Suzuki GSX650F Forum - www.GSX650F.biz

Well I bought mine about a month ago. been trolling the forums and everything I have seen here has been very informative. I put the center stand on and a tank protector and I continue to make a shopping list.

Well it is a rare day here in N. Texas with the temp being in the middle 70's and went to get on the bike for a ride. Turned the key and NADA.. I checked a few things and got out the meter and the battery maybe has 1v in it. I rode the bike yesterday no problems and the key was not in the ignition. So other then the battery taking an instapoop, I have no clue why it drained out.

Of course it is Monday and the Suzuki dealer is closed to bug them about the battery going in the 1st month. Do you think I can get them to warranty it considering a battery is not included..

Anyway I look forward to many more excellent posts to read..

I have found its is very easy to put the parking lights by mistake when I turn the key to off

I did this once. Glad I noticed it before my battery was drained. I've never had a bike with parking lights before.

I dont understand why our bikes have parking lights, is this a U.S. requirement?

I don't think that it is required, but I think they look kinda cool.

I didn't think I had done that. Do just the front turn signals come on or do the back ones come on as well. When I got to the house yesterday it was daytime. There is always the chance I dumbed out and put the parking lights on.

Parking light ,be there done that with this bike ,20 minutes on the battery charge and all good.

Alot of people say get a trickel charger to charge the battery at night or when its not in used.
I have had 3 bikes and never ever bothered with a trickel charger ,the batterys these days are pretty good ,and I bet you would still have enough to kick a bike over if left for a month or more.
In normal places ,maybe not if it snows where you live.

I have had jetskis {same batterys} and only ride every 2-3 weeks and they always start .
Left one for 4 months over winter and it started after 2 trys.

The parking lights are such a dumb idea, especially when you can easily leave them on by turning the ignition key one click too far. It is even worse when you consider the fact that you can't push start this bike the way you could with the old carburetored bikes. I haven't left the parking lights on by accident yet but if it happens when I am at work I don't know what I will do to get started again. Imagine if it happened at a remote camp site when you are touring? What a nightmare.

I drained the battery on my last bike by leaving the heated grip-wraps switched-on when I went into work one day. After me failing miserably in trying to bump start it, my Wife had to drive 35 miles to give me a jump start from the car (was late on a Friday and everyone had gone home). In my haste to get the bike started, in the dark, I crossed the cables. Oh sh*t! Blew the main fuse... Fortunately for me, the manufacturers had anticipated my stupidity and provided a spare 30A fuse. Phew...

Since then, I carry a set of motorcycle jumper cables and some spare fuses. You can jump-start a motorcycle from a car's battery but don't have the car's engine running when you do it as you could damage the bike's battery or electrical system if the car's engine's running I'm told.

I also carry a cell phone and have AMA Motow towing insurance.

You can't be too careful out there...

I put on 3,200 miles on my bike now. I parked it in the shed, locked the front end, and locked the shed. The next day I unlocked the forks, turned the key on and Nothing Happened. No lights or anything. I suspected I could have put it in the Parking position and killed the battery overnight. But next I charged the Suzuki battery and it charged it for at least 6 hours, then my light came on the charger saying PROBLEM. The voltage didnt want to come above 11.25v . I am kind of suspecting their batteries have problems and not me, but I cant be sure. I am verifing that I do not put it on parking position ever. I hope its not a bike charging problem. I installed a new battery from Walmart ($60).
Will let you know what develops if anything.

i like parking lights, but I would only use them with an LED brake light. The better question is why didn't they use LED's for the tail light???

This is an update to my post above.

My new battery has worked flawless.

Original suzuki battery was no good.

My charging system is fine.

If you ever do this and kill your battery, just have a car jump you. BUT make sure the car isnt running before putting cables on. Its been done many times like this by people I know and they never had problems as long as the car is OFF

There's a legal requirement here in the UK to have lights showing on any vehicle which is stopped at the side of the road at night, if that road has a speed limit of 40 mph or higher. But I would be highly surprised if motorbikes all had parking lights just for the benefit of the UK market.

I wish manufacturers would finally move up into the 1990s and use LEDs for all lamps (except the headlamps I suppose). I can only conclude the reason they haven't all done it must be cost. Can't be much, but in volume over all vehicles the savings probably adds up to enough for the bean-counters to put the kibosh on LEDs. Maybe in time it'll become cost-effective for them.

Also, according to FMVSS 108, parking lights are NOT required on motorcycles in either the front or the rear (in the US). But headlights and taillights are required lit when moving (obviously), and I would imagine front and rear illumination is required in certain stopped situations like olembe mentions. Having parking lights in the front would be convenient by saving you from burning the main headlights in those situations.