battery blanket for the ride to the staging area only?

[coryf89]

ok. I am NOT, absolutely fking NOT, having battery/starting issues this winter like I did the last two. I dont care what it costs.

ive got a brand new anti gravity LI-ION Ag-12 battery on the way. its 360 CCA and extremely strong. it seemed to work well the first winter until I drained it too low and stored it improperly rendering it completely dead. from there I bought a medium level battery and its been nothing but problems, so I bought another brand new, super cheap battery and even at 100% charge and strength it wasnt enough to turn it over consistently, and in the cold.

I store the bike in an attached garage, but sometimes the hour ride to the staging area is chilly.

I was thinking I could get an electrical battery warmer blanket and keep it wrapped around the battery permanently, with the electrical plug in for the battery blanked dangling just under the rear fender. from there I could use a jumper pack or something small that stayed inside overnight charging and is nice and warm. hook the jumper pack to the battery blanket plug in, or make a connector of some sort, and leave it plugged in while I drive to riding area so it gets the blanket warm, and hopefully the battery too by the time im there.

any thoughts/suggestions?


my next option is to remove the battery every ride even though I dread reinstalling the seat, take it inside and keep it nice and warm and on a trickle charger, then keep it in the truck nice and warm, re install at the staging area and ride. kind of bullshit that I have to do that but it beats the bike not starting. I went through 3 (cheap) batteries last winter and spent 7-10 days straight diagnosing electrical problems, charing batteries, testing, charging, testing, charging, buying special chargers, going through all wiring on my bike, boosting it via jumper cables, upgrading the stator, poking around with the volt meter, removing my lights and heated grips, everything.

 

[wwillf01]

I never had an issue with a booster and a lithium... you needed the booster for the cold start in the morning... stored outside...

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[coryf89]

I seem to have nothing but problems. maybe a brand new battery and proper tendering after every ride will be enough, but I dont want to risk it.

 

[wwillf01]

I seem to have nothing but problems. maybe a brand new battery and proper tendering after every ride will be enough, but I dont want to risk it.

Man I ran a anti gravity in my turbo 15 450sxf for 2 years. Never ran a tender... heated hand grips. Used booster at first then no issues... this is in Utah...

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[coryf89]

do you get -30 mornings? has your bike sat outside at -30 over night? this is on a 520 big bore. more compression maybe?

even when I first bought the bike it had a used ag12 I remember it was like -25 and needing to boost off buddies truck. sometimes it took like 10 mins of boosting and cranking to start. so embarrassing.

 

[wwillf01]

Not usually more than -11 but at negative 30 even my carb would freeze on the 2 strokes and would have to heat with the diesel exahust... it was a 520 big bore though with 0-40 oil ...

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[coryf89]

yeah thats not cold at all. we went dirtbiking the other day here in -8 with hoodies on lol.

 

[wwillf01]

Yaa we are high desert so we get a lot of snow but stay pretty temperate...another option I have seen is doubling up the battery with a second one you put on the tunnel...

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[wwillf01]

Why not just add a plug to the rear of your truck and tend it on the the ride out...

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[coryf89]

yeah that would possibly work too. good idea. would the tender help though? if I were to tend it all night, unplug it and let it sit for an hour at -20 while were driving would it still be 100% despite getting very cold compared to what it was in the shop?

ive got this giant anti gravity xp10 booster pack that seems to be plenty strong: https://antigravitybatteries.com/products/micro-starts/xp-10/

it doesnt have a plug in for the battery tender though but im sure I could make something up. couldnt I theoretically just use the xp10s alligator clamps on the battery tenders AC plug in prongs? scabby as fk, but would that concept work?

 

[wwillf01]

yeah that would possibly work too. good idea. would the tender help though? if I were to tend it all night, unplug it and let it sit for an hour at -20 while were driving would it still be 100% despite getting very cold compared to what it was in the shop?

ive got this giant anti gravity xp10 booster pack that seems to be plenty strong: https://antigravitybatteries.com/products/micro-starts/xp-10/

it doesnt have a plug in for the battery tender though but im sure I could make something up. couldnt I theoretically just use the xp10s alligator clamps on the battery tenders AC plug in prongs? scabby as fk, but would that concept work?

Don't know if the booster tends.. on mine I had the same connection for the tender and booster... I would say have a plug on the bed of the truck... tending would be similar to the bike running so it should keep the battery warm enough... wind chill from driving it... at -30 you have to have a wind chill of -60 while driving.

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[jrlastofthebreed]

I had a few problems last year after 3 years of riding and here are my fixes. I put 12 glue on heat pads ($8 on ebay) under my skid plate to warm the oil. I also put one on the battery. Ran both to a single plug by the rear of the seat. I make an adapter that plugs into my trailer lights plug in (hook up to the constant hot wire) and it works good. I also ran a 2nd plug directly from the battery out behind the seat to plug a jump pack into for first starts or when needed.

One step further that i havn't tried but might is hooking direct from the trailer lights direct to the battery. In essence letting the truck charge and warm the battery instead of a heat pack. I was just affraid of cooking it and ruining a $120 battery lol.

 

[coryf89]

thats a very good idea too, something to consider and look into for sure.

and BTW, windchill doesnt effect motors or anything like that. at -30 at 100 mph, the bike is still only -30 at the staging area. the wind will cool it down faster when taking it outta the warm shop. but it wont being the bike to below ambient temperatures.

 

[GKR]

Wire a plug onto your battery for quick connection to your boost pack, you should have one as a backup anyway. Then its handy and you can use the boost pack for the first cold start of the day so you don't draw the battery down. The other thing we have been doing which works great is buy a length of dryer duct from local hardware store. it collapses down to pretty much nothing so easy to take along. When you get to staging area put your bike near truck exhaust, slip the dryer duct over your tailpipe and direct the other end to the bike engine. In 5-10 minutes of truck run time your bike engine will be warm and should fire right up. We have done it lots and it works everytime!

 

[CATSLEDMAN1]

if the battery won't crank the engine over.............thats a problem

if it cranks but won't start. that might be another problem

my old Yamaha wr was a hard starter, crank crank kick kick, then I added a primer button, stroke some gas into the intake, wait a half minute or more for the gas to vaporize, instant start that way at zero to 60 degress with the button.

my ktm 500 must be rich, efi its a starter down to zero, don't touch the throttle, but its ok. My riding partners with vortex, lean lean lean, they don't like 10 above or less, a shot of gas on the filter and wait longer that you would think, and they fire.

and by the way the scientific theory that wind or not wind, temp and start is the same..............you wouldn't last long on a winter logging job, you learn to park your equipment out of the wind cause you won't make money trying to fire up by 10:30 am when everybody else has been skidding since 7 am.

 

[Cooksend]

On my 2015 Husky 501 I wanted to utilize a small Powersports jump pack that I could also pack along on the bike when out for a ride. My problem was that I did not want to remove the seat everyday for the first start.
My solution was installing handwarmers and putting a 2 pin connector that I could unplug then plug in the jump pack. Works slick as can be! Just be sure to install the fusible link on the handwarmers side of your connection. The jump pack has the potential to blow the fuse if it is inline during the jump.

 

[AllHatNoCattle]

I have a buddy who has a small propane heater like the one below. He has a canvass tarp and he drapes that over the bike when we first get there and puts the heater underneath pointed at the bike. It usually takes 30 minutes of screwing around to get dressed and such. After 20 minutes of heat his bike fires right up and then has 10 minutes to warm up from the engine running. Works like a charm.

I also have a little lithium battery charger like the one below. In the past I have plugged that into the bike and then plugged it into my truck (I have a 120v plug in my truck) and I think it helped keep the battery warmer before arrival.

Amazon product ASIN B004W7VJU2
Amazon product ASIN B000CITK8S

 

[coryf89]

awesome, good answers guys. I boosted my bike so many times last year that taking off the seat became an extreme hassle, so ive got external mounted battery posts under the rear fender so seat doesnt even need to come off to jump the battery. I bet ive spent $1000 already on electrical/starting fixes. definitely some good ideas in here.... im ready to utilize all of them. with the money ive spent I should of just bought an enclosed trailer!!!

winter logging job... I wish my job was that cozy. ever worked winter night shifts up in fort mac?? haha.

 

[d8grandpa]

I have the same issue on cold days, this is what I set up. I just wired in the extension direct to battery and leave it there, it just tucks under seat when riding. I don’t try to start without booster pack on. Cold days so I don’t run down the battery first. Just plug in booster and it fires no problem. You can keep booster inside so its warm and fully charged.

 

[GKR]

Here's a prefabbed harness that has the end designed to plug right into the booster batteries and also comes with a boost cable so you can boost a buddies bike direct off yours if you both have this setup.
https://c3powersports.com/collections/all/products/motorsport-auxillary-boost-cables