Questions: Battery/ Shifting

[OMalley44]

I had something odd happen today or it was odd to me. I hadn't put my bike to sleep yet. Did the oil change a week ago and the bike started up fine. It's been on the stand for a week and I hadn't put the charger on it yet. Decided to go for a spin today since it was warm enough and top off the tank and add stabil to put it down. Turned on the key, hit the button and got a loud clack clack clack but not starting. Figured the battery was down. Hooked it up to my Battery Tender and within over just an hour or so, it showed green. Thinking the battery was dead, I thought it would take more time to charge. Removed the tender, hooked it back up and it started right up. Does this sound like an old battery? It looks pretty new and can't call the prev owner to find out when it was replaced.

As for the shifting, I notice at times that I'm missing shifts or the bike doesn't shift into the next gear. This is all upshifting. Downshifting is fine. It feels like I put enough pressure on the upshift but when releasing the clutch, it's still in the lower gear. Is this operator error?

[RickC]

Yep, it sounds like your battery is on its last legs. If it self discharges to the point it won't start the bike in a weeks time, it's gone.

[OMalley44]

That's what I figured. Gonna keep it on the BT for now and start figurin what battery I want to put in it. Lookin at the Odyssey that has already been modified for the bike but not sure I want to dole out the $140 for it. Let the researchin begin!

[CaptStevens]

Originally Posted by OMalley44

That's what I figured. Gonna keep it on the BT for now and start figurin what battery I want to put in it. Lookin at the Odyssey that has already been modified for the bike but not sure I want to dole out the $140 for it. Let the researchin begin!

If you can stand the extra cost FWIW I installed a Shorai LFX18 ($186.95) Battery in my '08 K1200GT a couple of months ago, The OEM Batt was still good, but after reading the article in MCN (Motorcycle Consumer News) about the Shorai, I decided to give it a try mainly for the weight savings and the claimed longer service life 5 YRs +. it costs about the same as the OEM BMW Battery, I also Opted for their battery charger, which was a Nominal $79.95. they claim that a deltran Battery tender will work ok, but being the conservative sort that I am, I elected to go with their specific charge which also plugs directly into the Battery no external harness required. LI/FE batteries are sensitve to charging voltage and current and will overheat if to high a voltage/ current is used to charge them!!
I plan on replacing the Oem Batt in my 2012 R1200GS in the near future for the same reasons!!