Battery options...

Mine has the starter removed less weight. I have the most reliable starter made, my leg!:wink2:
 
Haha! I just wanted to be clear on who was using what battery for. Yes, if you're not using the starer, a cheap $10 battery would be fine. If you do need to use the starter, I was trying to illustrate that you can have a relatively cheap battery that's strong enough and super small too.
 
I'm glad that your legs are strong and able to do that kind of stuff,however,should you someday want to sell the bike,hopefully your efforts haven't made the starter impossible or difficult to replace. You might find some old fart like me that wants the bike,but doesn't have strong legs to kick it. I broke my foot Monday while helping my son put plywood on my sister's floor.I tripped,falling on my leg,and somehow broke my left foot.Good luck and keep after it,you've got a nice bike,judging by what I've read. lha
 
My 79 never came with a starter and the 80 did but the starter and all the bits could be put back in with no problem. I just don't want a 10lb battery in the bike when I can use a 1lb one.
 
Yeah,I know,it would save a little weight,but I like an electric start.I've started old tractors with a crank handle,and it's not fun! lha
 
I've seen so many of these bikes with a broken kick starter shaft boss that I use the electric start every time I can. That being said, I understand why some people would remove it....and understand that 2E, 2F and the like never had one.
 
I have just about 30k on my 79 2f and it have been kicked every time to start with no broken shafts. Some people " jump" on them, I just kick through that way there is no slamming on the shaft. After reading my response I sound like a perv. :laugh:
 
hahahahaha ^

yeah i got mine with a locked engine and a broken kickstart journal. think someone tried to gorilla jump on it with it was seized. never found the broken part tho... but i swapped cases cuz i wanted a kick only bike. so now im lookin at tiny batteries ;)
 
so, i've been running a gel-battery for a year, 3ah. not a problem. been great and its small.
but when putting the bike back together, I accidently shortened the battery against the +side and the mount broke. (due to tension and heat) so the battery is "dead". (it works but i can't connect it)

I also have a 1.2ah battery laying around, now I know this is what everyone asks, but will it work out for me or will it overheat? I know it works in the short term, but how about a day worth of riding?

i run two headlights, one 35w and one led, some led-lights to indicate oil and neutral etc. and tail-light with bulb,. nothing else.

xschris, any issues with your battery at all?

thanks!
 
mines 2.1 amp and run 2 x 35watt headlamps (separately) led rear stop/tail, electronic ignition, horn and a tri-LED warning lamp!

no issues at all.
 
No issues with my 1.3ah 30w head, one bulb led brake, led indicators and 10w turn:)
 
I just bought 4 x A123 from sz_ohmygod on eBay. About $38 shipped. Installed it, doesn't crank cold too easily, but will crank easily with the engine warm. Kick start works great of course. The tabs that they welded though get instantly hot because of the high current running through them on crank.

Noticed that I needed my idle speed above 1500 in order to keep charge on my battery.... but that's a separate issue altogether.
 
duran said:
I just bought 4 x A123 from sz_ohmygod on eBay. About $38 shipped. Installed it, doesn't crank cold too easily, but will crank easily with the engine warm. Kick start works great of course. The tabs that they welded though get instantly hot because of the high current running through them on crank.

Noticed that I needed my idle speed above 1500 in order to keep charge on my battery.... but that's a separate issue altogether.
Click to expand...

Just a head's up, with those A123 packs, it's best to turn the bike on, with the headlight on, to warm the battery up first. As long as your battery is charged up, it should be fine with the light on for a minute or two. Wait about 30 seconds, then try to crank it.

I've been running a 4 pack A123 and it's been fine. Granted, I do kick her over the majority of the time.
 
Thats my new small Battery....

14895335yh.jpg
 
Hey guys, I had a battery related problem, thought this would be the right place to ask about it.

So I replaced the 12V 12amp battery with a 12V 4amp battery. Yesterday I went for my first ride on it for an hour and it worked great, however that time I only kick started it. This morning I thought I'd try the electric starter, and it turned over and ran for about 5 minutes before dying. After that I couldn't even kick start it. When I measured the voltage it was at 11.3V.

Is it possible that using the starter takes the battery dangerously low and then it is too late to charge?
 
well there's a way to find out if that's the case. Charge your battery externally, and try it again. While running measure the voltage on your battery, it should be charging at like 14V. If it's not, it's just your charging system. If it does start on the electric starter, and it charges at 14V, but it dies and the battery is like 11V again, you know the starter drains the battery to the point of no return.

Actually, you probably had it idle for 5 minutes before it died, right? Idling doesn't actually charge the bike. Only when you're riding it starts putting power into the battery.
 
benjamin said:
Hey guys, I had a battery related problem, thought this would be the right place to ask about it.

So I replaced the 12V 12amp battery with a 12V 4amp battery. Yesterday I went for my first ride on it for an hour and it worked great, however that time I only kick started it. This morning I thought I'd try the electric starter, and it turned over and ran for about 5 minutes before dying. After that I couldn't even kick start it. When I measured the voltage it was at 11.3V.

Is it possible that using the starter takes the battery dangerously low and then it is too late to charge?
Click to expand...

Try hooking up 2 or 3 of the small batteries in parallel[+ to +,- to -],so you'll have enough amps to start and run at idle for a while without discharging your batteries. lha
 

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