Fuel Taps/Solenoids

If you've left the taps open for 3 months, all other considerations apart, chances are that the idle jets are clogged. It won't start like that.

Paul
 
Just a catch up after all the help, got some free time today. Definitely not hydro-locked. Spinned easily without plugs. Plugs a bit black but dry. Battery with a monitor on it (think Piet recommended it) shows battery is holding 12.98v but cranking voltage is 7.66v which from what I've read here is no good. So looks like battery didn't like the cold winter. Next step is to find an Odyssey in France that's not Chinese (some ofered online at around €110 which seems suspicious). Changing petrol, new plugs in, and float bowls drained. Will see if jets need a blow through if it doesn't start.

On the plus side I may not need a new rev counter cable. It appears to have vibrated loose on the trip from Bonny Scotland!
 
If 7.66v is accurate, then your battery is indeed completely goosed. Not many ignition systems will provide an accurately timed spark - or indeed any spark - at that voltage.
 
Just a catch up after all the help, got some free time today. Definitely not hydro-locked. Spinned easily without plugs. Plugs a bit black but dry. Battery with a monitor on it (think Piet recommended it) shows battery is holding 12.98v but cranking voltage is 7.66v which from what I've read here is no good. So looks like battery didn't like the cold winter. Next step is to find an Odyssey in France that's not Chinese (some ofered online at around €110 which seems suspicious). Changing petrol, new plugs in, and float bowls drained. Will see if jets need a blow through if it doesn't start.

On the plus side I may not need a new rev counter cable. It appears to have vibrated loose on the trip from Bonny Scotland!
May not only be the battery at fault. By now, many starters are full of oily, rusty carbon crud, shorting out much of the voltage fed to it. The old Bosch starters rarely give up completely, most can be freshened up with a bit of basic internal cleaning. I'd try another known, good battery before I invest in a new one.

piet
 
Juste un rattrapage après toute l'aide, j'ai du temps libre aujourd'hui. Certainement pas hydro-verrouillé. Tourné facilement sans bouchons. Bouchons un peu noirs mais secs. La batterie avec un moniteur dessus (pensez que Piet l'a recommandé) montre que la batterie tient 12,98v mais la tension de démarrage est de 7,66v, ce qui, d'après ce que j'ai lu ici, n'est pas bon. On dirait donc que la batterie n'a pas aimé l'hiver froid. La prochaine étape est de trouver une Odyssée en France qui n'est pas chinoise (certaines sont proposées en ligne à environ 110 € ce qui semble suspect). Vidange d'essence, nouveaux bouchons et cuves à flotteur vidangées. Va voir si les jets ont besoin d'un coup si cela ne démarre pas.

Du côté positif, je n'ai peut-être pas besoin d'un nouveau câble de compte-tours. Il semble avoir vibré pendant le voyage de Bonny en Écosse!
Acheté la mienne ici, bons services:
 
Just a catch up after all the help, got some free time today. Definitely not hydro-locked. Spinned easily without plugs. Plugs a bit black but dry. Battery with a monitor on it (think Piet recommended it) shows battery is holding 12.98v but cranking voltage is 7.66v which from what I've read here is no good. So looks like battery didn't like the cold winter. Next step is to find an Odyssey in France that's not Chinese (some ofered online at around €110 which seems suspicious). Changing petrol, new plugs in, and float bowls drained. Will see if jets need a blow through if it doesn't start.

On the plus side I may not need a new rev counter cable. It appears to have vibrated loose on the trip from Bonny Scotland!
Last time I bought an Odyssey in France, it was around €90 but that was a few years back now.
I don't see why you absolutely want to pay more than €110 ?

Paul
 
No desire to pay over the odds Paul, I was just seeing prices from €110 to over €180, and read about snidey ones. Ah, LaverdaA54, that was one website I was checking out. Gets some flakey reviews (failures inside a year) but I guess that’s batteries for you. Starter motor was overhauled here before bike went into storage Piet, so I think I’m good there. Thanks guys, getting closer – and the Alps roads will be quieter this Spring (provided we're allowed out of doors 😊)
 
Had 2 Odyessy batteries that lasted for years even charging them with conventionaal charges. They got priced out of the market in Oz so used a Deka as a replacement on the BM and Motodd before going with SSB lithium. The deka was a disappointment. I'm sold on the SSB as so far both the BM and Motodd have been trouble free for the last 5 years. Mate has had his in a GS BM for near on 8 years without problems. And the weight saving is a no brainer.
 
Interesting Rob. I've had exactly the opposite experience.
I had a Deka battery in my Ducati MHR Mille and it lasted around 20 years. And that bike was sometimes a bugger to start.
I've had two SSB lithium batteries in different bikes. Both were fucked after 6 months.
 
Battery thread.
I had an Odyssey for years in my SFC. Would start the bike after a years neglect.
Then it was incinerated.

I now use any old AGM battery. Usually neglected though with the increasing number of functional bikes I have I'll need to resort to trickle charging. Magnetos and kickstarts are the way of the future.

Paul
 
Huge variation in experiences with the same batteries going on here. Might have something to do with the generating systems powering them?

I hope my SSB is as good as Rob's.
 
Interesting Rob. I've had exactly the opposite experience.
I had a Deka battery in my Ducati MHR Mille and it lasted around 20 years. And that bike was sometimes a bugger to start.
I've had two SSB lithium batteries in different bikes. Both were fucked after 6 months.
That's interesting Cam. The Deka I brought before finishing the resto of the Motodd cause when making the carbon electrical box I needed the battery for fittment. So sat on a shelf for 18 months before actually being used. Was in the bike for for maybe 3 years before I started having problems with it. May have something to do with charging as I don't have any fancy intellegent chargers, just a basic 6amp charger.
I liked the Odyessy but they got expesive. Still have the hand me down Odyessy in the SFC but as that hasn't started in 5 years I'd say it fucked by now. The SSB in the BM has always started the bike even after sitting for a while. The Motodd has always been a slow starter since the rebuild with either the Deka or SSB but now I'm putting that down to maybe the starter motor needing a service. 40 years and 200,000 kays!!.
Currently with a mate being serviced so we'll see what happens when that comes back. Also I have been suss on the started cables being too small so my mate is making a couple of new ones for me as well. See what happens when it goes back together again. Fingers crossed the motor will spin like it use to in the earlier days.
 
Take care of all your batteries the bigger model Deka is now close to $300 and the smaller model isnt far behind
 
I suspect my lithium batteries failed because I wasn't charging them properly. I know I killed the first one by running it down to dead flat when I inadvertently left the ignition switched on for about 4 days. It never recovered from that, but I can't blame the battery for my incompetence. The second one never seemed to charge fully using a smart charger for lead acid, AGM type batteries. I probably should have bought a specific charger for lithium batteries, but the bloke in the battery shop who sold me the smart charger thought it would be OK for lithium.

I just looked up my maintenance notes. The Deka in my Ducati lasted 26 years! Even at the end it wasn't quite dead. The poor old thing just couldn't muster enough current to start the bike, but it would still beep the horns, power the lights and other stuff. I kept it as a power source for bench testing relays and stuff for a few more years after it was retired from the bike. So I suppose I can credit it with about 30 years of service all up. Best value I've ever had out of a battery.

Batteries are strange things. Some of them take heaps of abuse (like my old Deka), some fail if you look sideways at them.
 
Well Cam the beauty of the SSB bateries is that you can use a normal charger on them.
I just got a call from my auto sparky mate to say that my battery is fucked even thou it has full charge 13.2v
Load testing it he says it has no cranking amps and reckons it was probably too small for the bike. 290cca.
Waiting to hear what he has to say about the starter motor. As it has never been apart the 2 nuts are rusted in place so it's waiting for the penitrene to do it's job.
So now I'm back in the market for another battery. I'll hopefully fine another SSB that's larger with more CCA and will fit in the electrical box that I built. The Deka it was built for was also probably too small 220CCA and besides I don't want another heavy battery.
 
Back
Top