Battery discharging, part 2

So, it appears the discharge is slowing down.  I'm going to take the battery down to the bike to try to start it up.  I'm not sure I should be heading out there today.  There was a slot of snow dumped onto our streets a couple of days ago.  Most of it should have been cleared but there might still be some lying around, still dangerous for a motorcycle.

Update:  I haven't tried connecting the battery back to the motorcycle yet but I suspect it's not going to work.  According to the following webpage, this battery is no good:

http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/maintenance/battery.htm

It appears that on day 1 (when I brought the battery into my apartment), it was down to 70% capacity already.  It nosedived to 12.3V then slowing down to 12.2V (or 50% capacity) over a few days.  With only 12.16V today, it's essentially dead.

Battery discharging

I've been having problems with the battery lately.  The cold weather sucks the juice out of the battery faster than anything I've seen before.  Nowadays, even in the underground garage, I would have problem starting the bike and often than not, the battery would die in the process.  I've taken the bike out to Mississauga (30km away) over last weekend, and left the bike in the cold at -10C for about 5 hours, and it barely had any juice left to start the bike.

So, after I got home this past weekend, I took the battery out and thought I'd hook it up to the battery tender to trickle charge it.  Then, I thought maybe I'd capture the discharge rate of the battery first.

At the beginning, when I first brought the battery to my apartment, the battery was still cold from the ride.  The voltage dropped by 0.1V in about 3 hours.  Then, the discharge quickly settled down to 0.05V per day.  I'm not sure what this means yet.  Does the battery need to be replaced?  Well, before I connect the battery tender up, I'll take the battery back down to the bike and see if I could start the bike up.  I'll do a test with the cold as well, leaving the battery out in the cold and see how fast the discharge is.

Mitts, cold weather riding, snow

The temperature hovered around -10C with windchill today.  I was running out of food at home so decided to take advantage of the clean streets to go do some grocery shopping at Walmart's.  I wasn't planning to do grocery shopping there but I wanted to buy some mouthwash from Walmart's and while I was there, I felt too lazy to walk over to No Frills in the same plaza to buy food.  So, I spent $67 at Walmart's today.  I wonder how much I would have saved had to gone over to No Frills.  Bananas go over $0.57 a pound at both Walmart's and No Frills.  But then, there are other stuff I bought which I could probably get cheaper at No Frills.

Anyways, today was my first time out since new year, I believe.  I was afraid of the snow so I used my bicycle last weekend to go grocery shopping.  Tonight, the snow will come back so I decided to head out with my bike before the dump starts.  At -10C, I was super warm.  My fingers felt cozily warm.  It felt a bit strange at first because of the bulkiness but the handlebar mitts worked beautifully.  I don't think anything out there works as well as these mitts.  I think the handlebar heated grips warm up the palm side of your hands and fingers, but there is still the back side that is exposed to the wind.  With the mitts though, your hands are fully protected.  Super warm.  That was a nice ride I had today.

I hope the snow will be kept at bay once a week.  Let the streets stay clean and dry.  I'll be out there!

Stolen bike, update

So, as it turns out, security in my building moved my bike to a secure room!  What?!?!!  They didn't tell me they did that.  They left me a voice mail on my phone this morning though.  Strange, I did not hear the phone ring.  So, all is well.

Stolen bike

My bike got stolen yesterday, sometime between 11:30am and 2pm.  I got a call from the concierge desk, indicating that my bike is not chained to something solid.  There had been some theft recently the lady over the phone said.  Well, I saw my bike just the day before and it was still there, so I didn't pay much attention to it.  Besides, why would anyone want my 15 year-old bike?  Having said that though, I always wonder whenever I go down to the garage whether my bike will still be there.  At 2pm yesterday, I took the elevator down to the parking garage.  It looked like most people have left for the holidays.  The garage was largely empty.  I could see my parking spot and my neighbours have left already.  Something looked amiss.  Where was my bike?  I got closer to look.  I got in front of the parking spot.  Gone.  An angry feeling came over me.  That wasn't good I thought.  I shouldn't be mad while riding my motorbike but I couldn't help feeling vulnerable because someone had stolen something from you.  It's some black guy on security tape that apparently got into the garage and took the bike up outside the building to load them into a truck/van.  I sure hope that guy gets caught!  My bike is not worth much.  I bought it for less than $200 in 1999 or 2000.  It's about 15 years old and it's about time I upgrade to a lighter bike.  Nevertheless, it's been a good bike I've taken to everywhere I could take it to.  It's a bike I'd use for going shopping and to visit my parents in the summer.  It was a sad loss to say the least.

Yes, we're talking about my bicycle, not my motorcycle.  They stole my blue, Hard Drive mountain bike.

Freezing, carburetor

Yesterday, I decided to take my Suzi out to go Walmart to purchase a few things.  One of the things I was conscious about was the possibility of the bike not starting when I'm out there, so I was going to buy a battery booster cable and leave it under the seat of the bike.

The problem I had the week earlier was not a battery problem.  The battery is just fine.  It holds a good charge and in my building garage, I was able to start the bike right away.  There was no hesitation.  I still feared it would crap out on me out there when it's cold.  And it was cold!

I thought it'd be maybe -10C with windchill but according to the Weather Network, the dewpoint was -15C or -16C around the time when I went out.  Now, I'm not sure what dewpoint translates to in the temperature you feel but I must say it was darn cold.  I was barely five minutes out there and my fingers were starting to freeze already!  That was with my leather gloves.  I can't wait for the muffs to arrive.  It's been over five weeks since I ordered a pair from eBay.  They haven't arrived yet.  Grr...  I was so glad I got to Walmart and spent an hour or so walking about and warming my digits up.

I went to buy some groceries--I normally go to No Frills for that--and some toiletries.  I got back home, then realized I forgot to buy the battery booster cable!  Grr ... it must be the cold numbing my brain too.

I went out again shortly after getting back home.  This time, I went to the Harbourfront Centre where there are 72 large photos in an exhibition of "No Flat" in Ontario Square.  I liked it that my helmet kept my head really warm.  The wind was brutal and my feet started to get a bit cold.  Anyways, as part of my New Year's Eve celebration, I wanted to visit all 72 photos and decided to head back home after 1.5-2 hours.  I was a little worried at this point.  Will the bike start up?

Well, yup, it did.  Not a problem.  However, it had a problem with idling.  It tended to die if I didn't give it some gas, or didn't keep the choke open.  When I decided to ride out, it was definitely hesitating.  It doesn't look like my carburetor likes the cold too much.

I will order the booster cable from Walmart and have it delivered.