CBR600F4i Battery Thoughts / Suggestions / Things to Check
Discussion
I've recently bought a 2003 Honda CBR600F4I. It has a Datatool Series 3 alarm and has had a fairly recent battery (March I believe).
I left it at work one day last week and couldn't start it on my return, believing it was caused by me leaving the lights on (not even sure it is possible to leave the lights on with no ignition??!!) It started immediately when jump started and I put it back on the battery conditioner back home.
I noticed that the battery conditioner was hovering at around 12.9v even after it was left for several days. This morning it would not start - again only starting following a jump start. Once running, no issues, it shows no signs of cutting out when stopped and idles perfectly.
What do you think I should I check / replace / remove please?
Many thanks,
Jon
I left it at work one day last week and couldn't start it on my return, believing it was caused by me leaving the lights on (not even sure it is possible to leave the lights on with no ignition??!!) It started immediately when jump started and I put it back on the battery conditioner back home.
I noticed that the battery conditioner was hovering at around 12.9v even after it was left for several days. This morning it would not start - again only starting following a jump start. Once running, no issues, it shows no signs of cutting out when stopped and idles perfectly.
What do you think I should I check / replace / remove please?
Many thanks,
Jon
Will do, I suspect the battery must be toast already too though because it doesn't seem to have accepted charge from the Oxford Conditioner... In addition to doing the check you describe I will also try it on an Optimate 3 conditioner I have that shows the state of the battery more clearly.
Hi there, I needed to get the bike jump started before coming home and put it straight on the multimeter without stopping the engine.
I found around:
13.3v at idle.
12.7v when the cooling fan kicked in.
14.7v when opening the throttle up to 2500 revs
still around 14.7v when taking it up to 5000 revs.
I've plugged it into an Optimate 3 but I'm guessing that the Rectifier seems to be working properly?
Makes me suspicious of the alarm drain... its one that auto-arms itself and there is no means of actually switching off.
I found around:
13.3v at idle.
12.7v when the cooling fan kicked in.
14.7v when opening the throttle up to 2500 revs
still around 14.7v when taking it up to 5000 revs.
I've plugged it into an Optimate 3 but I'm guessing that the Rectifier seems to be working properly?
Makes me suspicious of the alarm drain... its one that auto-arms itself and there is no means of actually switching off.
The Optimate quickly moved from checking amber to green (all good).
The seller didn't have another bike and I've just been through the receipts. There is a receipt for a new battery on 6th August 2013 and another receipt for a new battery on 13th March 2014! He said several times I might want to get the alarm removed (I have the certificate for its fitment on 1st February 2003 which was the day the bike was registered). He said that in Brighton he couldn't insure the bike at a reasonable premium without an alarm.
I'm suspecting that the alarm might be a major drain - where I live and park not having an alarm should not be a major issue (I have other security anyway).
The seller didn't have another bike and I've just been through the receipts. There is a receipt for a new battery on 6th August 2013 and another receipt for a new battery on 13th March 2014! He said several times I might want to get the alarm removed (I have the certificate for its fitment on 1st February 2003 which was the day the bike was registered). He said that in Brighton he couldn't insure the bike at a reasonable premium without an alarm.
I'm suspecting that the alarm might be a major drain - where I live and park not having an alarm should not be a major issue (I have other security anyway).
Hi guys,
The battery when fully charged is showing 12.8 - 12.9v (slightly below the 13-13.2v that Honda recommend. I ran some drain tests on the battery and could not find any notable drain except when you disarm the alarm - the very loud cherps from the alarm seem to decimate the voltage and prevent the bike from starting even after a full recharge.
I'm thinking I'll jump start it and wheel it down to the local bike mechanic, asking them to give the bike a general once over and to remove the alarm. I need reliability far above security... I'm guessing once the alarm is removed I might still need a new battery but 12.8v - 12.9v might be sufficient to start it without the alarm disarm drain.
Sound sensible?
The battery when fully charged is showing 12.8 - 12.9v (slightly below the 13-13.2v that Honda recommend. I ran some drain tests on the battery and could not find any notable drain except when you disarm the alarm - the very loud cherps from the alarm seem to decimate the voltage and prevent the bike from starting even after a full recharge.
I'm thinking I'll jump start it and wheel it down to the local bike mechanic, asking them to give the bike a general once over and to remove the alarm. I need reliability far above security... I'm guessing once the alarm is removed I might still need a new battery but 12.8v - 12.9v might be sufficient to start it without the alarm disarm drain.
Sound sensible?
Thanks very much, those comparative figures will be useful.
I'm going to be using the bike daily from the end of this month so have booked it into my local bike mechanic to get the alarm removed and it generally checked over. I'm too new to biking to be anywhere near an expert and hope /trust/expect that I can get a low mileage 2003 Honda which is generally in very good shape into a very reliable state.
I'm going to be using the bike daily from the end of this month so have booked it into my local bike mechanic to get the alarm removed and it generally checked over. I'm too new to biking to be anywhere near an expert and hope /trust/expect that I can get a low mileage 2003 Honda which is generally in very good shape into a very reliable state.
Thanks very much guys for all of your advice. I had the alarm removed and the battery replaced (even once the alarm was removed it was too far gone). So far so good 
hopefully all sorted now. No other gremlins were noted, just minor chain adjustment, an additional spacer added to the centre stand mount and an extra cable tie to route the scottoiler without any potential fouling.
Happy, safe riding everyone!
hopefully all sorted now. No other gremlins were noted, just minor chain adjustment, an additional spacer added to the centre stand mount and an extra cable tie to route the scottoiler without any potential fouling.Happy, safe riding everyone!
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