I'm guessing **most** of the year you don't use this equipment tho (Y/N??). How much of the year do you use it and does your bike tolerate the 100+ Watt option?
I'm asking as it appears your bike also runs a little lower voltage than some so taking into account the hotter temps there, (correct me if I'm wrong) but we agree sustained higher temps common to your locale will degrade a batteries health quicker, but considering the low miles on your bike it suggests its not actually out in the heat that much. From this, I'm trying to see if the use of gear is the greater assault on battery life than the temperatures? Make sense? Mainly because it appears its also stored inside where the temps don't swing wildly....
I'm just trying to get a clear picture of its daily/yearly life and why some batteries last longer than others. Also IIRC you seldom RTSOOI (Run the Sh$t Out Of It), which seems to keep my battery in check!
Can I make a few more assumptions?
==========================
Items that may impact battery life:
==========================
- Riding style
- Traffic when ridden
- Weather/Exposure when parked
- Down time (winter etc)
- Weather/Exposure when ridden
- Extra Loads/heated gear, lighting, gadgets
- Average run time
F/I's 6+ year old battery
- Riding style = much Zoom, lots of higher RPM
- Traffic when ridden = mostly pleasure, rare in town idle for more then 15"
- Weather/Exposure when parked = exposed to temperature but sheltered. Winter is 2 mo in the teens, 2 months in the 40's. Summer ~ 2 mo 90's. Rest of the time is 65F avg.
- Weather/Exposure when ridden 55 ~ 95F, but mostly 70s 80s.
- Sitting time = parked for winter 3~4 months. ~ 4 - 4,500 miles per season weekends mostly.
- Extra Loads/heated gear, lighting, gadgets = dual headlight only, Rear lighting is all LEDs.
- Average run time = Always more than an hour. Typically upwards of 2 or more per time ridden.
Its always garaged and in the garage, during summer(it is insulated), its well over 100F in there.
I don't know off hand what the vest and gloves pull wattage wise and yes your correct re the usage. Once it drops to 45F or so, out comes the heated gear. Maybe use them (short of winter road trips)
maybe a week total for winter.
The Widder vest, CANNOT be used at 100%, its just too hot. Usually 50% is plenty. 99% of my trips are around town, speed limits in town, max of 55MPH. Idle time (1,100) no more than 3-4 minutes.
It does see triple digits occasionally when crossing a local, LONG (2 lanes in each direction) bridge, divided median or a short hard run on occassion. But no, it doesn't see redline often..
I do ride almost everyday (not a commuter) and no, it rarely gets run to red line short of a cage (bike) next to me who thinks he's fast, then yes, its run hard.
As noted previously, my FJR,
to the month, @3 years, would need a new battery. All bikes got OEM Yuasa's, charged before install, etc..
My other bikes, before tenders, were about the same time frame- replacement wise.
This one's going on 3.5 years now, in the video I posted, you can see
cold cranking voltage drop to 10 volts. I'm NOT losing the clock yet. Once that happens, out goes the old, in goes the new...
Summer temps are at least 6 months, 1-2 months of cold winter (for down here), rarely see's 30's(maybe 2-3 nights a year). In a month or so, its riding season where your
not in the 90's everyday.. That'll last untill April maybe..
My old 1989 KLR 250 was used as my commuter prior to the year 2000. It had 73,000 miles on the clock when I sold it (2 engine rebuilds) but I used the heated gear on that as well. Being a kick start only engine, the battery was half the size of the FZ. Same procedure, turn off gear when stopped, etc. My 05 KLR 250 had 28,000 miles when I sold it.
Between all the bikes I've owned since down here (again, since 1979), I can document a bit over 200,000 miles. Any bike I've had longer than 3 years, the battery life was roughly the same..
BTW, the FZ was supposed to be my KLR "beater" replacement. I usually had 3 bikes at a time, thus the lower miles as it was spread out between bikes. The FZ turned out to be my fav, sold the rest and its it (I have been eyeing the 2014 FJR..
).
Belows the speedometer to my 05 KLR 250 just to show it was ridden(not a commuter either)
Re the lower charging voltage, I am getting
14.2 at the VR even when the battery shows roughly 13.8 volts. I believe, (and will verify one way or the other once the new battery is in) , the old sulfated battery isn't accepting the full charge sent to it.
On a previous thread, I did update it that the
voltage (static) was
exactly the same at the
battery and
the VR and my
Powerlet outlet.
! and I can't afford to have the bike sitting for a week waiting for the r/r to come in...
