Bike hard to jump, wont stay on, flames from exhaust, oh god what do i do

[Evitzee]

Also, the battery was stupid hard to find. I had to go to the powersports place I bought the bike from, and they only had one left. Autozone and Advanced Auto Parts had motorcycle batteries, but apparently the one that fits the Fz6 is hard to find? They had one that looked identical but was too thick. Anyways, all is well now!

I believe anybody who doesn't have their bike set up for a Battery Tender is just asking for this kind of trouble. If you use the bike every day of the year it probably is not that important, but most bikes sit during the week or during the off season and any battery will self discharge. You are asking for trouble and jumping the battery when it is under the tank is a major PITA. Pay $40 for a Battery Tender Jr, hook up the connectors to the terminals, plug it in when the bike is not being used, and your problems are over. Your bike will always be charged and ready to go, and the battery will last years longer because it won't constantly be deep cycling. Why people go through this makes no sense to me.

 

[Extremity]

I'm going to reply in here again instead of making a new thread.

So being the absolute moron I am, the next day I left the key in the bike, AGAIN, because I was in a rush to run into work due to being late. Needless to say, it was dead when I came to start it. Had girlfriend come with cables, went through the pain in the ass jumping process, died once I dropped the tank. Did it again and had the GF keep the engine revved at 6k while I put it back together, grabbed it and kept RPMs up after about 6 mins of full rev, died on the main highway as soon as I had to pull the clutch in.

Anyways, I went and got a charger and put it on the slowest charge for 6 hours until it was at about 85%. Put it in, started fine, check engine light for about 10 seconds and then it went away, drove home fine. On the way to work today it died while I was waiting for a right turn. Started up again fine, died the next time I had to slow down to a stop in a turn lane. Started up again, died again. Made it to a parking spot, went to work.

I came out and rode around and rode home and it was fine. All of my connections are secure, I'm positive. Could it just be a freak occurrence (off topic, "occurrence" is spelled really weird) or should I be worried?

Now that I have a quality charger I'm not worried about needing to charge it, but you're right when you say that jumping it is a huge pain in the ass. I looked at that product (the Jr thing) you linked. Is it just a normal charger? Something where I could hook it up and have terminals outside the tank with a protective weather-proof cap or something that I can unscrew would be awesome so I can jump it or charge it without taking it apart - is that what that is, or am I misunderstanding the product? Also, keeping it on a charge in the bike is out of the question. I live in an apartment complex on the second floor, and my bike is at the end of the parking lot. Not only would I be worried about somebody messing with it, but the closest power outlet is like 100 feet away.

I was also looking into the jumpers that have a battery built in, the standalone units. Is that for jumping only or can it charge the battery too? It would be nice for my girlfriend to be able to bring one unit to me in this situation instead of me having to take apart the entire bike, take the battery out, put the bike back together in case it rains or something, and then going back at 4am once the battery is charged and repeating the process again to put it back in. Are those any good?

 

[Evitzee]

If your nearest power point is 100 ft away a Battery Tender won't be of any use for you. Yes, theoretically you could use the harness that is permanently attached to the battery as a jumping connection in conjunction with the cable with the normal alligator clamps that is also included with the Battery Tender. That way you wouldn't have to remove the tank each time. But leaving the keys in the ignition with it turned on is self defeating. It sounds as if you are using the kill switch to stop the engine. If so, STOP IT. That is not what it is for. The kill switch is for emergency purposes, not day to day use. Use the KEY to turn off the engine and take it with you. If you forget the key at least the bike won't be dead when you get back to it (if someone hasn't stolen it in the meantime).

 

[Extremity]

If your nearest power point is 100 ft away a Battery Tender won't be of any use for you. Yes, theoretically you could use the harness that is permanently attached to the battery as a jumping connection in conjunction with the cable with the normal alligator clamps that is also included with the Battery Tender. That way you wouldn't have to remove the tank each time. But leaving the keys in the ignition with it turned on is self defeating. It sounds as if you are using the kill switch to stop the engine. If so, STOP IT. That is not what it is for. The kill switch is for emergency purposes, not day to day use. Use the KEY to turn off the engine and take it with you. If you forget the key at least the bike won't be dead when you get back to it (if someone hasn't stolen it in the meantime).

Wow, really? I've literally never heard this. So I leave the kill switch to on all the time and just use the key? Is it actually bad for the bike or is it just a bad habit? I used to turn it off from the key and I thought *that* was bad for whatever reason, I figured the switch was there... to use. Anyways, it's only there to use for emergencies? Like what, bike starts going out of control or throttle is stuck or something? What are some real-world examples?

Is there anything else like this I should know? This is my first bike, never had a dirt bike, never anything other than an automatic car. I never knew you had to maintain your chain or your gears or anything until 3 days ago, and I had a friend look at it and apparently I'm screwed and just need to buy a new chain. Anyways, you guys are my only source of bike-related knowledge. I don't have friends with bike, I don't have people to ride with, nobody in my family (locally) rides bikes, it's literally just what I know (which is nothing) and what I read. Are there any other things like this I should know?

 

[sxty8goats]

It is there so that when you go down in a bloody broken heep, a bystander can shut the bike down. Mostly it is an extra' kill switch. It doesn't hurt the bike to use it. Mainly bad habbit as it allows you to kill the engine while leaving the key in the ignition. stop using it and start using the key. It will save you from a lot of problems.

And fully charge the battery. It is probably ok as you really only drained it once and it is new. But it should be re-charged completely.