Issues with AntiGravity Battery (4-Cell) on a cold start

A

asfi99

New Member
I installed AntiGravity 4 Cell battery on my 1980 SR250 - The annoying problem seems to be that whenever i try to start the bike after it has been sitting overnight or a couple of days then i get 3-4 tries out of the battery to get the bike running before it runs out of battery and just starts clicking. This has turned into an annoying problem of me taking the battery off, recharging it and then putting it back on, retry etc.

Has anyone else had a similiar experience with these batteries ? especially for a cold start ? I have another bigger bulkier Adventure Power battery that starts the bike everytime.

Do you guys think its a rectifier/regulator problem, i will grab a multimeter to go try it out as well.
 
Depends on what you mean by cold. Under 50°F, definitely. If just sitting for a few days, then no problem.


The issue with LI-ION batteries is that they hate the cold. The proper warm up procedure for the battery in cold weather is to sit with the headlight on (and kill switch set to run) for a minute before trying to start when the weather is cold.

Additionally, LI-ION batteries have an excellent discharge rate, meaning a very small battery can turn over a relatively large engine. The downside is that that total amp hour rating is kind of small. You get only three or four chances to get the bike going before your battery is fully discharged.
 
It's a 6AH "lead equivalent" battery.
Which after you ignore their marketing BS you're looking at probably 4 AH which is really small.
3-4 attempts is all you're going to get really.
That's why you tune with a lead battery and then when you've got it tuned so that it starts on a 1/2 push of the button THEN you put in the baby batt. A well tuned bike shouldn't have to turn over for more than 1 second to start.
 
I have both. An sr250 and the 4 cell. And I live in Canada.

So I've got this covered perhaps lol.

Mine cranks just fine. I can get lots of cranking before it goes soft. Your sr250 should turn over once and fire. So right away it's a hard start. Get that sorted. It's the carb and the cam chain tension. Always. Learn how to adjust the cam chain tension and do it before all of the below.

But, your battery doesn't seem to be getting charged right from the bike. You have to check the stator, check the connections, check everything to make sure the battery is getting topped up by the charging system.

Cold cranks amps aren't the issue here. The bike starts hard and you are running the not well charged battery down starting it.

First up. 3-4 cans of carb cleaner and a can of Seafoam. Take the carb off, get welding wire in the pilot holes. Clean, clean, clean. Take the carb totally apart. All jets out. It will still be dirty. Get the carb back on. Fill the tank. Put 250ml of Seafoam in. Start the bike and literally ride that tank out. Clean clean clean. Get the tank clean, get some clear fuel tubing. Keep an eye on it.

Next up, new plug. Gap it.

Then as we say, multimeter the shit out of it. Find why it won't charge. My 4 cell antigravity battery can get probably 20 5 second spins before I hear it slowing down.

Also, test the battery voltage. How did you charge it? With an old school one switch charger or a fancy new one?
 
Thanks all for the advise, i have a bit of Troubleshooting to do now.

Thanks Cosworth as always for you well informed and detailed replies.
 
My bike sat for a few years before I got it. I thought I had cleaned the carb. About 20 times messing with jets etc.

I put a can of Seafoam in it. Well, 250ml in the tank and sprayed some in the carb. Wow. I'm certainly not one to fall for snake oil but this had me taking two full turns out of the idle and it just purrs now. Even the exhaust note is different. Slight backfire on decel now too.

Whatever there was in the pilot screw or wherever, it cleaned it out. And I had fully disassembled the carb, poked the idle orifices (4 of them) with welding wire etc. I had been fastidious. I missed something or couldn't get to it.

Try 250ml of Seafoam in the carb and ride that tank out. I bet you see a difference.
 
Btw as far as charing my AntiGravity battery i hooked it up to my car battery via jumper cables, started the car and kept the car running for 15-20 minutes. These were the instructions on how to recharge the battery on the AntiGravity website. That did seem to work.

Also just to be clear - Just clean the carbs - no need to re-jet right
 
The stock idle jet is a 47.5. It's fine.

The main jet is a 125. With no airbox and an exhaust, you can try a 130. Get a new plug. A plug is cheap.
 
Sorry, I didn't answer you properly. No need to rejet for now. Read the plug. If you have a 130 or a 132.5 in there you need a tan coloured plug.

Your exhaust and air filter will determine your jetting. Go up in little steps. 130 first. But it will run and start fine with a wide open airbox and an exhaust and stock jets. Long term, you'd want to give it a bit more fuel.
 
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