Battery charging needed

[Steveg 1,049]

Hi 

just wondering how long I can leave my nc750x in garage without having to charge battery , bike is 18 months old , will be used on Tuesday so will have stood for 10 days , got snow again so next use when back to work

I do have a optimate 4 in garage but would have thought not needed 

 

Cheers Steveg

 

 

 

Edited January 2, 2021 by Steveg

[Spindizzy 7,109]

Not needed. Will be fine provided you dont have an alarm on it drawing power. 

[Steveg 1,049]

Thanks no alarm 

Wish this snow would do one 

Cheers Steveg

 

 

[Empty_Ten 455]

10 days should be ok even if you've got an alarm or tracker, provided that the last ride was a decent one to have charged up the battery and not just a 5 minute nip down to the shops etc,

 

If you've got an Optimate in the Garage, why not keep it on the NC when you're not using it?  Won't do it any harm.  

 

I do it myself and plug it in, even if just overnight.

[Gringo 5,174]

I have three bikes in the garage and only one Optimate. Only 2 of the bikes are in semi regular use during these cold months. I rotate the charging on a weekly basis.

[suffolk58 2,286]

I know it's not a twin exactly, but the Suzuki 650 Bandit I use for work, was locked down in late March and I wasn't allowed in the building again until September. I went down there with the tools to remove the battery, expecting to have to replace it. I put the key in, turned it and hit the starter button....and it went stright into a smooth tickover. I gave it a five mile ride and put it away again. It's not been ridden since and if we get some reasonable weather next week, I might go down and try it again.

(Suzuki Bandits - horrible to ride, but you can't kill them).:)

[Empty_Ten 455]

7 minutes ago, suffolk58 said:

I know it's not a twin exactly, but the Suzuki 650 Bandit I use for work, was locked down in late March and I wasn't allowed in the building again until September. I went down there with the tools to remove the battery, expecting to have to replace it. I put the key in, turned it and hit the starter button....and it went stright into a smooth tickover. I gave it a five mile ride and put it away again. It's not been ridden since and if we get some reasonable weather next week, I might go down and try it again.

(Suzuki Bandits - horrible to ride, but you can't kill them).:)

 

Now that you say that, my other half's SV650 sat on the drive untouched for 4-5 months from October - March time, started up first time.  No tracker or alarm.  My old blade with the tracker would last about 2-3 weeks max before the tracker would drain the battery.

[Tex 36,817]

I don’t have power in the garage so an optimate isn’t an option, and, to make matters worse, getting the battery off the new LC Bonnevilles is a pain (the ECU sits above it). First world problems, eh?  

[Empty_Ten 455]

9 minutes ago, Tex said:

I don’t have power in the garage so an optimate isn’t an option, and, to make matters worse, getting the battery off the new LC Bonnevilles is a pain (the ECU sits above it). First world problems, eh?  

 

https://www.optimate.co.uk/products/optimate-solar 

[splke 1,284]

40 minutes ago, suffolk58 said:

I know it's not a twin exactly, but the Suzuki 650 Bandit I use for work, was locked down in late March and I wasn't allowed in the building again until September. I went down there with the tools to remove the battery, expecting to have to replace it. I put the key in, turned it and hit the starter button....and it went stright into a smooth tickover. I gave it a five mile ride and put it away again. It's not been ridden since and if we get some reasonable weather next week, I might go down and try it again.

(Suzuki Bandits - horrible to ride, but you can't kill them).:)

Horrible to ride? I how very dare you 

I absolutely love mine (I've killed mine tho) 

Edited January 3, 2021 by splke

[suffolk58 2,286]

2 minutes ago, splke said:

Horrible to ride? I how very dare you 

I absolutely live riding mine 

The one I ride is not short of knackered, but as I don't own it, it gets only basic maintenance.

In corners I can plant the AT and Ninja exactly where I want them....the Bandit can go a couple of feet (or more) from the intended line.

Also the fueling is awful (it's an early 650 fuel injected model), trying to hold a steady speed on a motorway, is like riding a bucking bronco (and I did mean "bucking").

But each to their own.

Oh and the paint is coming off the wheels.

[Steveg 1,049]

Stuck it on the optimate 4 , as got  optimate lead in trunk ready might as well won't hurt to top battery up

 

 

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by Steveg

[Steveg 1,049]

Re bandit 600 , back in the day I had a zephyr 550 the bandit 600 was much more fun to ride , replaced by a  fazer 600  and sv650

 

Loved the fazer 600 @ sv650 as well

 

cheers Steveg

[splke 1,284]

24 minutes ago, Steveg said:

Re bandit 600 , back in the day I had a zephyr 550 the bandit 600 was much more fun to ride , replaced by a  fazer 600  and sv650

 

Loved the fazer 600 @ sv650 as well

 

cheers Steveg

I've had 2 sv650s and loved them both too

[listener 11,326]

3 hours ago, suffolk58 said:

In corners I can plant the AT and Ninja exactly where I want them....the Bandit can go a couple of feet (or more) from the intended line.

 

I once got a loan of my workmate's 600 Bandit (when my 650 Trannie was stolen) ...

 

He lived around eight miles north of Aberdeen so I took the 'scenic' route home to get a chance to get used to it.

God it was top-heavy! Bends that I would normally take in my sleep needed a lot of concentration.

[Steveg 1,049]

3 hours ago, splke said:

I've had 2 sv650s and loved them both too

thats why I like the idea of a vstorm 650 love the v-twin engine

 

cheers Steve

[MatBin 5,120]

7 hours ago, Empty_Ten said:

 

https://www.optimate.co.uk/products/optimate-solar 

Got one, works well if no electric in garage or no garage.

[ted 5,759]

A good dodge if you haven't got an electrical outlet where you park your bike.

 

Get a big car battery and charge it at home every month or so. Wire it up to the bike where it's parked ( + to + and - to -) like you would to jump start it.

 

Both batteries will equalise their charge levels.

[Tex 36,817]

Thanks Empty, Matt and Ted. Food for thought. I could probably do with sorting one for my camper van as well. Could get expensive (but still cheaper than forever replacing batteries).  

[Defender 3,838]

15 minutes ago, Tex said:

Thanks Empty, Matt and Ted. Food for thought. I could probably do with sorting one for my camper van as well. Could get expensive (but still cheaper than forever replacing batteries).  

And better for the environment too?

21 hours ago, Steveg said:

Hi 

just wondering how long I can leave my nc750x in garage without having to charge battery , bike is 18 months old , will be used on Tuesday so will have stood for 10 days , got snow again so next use when back to work

I do have a optimate 4 in garage but would have thought not needed 

Cheers Steveg

I think left mine for about three months over one winter and it still started without a problem, so given that your has done reasonable length trips the last couple of times you rode it, it should be fine. 

One problem with the NC is that like many bikes it keeps the headlamp on when starting, that's an additional 4.5 amps being drawn for no good reason, it doesn't sound like a lot but it might be the difference between starting or not? That applies to the older incandescent H4 60/55W headlamps not the newer LED lit versions.

My brother had a 550 Kwaka Zephyr as his first bike, we were trying to start it on day after a period of being laid up, it would turn over but not fire up, a neighbour of his came over an said that the headlamp was going out when where trying to start it, we looked and sure enough when you hit the starter button the headlamp quit working, smart thinking or what?

I have on several occasions pulled the headlamp lead on the NC when I've thought that starting it might be marginal, I may well fit a switch in the dip beam feed line to be able to do that more easily?   

[kayz1 2,928]

So why have Optimate gone over to those daft 1960's Ford plugs and sockets???? they were crap then and still are..

[davebike 943]

Kayz1  because the previous conector was becoming too easy to get off ebbay etc

My more recent optimates do not impress still prefer the simpler accumate and trying noko and Lasson own brang jml bet they all use the same chips !