Motorcycle and Scooter appreciation

Enjoy it as it is.

Deeply discharged Motobatt AGM battery, trying to charge it with a smart charger, but no joy. Professor google tells me that it's because smart chargers are configured so that they can't see very deeply discharged batteries and AGM batteries in particular because they have a very low resistance compared to other types.
Apparently there is a trick to get the thing charged, which involves buffering with a fully charged battery in series with the dead one.
Has anyone tried this?
I'm fully prepared to buy a new battery, but this has to be worth a shot, right?

I'm SE, between Catford and Bromley

That's your problem right there.

Amusing.

'Puppy kill'

What's the equivalent for motorcycles?

@Airhead @luke572

How old is it?
If it's a couple years old, just get a new one. If it's been and you drained it then charge it.

Yes I have done that, also use a dumb charger.

To me, this looks too good to hack about.
Assuming you buy it: at what point might you want to sell it on?
Whenever I see a for sale ad with "custom" or "modified" in the description it means a number of things to me:
-Not what the manufacturer intended
-Higher insurance
-Amateur engineering / not how I'd do it
-Paying over the odds for someone else's preferences
-Maintenance issues
... and I move on, looking for one that hasn't been tampered with. Do you really want to take a nice example of a bike no longer in production, and turn it into something less desirable?
Assuming you don't go for any structural changes, can your intended modifications be done in such a way that they can be reversed? Save the original seat, chain guard, foot pegs, indicators etc. so you can restore it at a later date?

There's debate over whether you need a specific charger for an AGM battery, do you know whether your charger is one? That said, I have a Ring smart charger that is apparently right for AGM batteries and it couldn't revive the Optima battery on my Jeep. You're still welcome to borrow it and give it a try on yours.

All very useful information, thanks!

The more I think about it the more I think I agree tbh. You've probably all saved me a lot of fucking around looking for missing screws.

cheers guys

It bloody works!
Battery attached to my Maplin booster battery with its built in jump leads, positive to positive. Charger connected and immediately all the correct lights come on like a christmas tree.
It now has enough charge in it to get rid of the booster, and is on trickle charge all night as if nothing had happened.
Will be interesting to see if there is any lasting effect to the battery, but it seems that AGM batteries are much more forgiving of deep discharge.

Well, I have power in the battery, and the dash lights up when I turn the key, but no joy when I push the start button.
Warning light at the bottom of the dash seems to be telling me that the ECU is disconnected or faulty.
Could I have blown a fuse? I guess I'm playing with electrics this weekend...

Got a multimeter to see what the battery is at?
Try start the bike from another bikes battery or car and see if it starts.

Hornets are great bikes but getting old now, so good ones are spendy - for that money they tend to be ex-race machines (Hornet Cup) or getting on for high mileage and inevitably tatty.

If you're not after aesthetics, the old XJ600 (pre-diversion) has enough power to have a bit of fun and cruise on motorways but you'll get a lot more for your money (and if a Divvy is acceptable to you, a lot more choice).

Alternatively, CB500 is your classic commuter choice. Not as fun as the inline 4s but as practical as big bikes get.

http://www.three.fm/news/tt-2016/local-racer-dies-after-incident-at-billown-dip/

RIP and a speedy recovery for the rest.

I'd say no to the xj600 div and pre div as the suspension is aweful and the brakes leave a lot to be and you can not put the sumimoto blue/gold spot brakes on easily.

Cheap fazer? xtx660 supermoto?

Bindit surely

Bindit is the always the answer ;)

xtx660 supermoto?

XT660X is waaaay too obese to really be considered as a supermoto. Also, shit finish on the engine.

Aren't there a few different models and I thought the xt660x was the supermoto type one, with road tyres and wheels?

Mz baghira.

Aren't there a few different models and I thought the xt660x was the supermoto type one, with road tyres and wheels?

Yeah, there's 3.

The X and the R are pretty similar, think the wheels are the only difference, the X having smaller wheels, broader, slicker tyres and the R having larger diameter wheels and narrower, chunkier tyres.

The Z or Tenere has more differences, forks, tank etc.

I had an X.

My Duke 390 is significantly quicker.

Friend has had a few xt660x and a duke and loves the yam over the duke.

Had a tenere for 10 days and that was nice.

Then you're going back to the budget issue again - are you gonna get one of those in truly decent nick for a grand? An extra couple hundred quid opens up a lot more options but for £1000 its about individual condition rather than a particular make/model. And that's when you want to look for bikes from boring owners who'll ride it little and keep on top of maintenance.

Did anyone post these at the time? They are still up on iPlayer for a bit. It still takes my breath away to watch people doing more than 200mph on ordinary roads.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b00kj9xh