Cold weather start problem

[lakiozoon]

Novice rider here.

 

My bike has 3k kms, bought it 4 months ago and did the first service.

 

Today I had a problem starting my bike. Bike was outside overnight at about zero degrees in windy weather.

After first starting it, the bike briefly turned on, then started stuttering and turned off. While stuttering I also noticed the LED screen was turning of/on a few times.

Took me 4-5 attempts to get it running without shutting down. After a few unsuccessful attempts it started relatively normally and I was able to drive it to work without issues.

 

The battery seems good as my gps tracker app is showing around 12.5 volts.

 

Since I'm quite inexperienced, I'm wondering if this is something that can happen in cold weather (I've read that the oil viscosity on cold weather might cause this).

Still, I'm puzzled why the LED screen was "blinking" on and off.

 

Anyone had these issues? Is there something I need to worry about?

 

[Ray Ride4life]

Battery can seem good in voltage but you need to look what it does during the start.

When you push the start button it should stay above 10V.

[Guest]

I'm novice too and the bike only got 500 km. The very same scene as you described happend here after a couple of cold days/colder nights and outside too. Since then I've parked it in the den, where there's a constant +10 °C. The "problem" never occurred ever since. The batterie shows 12.53 V which means its charge is 80%. I don't remember where I have read that:

12,7 V = 100 % charge

12,6 V = 90 % charge

12,5 V = 80 % charge

12,4 V = 70 % charge

12,3 V = 60 % charge

12,2 V = 50 % charge

12,1 V = 40 % charge

If the charge is lower than 12,0 V they say the batterie is no longer rechargeable. It should be replaced.

Cold isn't really for batteries.

 

 

[Ray Ride4life]

I don't know where that math came from and who said a battery can't be recharged under 12V but i dare to call that BS.

12V is 100% and 6V is 50%, under 60% the chance of a broken battery is often certain but never 100%.

The one in my CT is kind if a miracle and is 11 years old, almost 130k km in the bike and was several times below 7V (working on it and/or left something powered) and still going.

But i had multiple batteries that went dead after 1 time too low on charge, 2 times less than a year old.

Conditioners are about 50-50 a battery safer or a killer, better charge it manual once a month when parked a long time.

[Guest]

45 minutes ago, Ray Ride4life said:

I don't know where that math came from and who said a battery can't be recharged under 12V but i dare to call that BS

 

I didn't find the original source, but here's a link with a comparison between lead and lithium batteries.

[Tenerider]

1 hour ago, TéNéRéLOADED said:

I'm novice too and the bike only got 500 km. The very same scene as you described happend here after a couple of cold days/colder nights and outside too. Since then I've parked it in the den, where there's a constant +10 °C. The "problem" never occurred ever since. The batterie shows 12.53 V which means its charge is 80%. I don't remember where I have read that:

12,7 V = 100 % charge

12,6 V = 90 % charge

12,5 V = 80 % charge

12,4 V = 70 % charge

12,3 V = 60 % charge

12,2 V = 50 % charge

12,1 V = 40 % charge

If the charge is lower than 12,0 V they say the batterie is no longer rechargeable. It should be replaced.

Cold isn't really for batteries.

 

 

The "lower than 12.1V cannot be charged" isn't true. A Pb battery can be discharged to 1.75V/cell, for a "12V" battery this means it may have 6*1.75V=10.5V minimum voltage UNDER LOAD. As Ray said: Fire it up and watch the voltage drop. In low temperatures, their voltage and especially max current can be significantly lower, that's why it may be hard to start the bike.

 

In general, it makes sense giving your battery some regular maintenance by using a proper (!) battery charger in Refresh Mode. I recommend CTEK chargers: easy to use, have a high reputation since years, can stay connected to the battery for infinite time (they don't overcharge and "cycle" (discharge/charge for maintenance) the battery automatically if need be.

 

 

P.S.: "0% charge" equals to 10.5V. This means you should not draw current at that state. It will continue to deliver current, but it will be damaged.

Edited February 9, 2023 by Tenerider

[Tenerider]

52 minutes ago, Ray Ride4life said:

I don't know where that math came from and who said a battery can't be recharged under 12V but i dare to call that BS.

12V is 100% and 6V is 50%, under 60% the chance of a broken battery is often certain but never 100%.

The one in my CT is kind if a miracle and is 11 years old, almost 130k km in the bike and was several times below 7V (working on it and/or left something powered) and still going.

But i had multiple batteries that went dead after 1 time too low on charge, 2 times less than a year old.

Conditioners are about 50-50 a battery safer or a killer, better charge it manual once a month when parked a long time.

If it survived even 7V on the CT, it must have damn fat electrodes and some magic acid inside

This is definitely not usual!

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Tenerider said:

I recommend CTEK chargers

 

Thank you! Since I don't have any clue which model, is there a specific one you would recommend? Would the CTEK MXS 10.0, 12 V, 10 A be enough or to much?

[Tenerider]

Too much likely. Usually the 5.0 series is better for smaller batteries. But I'm not completely up to date regarding their products. I guess they recommend some models for motorcycles?

[Hollybrook]

Many Ctek chargers have a setting for small batteries like a motorcycle battery. 

[lakiozoon]

Thanks for the replies. 

Thing is the bike did start then it stuttered and turned off after like 3 seconds. 

Starter sound looked fine to me. 

[Hibobb]

Could be a plethora of issues...

Take a long ride, refill the gas tank (at a different service station). 

Battery will be charged, any poor quality petrol will be purged.

 

Take your phone with you.

 

Tomorrow will be a better day.

Edited February 9, 2023 by Hibobb

[DT675]

@lakiozoon Their is nothing wrong with your bike. This is typical Yamaha behavior in cold weather. They all do it.  My T7 does it, FJ-09 does it, Wolverine X2 SXS does it.  Hell, if my heated garage gets too cold, say 50 degrees as oposed to the normal 60, it takes 3 times to start my Wolverine SXS.  Thats a 2019 model.  

 

Im not sure why your screen was doing that, most likley just because it wasn't getting enough voltage while the bike was sputtering. 

 

Your fix? Get used to it or get an aftermarket re-flash.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Tenerider said:

Too much likely. Usually the 5.0 series is better for smaller batteries. But I'm not completely up to date regarding their products. I guess they recommend some models for motorcycles?

 

You're right! It's the Ctek MXS 5.0. Sorry for not looking it up myself in the first place. Yamaha's own charger is "based on the Ctek MXJ 5.0" as they say …

[Ray Ride4life]

1 hour ago, DT675 said:

They all do it

Then my T7 is just as miraculous as the battery in the CT, the last 2 days -5C when i left home and a few weeks ago even colder but even the 2 time i thought the battery was nearing it's end the engine never failed... not a single beat missed.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, lakiozoon said:

Thing is the bike did start then it stuttered and turned off after like 3 seconds.

 

The very same thing happend here. But as DT675 mentioned, we maybe should just ignore it and ride on …

[Tenerider]

6 minutes ago, TéNéRéLOADED said:

 

You're right! It's the Ctek MXS 5.0. Sorry for not looking it up myself in the first place. Yamaha's own charger is "based on the Ctek MXJ 5.0" as they say …

"has an improved housing because it's got YAMAHA imprinted and is more expensive"

[Hibobb]

2 hours ago, DT675 said:

Your fix? Get used to it or get an aftermarket re-flash

Remember in the good-old-days when you could adjust the fuel/air screw or change a $3 pilot jet...

[lakiozoon]

Mine was also fine on plenty of colder days, as I keep it outside. 

 

Today, out of the blue, it had a few hiccups but otherwise was fine during the day. 

 

I'm not ocd about these issues, as it seems that it isn't a serious thing I should be worried about. 

 

Thanks for the feedback.  

Edited February 9, 2023 by lakiozoon

[winddown]

Fuel OP, try it with a higher octane fuel.  You're not running an Ethanol blend I hope