GSX-R 1000 K5 Battery has low voltage

[JimClark49]

Hi All,

Tried to start bike yesterday and the ignition comes on but the bike does not turn over. It seems the original Yuasa battery is on its way out. I checked the voltage and it's 10.7 and that's after an overnight trickle charge with optimate.

Do you think it's safe to say I need a new battery?

PS: the bike does not have an alarm.

[Tommo13]

10.7v ! Yep I think it's fair to say it's done ? Could be time for a new Yuasa or to change it for a swanky lightweight Lithium job ?

[Ho Lee Kau]

Tommo13 said:

10.7v ! Yep I think it's fair to say it's done ? Could be time for a new Yuasa or to change it for a swanky lightweight Lithium job ?

Batteries are cheap. I'd also go for Lithium-Ion, 2kg lighter, more juice and keeps juice longer.

[trickywoo]

Ho Lee Kau said:

Batteries are cheap. I'd also go for Lithium-Ion, 2kg lighter, more juice and keeps juice longer.

Won't you also need a new charger for it as IIRC the normal lead acid chargers don't also do Lithium.

[JimClark49]

Yuasa is about £60 from Halfords.
http://www.halfords.com/motoring/motorcycling/moto...

How much are lithium-ion batteries (I thought they might be about £120?) That's double the price for weight saving I potentially don't really need.

Are there any online suppliers you can recommend?

[Prof Prolapse]

Presumably you checked the voltage before you "trickle charged" it, and have checked the voltage across the terminals with the engine running before confirming the battery is goosed?

I've never understood the appeal of Lithium batteries personally. In addition to needing a specific charger, the sprung weight saving is irrelevant on a road bike, they cost more, and they are much less unforgiving to irregular charging.

I'd just buy another £40 Yuasa battery personally. You can pay more if you wish to shop at Halfords however.

[JimClark49]

Prof Prolapse said:

Presumably you checked the voltage before you "trickle charged" it, and have checked the voltage across the terminals with the engine running before confirming the battery is goosed?

I've never understood the appeal of Lithium batteries personally. In addition to needing a specific charger, the sprung weight saving is irrelevant on a road bike, they cost more, and they are much less unforgiving to irregular charging.

I'd just buy another £40 Yuasa battery personally. You can pay more if you wish to shop at Halfords however.

Thanks for this info.

I didn't check the voltage before the trickle charge unfortunately. However, I am not sure how to get the engine running with dead battery. Should I use jump leads?

Agreed that lithium ion batteries are unneccessary.

[Prof Prolapse]

JimClark49 said:

Thanks for this info.

I didn't check the voltage before the trickle charge unfortunately. However, I am not sure how to get the engine running with dead battery. Should I use jump leads?

Agreed that lithium ion batteries are unneccessary.

Ideally you'd have a battery tester but few of us do, I'm assuming that you have a battery charger an a voltmeter? Everyone who runs a 12 year old vehicle probably should!

Take out the battery and charge it properly. Once it's up to 12.5v+ it should start the bike. If it doesn't, or is excessively laboured, then you can conclude the battery is indeed fked.

Once the bike is running, put your voltmeter across the terminals. It should be at circa 14.5volts, if it isn't you have a charging issue. This could result in battery damage, but not necessarily so, none the less it requires further investigation.

Alternatively you can use jump leads, I'd suggest using a car battery, and make sure the car isn't running. Again, you should be aiming to rule out charging issues, so once it's started and you've removed the donor battery, again check the voltage across the terminals.

Just bear in mind if your jumping it with the battery is half dead, you're going to have to do a big run to get it back up to a decent voltage again as tickover won't charge it at any decent rate, and the risk is you can stall and end up stranded.

It mine seem a pointless exercise if everything is charging as it should and you conclude it's the battery, but it only takes 10 minutes and means you've at least made a partial diagnosis before throwing a battery at it.

ETA: You mentioned an alarm system. Unless you're feeling very confident, you may want to consider this as well, otherwise you may unnecessarily conclude it's the battery from what the process I described. You need to measure the drain with the engine off with a ammeter, an example guide is here;

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/technology/ho...

Edited by Prof Prolapse on Wednesday 22 February 10:25

[cmaguire]

JimClark49 said:

Prof Prolapse said:

Presumably you checked the voltage before you "trickle charged" it, and have checked the voltage across the terminals with the engine running before confirming the battery is goosed?

I've never understood the appeal of Lithium batteries personally. In addition to needing a specific charger, the sprung weight saving is irrelevant on a road bike, they cost more, and they are much less unforgiving to irregular charging.

I'd just buy another £40 Yuasa battery personally. You can pay more if you wish to shop at Halfords however.

Thanks for this info.

I didn't check the voltage before the trickle charge unfortunately. However, I am not sure how to get the engine running with dead battery. Should I use jump leads?

Agreed that lithium ion batteries are unneccessary.

Dependent on the bike and your own weight I'd go with the lithium as it knocks 2Kg off and has more cranking amps as well. Fairly pointless on a non-sports bike or if you have a gut though.
The special charger is a bit of a nonsense though. They can be charged normally and it's only trickle chargers that can be problematic. On a bike with an alarm then you probably would need to consider a charger, but otherwise just give it a charge once a month if unused.
When I bought I paid £150 odd for the GSXR, although I notice in the last few months there are several different brands available way cheaper like Shido and JWT (could be ste of course).


Just did a few checks. It's chargers with 'recovery' de-sulphation feature that are incompatible full-stop in addition to trickle charging being bad.

Edited by cmaguire on Wednesday 22 February 13:22

[Ho Lee Kau]

trickywoo said:

Ho Lee Kau said:

Batteries are cheap. I'd also go for Lithium-Ion, 2kg lighter, more juice and keeps juice longer.

Won't you also need a new charger for it as IIRC the normal lead acid chargers don't also do Lithium.

Yes, you would.
Personally I just run my bikes once a month or so for 10-20km on the road during the 2-3 months when it is cold. They stay operational. I don't have a charger.

[JimClark49]

Prof Prolapse said:

Ideally you'd have a battery tester but few of us do, I'm assuming that you have a battery charger an a voltmeter? Everyone who runs a 12 year old vehicle probably should!

Take out the battery and charge it properly. Once it's up to 12.5v+ it should start the bike. If it doesn't, or is excessively laboured, then you can conclude the battery is indeed fked.

Once the bike is running, put your voltmeter across the terminals. It should be at circa 14.5volts, if it isn't you have a charging issue. This could result in battery damage, but not necessarily so, none the less it requires further investigation.

Alternatively you can use jump leads, I'd suggest using a car battery, and make sure the car isn't running. Again, you should be aiming to rule out charging issues, so once it's started and you've removed the donor battery, again check the voltage across the terminals.

Just bear in mind if your jumping it with the battery is half dead, you're going to have to do a big run to get it back up to a decent voltage again as tickover won't charge it at any decent rate, and the risk is you can stall and end up stranded.

It mine seem a pointless exercise if everything is charging as it should and you conclude it's the battery, but it only takes 10 minutes and means you've at least made a partial diagnosis before throwing a battery at it.

ETA: You mentioned an alarm system. Unless you're feeling very confident, you may want to consider this as well, otherwise you may unnecessarily conclude it's the battery from what the process I described. You need to measure the drain with the engine off with a ammeter, an example guide is here;

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/technology/ho...

Edited by Prof Prolapse on Wednesday 22 February 10:25

Prof - I used jump leads to start bike, and with the engine running, the voltage was changing every second from 13.6 down to 8.1 i.e. it was not consistent. When giving some revs, the voltage actually went down rather than up, and I could also see the headlights dimming when revving the engine.

What does this indicate?

[Moulder]

Based on the above I would get a new battery first, if there is still an issue start looking at the regulator rectifier and the wiring from/to it.

[JimClark49]

Thanks Moulder.

When I originally charged it, I used Optimate 2, and on the box it says that can 'bulk' charge a battery from low voltage to the normal range. Obviously and 8 hour charge was not enough, which probably indicates the battery just cannot hold the charge and needs changing.

[MotorsportTom]

JimClark49 said:

Prof - I used jump leads to start bike, and with the engine running, the voltage was changing every second from 13.6 down to 8.1 i.e. it was not consistent. When giving some revs, the voltage actually went down rather than up, and I could also see the headlights dimming when revving the engine.

What does this indicate?

I may be telling you to suck eggs but first are you 100% sure you had it on the right setting?

Depending what you were using it can be confusing which setting to have it on. Usually its something like 20v, 200v increments.
If it is still the case it indicates a charging issue.

Essentially the reason for brightening/dimming lights is the regulator/rectifier (the bit that turns the AC voltage to DC voltage) isn't doing it's job properly.

Most bikes I have had do it to a lesser or greater degree but then again I have had a few Hondas which are reknown for st reg recs.

Look at all of the wiring to the reg/rec (google pictures to find what they look like if you don't know) and see what the condition of wiring looks like. Is it charred by the plug? has the wiring gone stiff?

Usually the weakest point fails first i.e. the wiring, if it's not charging properly they will goose the battery hence you are having issues starting.

Before spending money check the above and then you will know where to spend money.

Likelihood is you will need a new battery or reg/rec or stator... or a combination of them.

[Prof Prolapse]

JimClark49 said:

Prof - I used jump leads to start bike, and with the engine running, the voltage was changing every second from 13.6 down to 8.1 i.e. it was not consistent. When giving some revs, the voltage actually went down rather than up, and I could also see the headlights dimming when revving the engine.

What does this indicate?

Can suggest one or more of the coils in the stator is knackered.

There is a plug with 3 connectors leaving the stator. Check if it is fried. You can test each of the coils with your voltmeter with the engine running, there's guides online but happy to talk you through it.

Could also be a regulator issue or a nice simply bad contact of voltmeter.

[trickywoo]

Could be chicken and egg as regards the stator. There is a school of thought that says a knackered battery will work the stator much harder than a good battery and possibly lead to overheating and shorting the windings.

I'd not run it any more with the battery you have, it's goosed. Put a new fully charged battery in and test the current again when running. If is doing the same or not showing 13.6 v plus you may also have a stator issue.

[Prof Prolapse]

I'm on my phone so may have missed something...

Why the cries of new battery? There's nothing here that demonstrates it conclusively.

[trickywoo]

Prof Prolapse said:

I'm on my phone so may have missed something...

Why the cries of new battery? There's nothing here that demonstrates it conclusively.

It was showing 10.7 v after an overnight Optimate charge. Either the battery, optimate or volt meter are fecked. Given the OP said the ignition would come on but not turnover I'd say the battery is gone.

[JimClark49]

Some further information: I left the optimate on all day today and the optimate was showing battery as fully charged. The measured voltage went up to 13.5. I just tried to start it now, but the bike wouldn't turn over and the voltage dropped to 10.7.

This tells me the battery is definitely gone right?

PS: I am using a Ring Automotive battery tester, so no calibration. The digital display lights up as soon as I put the wires on the terminal.
PPS: thanks for all the help and suggestions so far, very informative.

[Prof Prolapse]

trickywoo said:

It was showing 10.7 v after an overnight Optimate charge. Either the battery, optimate or volt meter are fecked. Given the OP said the ignition would come on but not turnover I'd say the battery is gone.

He said an overnight "trickle charge", if the voltage was sufficiently low to start with, a trickle charge would not necessarily fully charge a battery in this time. I agree it is probably knackered, but it's only the below which confirms.

JimClark49 said:

Some further information: I left the optimate on all day today and the optimate was showing battery as fully charged. The measured voltage went up to 13.5. I just tried to start it now, but the bike wouldn't turn over and the voltage dropped to 10.7.

This tells me the battery is definitely gone right?

PS: I am using a Ring Automotive battery tester, so no calibration. The digital display lights up as soon as I put the wires on the terminal.
PPS: thanks for all the help and suggestions so far, very informative.

Assuming this is proper charger set up correctly, I would finally agree it's knackered.

Throw a new battery on it by all means, but you really do need to recheck your charging figures. A dead battery should not have led to the figures you saw and will leave you with bigger bills if left undiagnosed.