just 2 lb so weight saving is almost 10 lb.) Some might be able to tell the difference 8 or 10 lb makes in handling but I am pretty sure I couldn't. Battery weight is high up but so is fuel.

https://www.yuasabatteries.com/battery/ ... e_id=31138

Spring is in the air. Tire changer set up, FJR parked on the lift, fresh sneakers inbound...