BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

Twice this fall, I’ve headed out to ride to work in the morning when it’s in the 30’s and it wouldn’t start. Seemed as if the battery was just not giving it enough juice. Voltmeter showed 12.5 or thereabouts. I had had it on a trickle charger the night before. I was able to start the bike later in the day with the temps around 50.

Battery is 2 years old Yuasa.

I’m guessing this is just a battery going south. Anything else it might be?

Does the starter sound slow ???

Well, yes. I wasn’t sure if it was the starter or the battery. I started it this afternoon when it’s been fairly warm and it started but not like it was really snappy. And the trickle charger started charging again.

Is the battery a sealed type, or cam you service it with distilled water ?

I guess I could service it because I had to add the acid when I got it.

I guess I could service it because I had to add the acid when I got it.

That'd be a good thing to check, and test each cell with a battery hydrometer while you can get to it.
Also, what weight oil is in it?

I have 20w/50 in it.

20W-50 oil gets pretty thick at 30 degrees making it hard to crank. 10W-40 will let it crank faster and is fine for winter riding up to 68 degrees.

Looked up the battery. Says it is maintenance free with no need to ever add water. So I guess skip that step. Amazon has odyssey for sale at $86 now. Not sure if this is battery, starter, or thick oil. I would hope that I could start it in the 30's

Got a little electric heater that you can use to 'warm' the engine? Might be able to eliminate the 'thick oil' idea at least and cut out at least one of the variables.

Synthetic oil and a lower first number, 15 or 10 rather than 20 makes a big difference in cold weather.
My Truck that sits allot and gets driven in the worst conditions of Winter has 5-30 Synth oil, starts every time.
I even run the same oil in my snow blower.
A spray of starting fluid can help get them to fire too.
This from a guy that lives on the Frozen Tundra of the upper Midwest.

racurley,
You have a 2003 model, meaning the electric starter went through 15 summers and 14 winters. Without any disassembly for cleaning/checking/lubing it can now generate less cranking power while at the same time drawing a lot more Amps starting current from what is likely a really good battery. A good change immediately, until the starter can be serviced by you would be to switch NOW to 5W-50 full synthetic engine oil. The best brand (Mobil-1) at a great price would be at Wally: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mobil-1-5W-5 ... /197881001. Yes, it is $60 for 6 quarts, but being about a $40 oil change for confident cold weather starts -and- better engine protection ALL year round, you have a winner.

Cool. You are saying the 5w-50 is good year round?

I've looked d at some videos of people cleaning their starters. Is there any instructions somewhere you think are better than others? Doesn't look too bad.

My question would be..what is your starting technique? Do you just use the start leaver in the first position, or do you move the throttle manually...at all? Does it turn over at all or just slowly. If it turns over does it fire at all?
Just curious.

I put the fast throttle (choke) on and hit the start button. It turns over but sluggishly. It's quite warm here today and started ok. But, there's a slight hesitation at first. Just doesn't seem strong. When it has been colder, upper 30's, it turns over but much slower and won't actually start. Tonight, I watched the voltmeter when I started it. It was at 12.6 and then dropped to 8.75 when it was starting.

OK thanx.
Mine has always turned over slow in 30 deg or lower cold soaked (w/ a lead acid battery) but will start as long as it will turn over even slow. If you use ANY throttle on a cold engine (other than the start lever), 90% chance you will flood it. If it does your done for a while!

Does sound like you have batt issues or at least connections. As long (my experience) as the starter works normal when warm it should be ok when cold, but high cycles on a starter is a good point of concern.

racurley wrote:Looked up the battery. Says it is maintenance free with no need to ever add water. So I guess skip that step. Amazon has odyssey for sale at $86 now. Not sure if this is battery, starter, or thick oil. I would hope that I could start it in the 30's

Where on Amazon did you see the PC680 for $86? I see it for $122 (which still isn't all that bad). Oh and 10/40 will make a huge difference in ease of starting.

I watched the voltmeter when I started it. It was at 12.6 and then dropped to 8.75 when it was starting.

That's too much voltage-drop while cranking; generally less than 9.75 volts indicates an electrical problem.

Where were the voltmeter's leads connected, to the battery posts or somewhere else?
The answer will help diagnose the problem: if they were connected to the battery posts, that eliminates a poor connection, which is a common problem, but suggests either a weak battery or a starter going bad.

Towerworker, the price seems to have gone back up. I canceled my order too because I wasn't sure it was the battery.

The voltmeter is connected to a terminal junction thing I installed so I didn't have to keep removing the tank.

I pulled the starter this evening. Will post photos shortly but it is pretty gummed up. I bench tested it and it seemed weak and then the gear didn't pull back after I removed power. I think a good cleaning may help. Will do that tomorrow night.

Here are some photos of the starter..
Starter motor from BMW R1150R by acurley, on Flickr
Starter motor from BMW R1150R by acurley, on Flickr

I pushed the gear back by hand after I tested it. Otherwise, it was stuck out. The flywheel teeth look fine.
Starter motor from BMW R1150R by acurley, on Flickr
Starter motor from BMW R1150R by acurley, on Flickr
Starter motor from BMW R1150R by acurley, on Flickr