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Re: [St] Hmm... toasty! ...and battery woes



On Fri 28 Nov 2008, Gavin Lawrie wrote:
>
> For the technically minded, I ended up with a vest from an unknown (to
> me) provider called Klan.  Packaging had lots of italian on it, so
> perhaps it is a Euro brand.

A friend of mine got Klan heated overgrips (wrap around the standard grips 
with Velcro) a few years ago for his Guzzi. No problems I'm aware of.

On the subject of hot things, the Triumph heated grips don't draw that much 
current, but I think they're what's pushing my battery close to the edge. My 
commute is only 7 miles each way in city traffic, revs rarely rise above 
3000-3500 for long, I have the twin dip headlight mod, and prefer to wear 
summer gloves if possible for better feel. So I've been using the grips on 
full heat a lot lately. No problems starting the bike in the morning or 
evening, but last week I broke my already-short journey halfway and the bike 
would not restart.* A kind person helped me push-start it. 7 miles isn't much 
to put back what the starter uses, especially with a bigger electrical load 
in winter. I'm going to give my bike a weekend trickle charge for the rest of 
the winter at least. Unfortunately a long run at the weekend is not an option 
at present :/ Battery is a genuine Yuasa 18 months old, the electrical system 
checks out ok, and the bike is in use every weekday, year round.

I've got PIAA spots on the bike too, but use them minimally (filtering in very 
heavy traffic) as they really do drain the battery!

* If I had a headlight switch, I probably could have started the bike. By the 
time I pulled the lighting fuses**, I'd tried the starter a few times with 
the lights on. There is no relay (on EU-spec bikes at least) to keep the 
lights off until the motor starts. A 'safety measure' that can leave you 
stranded at night in the middle of nowhere is one I can do without.

** Of course it's only after the seat lock has engaged when push-starting the 
bike, that you realise you have to turn the ignition off to get the key to 
open the seat to put the fuses back in...


Eoin

'04 ST955i

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