On late nights, brass monkeys and flat batteries

Greetings, and for those hardy souls off to the Brass Monkey – bastards, I can’t make it this year due to unforeseen circumstances and I hope you have a crap time standing round that bonfire drinking beer telling lies, and I don’t wish I was there, really I don’t. If you’re going and want to rub it in my face, we’re closing at six from now (Wednesday) until Friday night for anyone who needs anything before they go.

For those of you who are thinking of parking their bikes up over winter, you your battery is quite likely to be as flat as the road to Timaru when Summer arrives. The easy solution is a battery minder, and we carry them in stock, priced at around $149.00. Simply plug it in and forget it and when you come in from a ride hook your bike up when you get home and you’ll always have a full battery.

If you do end up with a flat battery and if, like me, you’re too old to run down the road and jump on your bike jump starting your bike with jumper leads is the best solution, but there are a few things you need to consider. Once your bike is going leave it connected to the other vehicle with both vehicles idling for a few minutes. This is especially important if the battery was really flat to begin with. If you use a car charger, charge on the lowest rate you can because a bike battery may well fry if current is pumped into it at the rate car batteries can handle.

And if you’re planning to park your bike up over winter and are coming up to time for a service, get it done before you park up. Bikes like being serviced and repay you with running at their best, so getting your bike serviced a couple of thousand of Ks early is ultimately a good thing. Second come summer the workshop goes ballistic and we hate telling customers to go away and finally old oil is filled with contaminants, including acids and moisture. Leaving the delicate internals of your bike in contact with old oil for several months is not going to make your bike feel happy and that unhappiness may well be voiced in mechanical problems down the road.

That’s pretty much it for this week. If you’re heading to the Brass, have one for all of us here at Street and Sport and we’ll see you when you get back.


Later, David Thompson
www.streetandsport.co.nz