Cold start issue

[Princearic]

Looked around to see what I can find, but nothing that was direct. My '04 VLX just won't start in the cold mornings now. If it's warm, it'll fire right up, but as soon as it gets below.. 50ish it acts like the battery is near dead. Would this be a battery issue or something else guys?

[dabears51]

I had this exact same problem last year and beginning of this year. The previous owner just bought the battery before he sold it to me. He had it in storage and decided to buy an oem battery. It worked great from April to October. November came along and I had weak starts. I constantly had to jumpstart it almost every day.

I put the bike in storage for the winter and took it out this April. The battery was in my house the whole time. All of April and May I had the same problems of a lot of cranking until it would slow down and eventually die.

I finally bought a YUASA battery and no problems whatsoever. It's been cold this past week (40 degrees in the mornings) and my bike starts on the first crank.

Hope this helps.

[Princearic]

it does as I'm pretty sure it's a battery problem as far as not getting enough juice to crank it over. I'll have to look into that.

[cl65ame]

Storing a batter whether in the bike or on the shelf requires some amount of care. Batteries will discharge even when not installed. if you are going to leave the battery unused for more than a week or two it should be placed on a battery tender. this will keep the battery in good shape.
This is why bike batteries seem to be a high failure part. you use your car all year around and the battery always gets a good shot of recharge. if your bike sits around for 5 months the battery will weaken and if you live in a cold area and it freezes you are out for a new one. the tender will keep it charged and healthy and prevent freezing.
well worth the cost.

[landon]

I have an 84VT700C, she is the same way... won't start in the cold, fires right up when warm, I just put the battery tender on before I go to bed then she usually fires right up in the morning.

[Easy Rider 2]

Originally Posted by landon

I have an 84VT700C, she is the same way... won't start in the cold, fires right up when warm, I just put the battery tender on before I go to bed then she usually fires right up in the morning.

That will work for a while but slow cranking when cold is the first early warning sign of a dying battery.

If you do that long enough, eventually it will fail to start at the OTHER end of a ride.....away from the charger......and away from home.

[Eldorado]

I keep a battery tender on my Sabre 24/7 when not riding, but I can definetly say that if it sits for a month with out my starting it or riding it, it becomes very, very difficult to get it started, I do use StaBil in it during the winter, I do have lots of days to ride it so it must be ridden or I face the dreaded won't start till the weather warms up..........