Batteries and how long they should last

[wordslinger]

...yeah, i mis-spoke there..

..musta had a bud light that night....

 

..i was just imaging how frikin awesome a idle mix asterik adjusting screw would be...


 

[bborzell]

I did not say NO large bike has or ever had a kick start. I said that MOST do not have kick start. Most like roughly 95 % in the past 40 years.
650 cc is not a large bike. There are also 1300 and 1400 cc bikes... and 6-cyls.

By that standard, the old BSA Gold Star (single cylinder 500cc) was not a large bike, but possibly one of the most difficult engines to kick start.  Even using the release to get past the compression stroke often resulted in the rider getting a sharp "lift" when the engine decided to reverse its rotation under fire.  There were common reports of scraped shins and not a few actual broken bones.  

[sidthesloth]

Here I go again, reviving an old thread, my ZX50 is 3 years old now and until I fitted the 50mm cylinder kit, it had been starting the scooter, though at times it was very dificult to start. After fitting the cylinder kit, it is just too much work for the battery, so I kick start. Am looking for a new battery, will try to find one a little larger that will still fit in the recess and will hopefully be able to start the scooter. With regard to the older, larger bikes requiring an artform to kick, a bloke at work saw me start the scooter today and said "that's cheating", he reckoned it started too easily, he rides a Royal Enfield Bullet Sixty Five, reckons if you don't get it right, it could throw you over the handlebars.

[wordslinger]

...i busted the aluminum slider housing inside my cvt cover...

..i can no longer kick..

[heypete]

If this is not possible put a charging plug on it and buy a cheap battery tender from Harbor Freight ($15 on sale) and plug it in when not in use to keep it topped off.

While keeping the battery on a tender is a wise idea, the tenders at Harbor Freight specifically warn against using on AGM (most batteries on scooters, motorcycles, etc.) batteries. They're fine for flooded batteries, but for AGM batteries I'd stick to something like the Battery Tender Jr.

[ScooterWolf]

It's interesting, when I took the Basic Rider course they drummed into us the use of the Kill-Switch to shut the bike off - always. There was never an issue about wearing out contact or shorts.

I stopped the bike, hit the kill-Switch, then turn the ignition to off. After that I turn the handlebar to the left and set the key to lock and then get off the bike.