TT250 New Bike Bad Battery?

[ScoTT250]

Hi all,

I’m about 2 weeks and 40 miles deep into my new TT250 and very much enjoying it so far. Today I decided to use it for my commute to work and I mapped out a route that was mostly dirt. Bike started fine w/choke this morning. Before I got out the gate, I let the rpms dip too much and it died. Went to re-start and the battery just couldn’t get the job done. I went back up the hill, bump started and then rode to work.

This left me wondering if the stock battery is a weak point on these bikes? I’m assuming it might be given the pricing. I’ve been riding every 2-4 days and it was chilly this morning but not that cold so I was a little surprised it only had one start worth of cranking power.

Have others had a similar experience? What batteries have people been happy with?

Scott

[culcune]

Originally Posted by ScoTT250

Have others had a similar experience? What batteries have people been happy with?

Scott

Contact CSC first. They stand behind their products, and you should see what they say before you spend money out of pocket for a battery.

[JerryHawk250]

Being that it is a new bike, i would first try putting it on a trickle charge overnight. With only 40 miles on it, it may not have received a good charge yet.

[ScoTT250]

Good suggestions both. I may have been too quick to assume it came with a junk battery. I’ll hook it up to my trickle charger and see if that makes a difference. Those 40 miles have been across 4 trips in the dirt so if the battery was low to begin with it could still be running a deficit. It started fine for my afternoon trip home, but I only had to crank it over once and the weather was warmer.

If a trickle charge doesn’t fix it, I’ll check with CSC. I want to pick up some spare parts from them anyways. As this is the first new vehicle I’ve ever bought I’m not yet in the mindset yet of “take it to the dealer”.

[TxTaoRider]

I'd check to see if the charging system is working. Sometimes the regulator/rectifier connectors come loose.

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by TxTaoRider

I'd check to see if the charging system is working. Sometimes the regulator/rectifier connectors come loose.

Excellent suggestion. If the charging circuit is not connected or got a failed rectifier or what have you, the voltage across the battery poles when it is running will be less than 13 volts (at maybe 2000 rpm). If it is 11volts or less at idle, it is just discharging the battery. It should at least push 12V at idle, and when revved jump to up over 13V.

Note: I just began uncrating a TBR7 and the sealed battery that came with it was registering 10.9V so I put it on a charger. It is back up to charged state now, but we will monitor is after installation to verify that it has charge going into it when the bike is running (and that it starts the bike )

[ScoTT250]

I took a look today and the battery was sitting at 12.5 volts. This is after a 25 minute ride home from work yesterday and sitting for about 24 hrs. With the engine at idle it was around 13v. I put it on my 1.5 amp “Battery Companion” and it switched over from “charging” to “charged” in about 15 mins. Looks like all is well and the other morning was probably a fluke maybe influenced by cold weather.

I see harbor freight sells a battery tender with an attachment setup for installing on the battery. I might pick one of those up for $20.

I was always taught to disconnect batteries before charging, but obviously you’re not doing that with a trickle charger w/a permanent connection. Was “needing” to disconnect the battery a myth?

[severely]

Originally Posted by ScoTT250

I took a look today and the battery was sitting at 12.5 volts. This is after a 25 minute ride home from work yesterday and sitting for about 24 hrs. With the engine at idle it was around 13v. I put it on my 1.5 amp “Battery Companion” and it switched over from “charging” to “charged” in about 15 mins. Looks like all is well and the other morning was probably a fluke maybe influenced by cold weather.

I see harbor freight sells a battery tender with an attachment setup for installing on the battery. I might pick one of those up for $20.

I was always taught to disconnect batteries before charging, but obviously you’re not doing that with a trickle charger w/a permanent connection. Was “needing” to disconnect the battery a myth?

Congratulations on getting things figured out. No, the disconnect the battery to charge wasn't a myth as I made the mistake of charging my 87 HD battery without disconnecting and it fried the regulator/rectifier. Modern charging systems don't feed back into the reg/rect as they did back in the 80's. Funny how problems on HD's get blown up in the motorcycling community.

[2LZ]

China bike batteries, by nature, are junk. You never know how old they are in "new" bikes. None of mine lasted more than a year, an any of my China bikes, (with the exception of Q) before replacing and it was always cold weather that took them out. Keep your eye on it.

[Hunnicutt]

A motorcycle battery is small and discharges quickly. (Captain Obvious here). Using a battery tender certainly helps.

Air cooled carbureted engines operate a bit different than water cooled fuel injected engines. Listen to how the engine sounds when you crank it. From a dead cold after sitting a bit, you'll need full choke. Keep the RPMs up a bit after starting to warm it up. Knock the choke to half and watch the tachometer to see if it's still bouncing. You'll feel the engine warm up. Kill the choke and let it idle a bit before climbing on.

Running the stock 102 jet also affects performance. I installed the 112 jet on my TT and my wife's TT. It makes a HUGE difference in performance, and a noticeable difference in starting procedures.

[DualSportDude]

If it keeps acting up CSC will definitely give you a new battery. My buddy’s TT had a bad battery after about 3 days use. They sent him a new one no questions asked.