Kawasaki EX500

i recently just bought a 2002 Kawasaki EX500. when i first bought the
bike it started very easily after sitting in my garage for a night.
now, for some reason, i have to charge my battery every time i go to
start it in the morning. it starts fine for the rest of the day after i

charge it and start it for the first time. it seems like something is
draining my battery when the bike is turned off. could i just need a
new battery or is something actually draining it?

 

You could use an ammeter to check for drain when the key is turned off.
You could also get the battery load-tested, as a four-year-old battery
may very well be shot (or not, depending greatly on how it's been
treated), assuming that it's the original battery in it.

--
Later,
John



'indiana' is a 'nolnn' and 'hoosier' is a 'solkk'. Indiana doesn't solkk.

 

id take the battery out and see if it needs distilled water to top it
up. my '89 EX500 had a translucent battery case with a fill line.
charging without checking the level boils more water off.

chances are the 4 year old battery is toast. i dont think i had a
replacement battery that lasted as long as the original one. most lasted
anywhere from a year to three, with 2 years being the average.

 

Oddly enough (given the Italain reputation for crap electrics), my 1997
750SS is still on its original battery.

(And brake pads)

My old RD350 YPVS was on its original battery when I sold it after eight
years. Mind you, it had been through two crankshafts......

 

Yeah, well just you wait and you will get stranded in some parking lot in
the snow. ;-)

Batteries have to have a large reserve capacity in order to start in
extremely
cold weather, as they lose capacity through age, you will
notice problems at the extremes first particularly the cold since cold temps
slow the chemical reactions. Since most bikes are not run in the
winter, this isn't that surprising.

Ted

 

Oh yeah, agreed. But keeping them properly topped up and fully charged
extends their life enormously. I don't use the Duke much in winter
(you'll be surprised to hear......) but I can still leave it for a month
or two and rely on it to start.

That said, a UK winter is nowhere near as severe as it is in, say,
Minnesota or even the real Sweden ;-)