Put in wrong gas... Now won't run right, backfire, wont start

[joebowlin]

The battery on mine seems to be fine. Holds a charge for a long time, and always cranks the starter great. I'm going to order the CDI tonight. I'll make sure to keep good batteries in my other bikes.

[RCW]

The best way to know if a 12 volt motorcycle battery is good is to charge it fully, then wait 12 hours and check the voltage. If it is 12.7 VDC or above it is good, if below that it is time for replacement or reconditioning if you have a charger like a BatteryMinder.

The battery works like a wet capacitor and stores voltage spikes then normalizes the voltage so the rectifier/regulator can manage the charge rates. A bad battery is like a capacitor with diminished coupling capability, they pass the voltage spikes right on to the system and also allow the rectifier/regulator to start running at around 16 VDC during engine operation and that burns out the electrical components from excess heat when the diodes exceed their thresholds.

[joebowlin]

I did not know that. I'll charge and probe mine tomorrow. I don't want to be throwing money down the drain in the future due to a $35 maintenance part.

Went to a riding buddies tonight, and he could hardly walk. Took his Can Am 800 out in Tahoe National Forrest and got in a pretty bad situation. Was going up a steep hill, trying to get over a log to get to the top and the bike bucked him off. He flew about 20ft and the quad went back end over end down the hill. Landed on top of him. He landed between a bunch of rocks, which ended up taking the majority of the hit when the quad reached him. He's pretty messed up though, and in the ER right now. Just a harsh reminder that we get complacent with our machines and take them to extremes that we're not ready or skilled to do.

[86klf300guy]

Originally Posted by joebowlin

I did not know that. I'll charge and probe mine tomorrow. I don't want to be throwing money down the drain in the future due to a $35 maintenance part.

Went to a riding buddies tonight, and he could hardly walk. Took his Can Am 800 out in Tahoe National Forrest and got in a pretty bad situation. Was going up a steep hill, trying to get over a log to get to the top and the bike bucked him off. He flew about 20ft and the quad went back end over end down the hill. Landed on top of him. He landed between a bunch of rocks, which ended up taking the majority of the hit when the quad reached him. He's pretty messed up though, and in the ER right now. Just a harsh reminder that we get complacent with our machines and take them to extremes that we're not ready or skilled to do.

i agree with what you are sayin on the rideing part .i hope your freind will be ok .that some scary stuff.
i have a bud that did the same thing ,went up a steep hill side with his ole lady on the back of it the tires broke loose so he pulled the clutch in panic and hit the rear brake needless to say he and his girl got hurt ,the bike went over she landed on a tree root he landed on top of her and the bike landed on top of him.he was hurtin but his girls back got jacked due to the tree root.oh and the machine was a 350 warrior.not good for hill sides ne waz.my bayou has the wieght and low end to pull me up hill sides plus yrs of experience to boot.i had to watch that whole thing play out cause i was at the top waitin,needless to say i ran the fastist i have have ran when i seen that machine comeing up in the front and start goin backwards on my friends .thats sum scary stuff to watch happen .

beat of luck to you and your freind-corey-

[joebowlin]

Thats scary to think about, but good to hear to remind you of the things that can happen...

Just found out that he broke his hip, bruised some ribs, and has to lay in bed for atleast 2 weeks. I don't know if you've ever seen a Can Am 800 max XT, but the things huge, weighing over 700 lbs. Would hate to have any quad land on me, especially that one.