Click. Click. Nothing

[Deleted]

So yesterday morning, I jumped on the bike for the first time since 7 May....not a long stay-away by any stretch of the imagination.

The bike burst into life at the first push of the starter button - was relieved, but not surprised. I had experienced two starting failures already in the three months that I have owned the bike, but both of these failures were immediately after washing it, so I assumed that I had managed to get some critical component slightly damp.

Anyway, back to 13 May - started up, warmed up and then made my way, 1.5km to the local Shell.

Topped up. (Once again amazed at how little juice this thing uses!) Gloves back on, hopped on the boney, ready to complete the 18km commute to work.

Click. Click. Nothing.

Dashboard dimmed and went out, starter didn't even turn the motor.

After enlisting a push from some local horsepower, I maanged to get to work.

Honda East Rand Mall quoted me R1300 for the OEM battery. Various other quotes ranged from R790 to R1200.
Eventually settled on my new favourite home-based mechanic in Alberton - R1150 - supplied and fitted.

At 5:30pm, ready for home, the bike again burst into life at the first push. 

Like most, I want my stuff to be as close to perfect as is possible. 

Update - 14 May - new battery fitted, chain adjusted and lubed - R1150 well spent! The job took 25 mins.

[johan700x]

I've found that the bike tends to warn you ahead of time. I'm on my third battery (7 years and 84000 km later) and every one gave me warnings ahead. Very bad feeling when you are stuck away from home with a dead battery. I've even considered one of these Li-ion batteries because of their reliability but I still cannot get my head around paying that much. In the end it might well be worth it.

Well everything turned out fine in the end at least - with the help of the 'local horsepower'! God bless their souls.😊

[des]

Hi Mutsun, I had a similar experience about 3 months ago on my 2012 700x and also eventually got it going with a push-start. I checked everything I could, including getting a new battery, but it happened again. It is an intermittent fault, which is more frustrating.
About a month ago it happened again: unlocked steering - ignition on (all good) - pressed starter button - display dims to zero and no starter action. Push start successful. Later somebody pointed me in the direction of the ignition switch possibly having a bad contact or the HISS system. Well, its a sealed unit so what I have done is NOT ENGAGE the steering lock since. After a month of no problems....and having a good spare battery....I still dont have full confidence yet but the problem has not re-occurred.

[Deleted]

Haven't been near the bike since the virus attacked. Hopefully my new battery is holding its own. I will certainly bear in mind your advice iro the steering lock. I am a steering locker - I know it's not a great theft deterrent, but it's something that I have been doing since my first bike in 1978.

[johan700x]

I have my bike and car on battery maintainers all the time. Had too many bad experiences with dead batteries after not using the vehicle for a time. Since I started doing that I've had no problems at all. I installed a connector on the bike, directly on the battery. Every time I park the bike I just plug the charger in. I installed it in such a way that, should I forget to disconnect before riding off, the connector will simply pull out and no harm done.