TE499 Seat Retainer Pin - and Micro Backup Battery Pack

Well, I haven't visited the Cafe for quite some time, but tonight I decided to log on see what was shaking. Low and behold, a new reply or two to this thread I posted back in July. Thanks to everyone who did contribute advice to my questions.

I would like to offer a special thanks, to Trenchcoat this evening. In between sipping on a baileys and hot chocolate, he has provided me with a good 15 minutes of chuckles -- and some sound advice.

All this advice, I will take into the shop in January (the time when I will do what major seasonal maintenance I am personally capable of).

Trenchcoat's story was fantastic IMHO..... and frankly a little disturbing. It's like he has been following me around for the past year Really, I very much enjoyed it, and there is absolutely quite a bit of truth to your fictional story.

What I did end up discovering, is that my EarthX battery was toast (another story there). The short version, is that after charging the Earthx would read full charge... 14.5 volts or so.... but drop off as a ride progressed - to the point where it would not start my bike without help. To my untrained and shady tree mechanic eyes, the battery was fine, and the problem with was the bike - but I couldn't find anything really wrong with the bike except the subtle clutch drag. I mean after all, the battery easily took a charge, and spun the starter nice and strong after off-bike charging.

For shits and giggles, I rigged my wee little portable pack (think Iphone size) to my bike and took the EarthX out, and popped it in my pack. I then went on a 3 hour or so ride, turned the bike on and off lots, got it wet, stalled it some. Interestingly, the bike started and and ran flawlessly... WTF!? Cool though, I thought. So, I called EarthX, they told me to deal with the Canadian Distributor, who told me something along the lines of "yeah, I've seen a few act like that.... clear warranty issue... etc etc." Fast forward to new battery.

Dangermousse was correct "sounds like a failing battery."

Thus I replaced the toasted battery with a new one, and the bike started strong and flawlessly for the remainder of my season (put the bike away at the end of October). During the time after the battery replacement, the bike did not need to be hooked up to a battery tender or charger (except once when I left the headlights on over night).

In fact, the new battery and charging has been so reliable since the replacement, I didn't bother with tracking down a Dzus fastener, instead I used a swanky black quicktie!

Truth of the matter is, after many occasions, spending hours and hours running up and down overgrown Canadian trails looking for lost GoPro's, expensive watches, and GPS units to no avail (not my stuff - but buddies') There is no way I'll try searching 20 km+ of single track for a fastener the size of my thumbnail. Frankly, I'm either too lazy or sensible to bother with that plan.

I do still carry my charge pack though, extra quick ties, and my mini jumper cables, AND I'm SURE I hear the sharp hissing intake of breath from my riding buddies when I stall out. I'd like to think it's a reaction to them attempting not to smoke me

But that's Joe for you

Mind telling about your mini jumper pack and how you like it?

What would you like to know Gilles?

I don't remember exactly what model and make mine is atm, but it is basically like most of the chargers found in this article;

http://www.carbatterychargerscentral.com/car-starter-top-7-compact-battery-jump-starters/

I paired down my personal kit, and include only a mini booster cable and the battery pack. It easily stores behind a water bladder in my smaller hydration packs. For a bike like a TE449 that doesn't have a kick start, it certainly makes starting a bike with a dead battery easy... bump starting isn't always easy

Walking out pushing a dead bike can really suck, (been there many a time for various reasons) and bumming a boost from a riding buddy isn't always feasible.

But around our property, I've also used it to jump full size pickups, V6 outboard motors, and tractors, etc....

The cool thing to me, is that these new booster packs are so small and portable. I'm finding they also give my Ipad about 5-6 full charges, and the unit fully recharges using a packable solar panel like a SolarMio in about half a day with full sunlight. I carry two of these on extended canoe trips, and rotate charging service to Satellite Phones, and tablets, without any real risk of running out of juice.

For $100 bucks or so, they are a really cool piece of kit.

Hey Andy- any new info after you took your bike into the shop? how's then new Earth-X battery doing? let us know.