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Hi guys,

Have run into my first wrinkle in Falco ownership. Went to head off yesterday morning and didn't want to start. Everything seemed to be working ok - was turning over fine but just didn't seem to want to fire. Anyhoo after not too long battery flat as a pancake I'm sweating like a dog. OK heave it up the ramp at the carpark for the bump start - no chance. No I'm really sweating and unhappy! Train to work, only half an hour late and give up lovely ride planned in the Bucks hills after work - oh well.

Ok, so this morning probably jumping the gun but make the assumption the battery's shagged - have only had the bike a few months, battery looks pretty old and I don't have a charger, so toddle off and buy a newbie. Bung it in, hook it up.....almost the same result as the old one

Now I notice that I'd left the cold start on overnight, so that definitely hasn't helped......but it was more the fact the new battery was VERY sluggish on turning the engine over, which I didn't think would have anything to do with it maybe being flooded.

Having a read of the other posts just now I think I'll leave it a bit and try the full throttle trick a bit later, but any thoughts on why the new battery would not be turning it over better than the old?? Does this suggest other, more painful problems?!

taking for granted that the new battery is fully charged, then the starter could be getting tired.my mate had a similer problem with his mille,so we switched his ignition on and put a lead from his car straight to the starter,it did start proofing the battery was knackered.

I'm betting that once you've got the battery charged for another go, the full throttle start method will do the trick.

If the starter motor is sluggish it could be your battery needs replacing or that your starter relay is on the way out (adding resistance to the starter circuit).

Thanks guys......mmm I'm now going to ask a REALLY dumb question - the battery I bought I had to fill it with the acid supplied, so does this mean it's not charged??

that type of battery comes as what they call dry charged, so yes it will need the charge topping up.

Yep right you are. Had a google and found that it needs to be charged.....so one charger later we'll see how it goes in the morning.

I know I'm not especially smart cos the more I think about it the more obvious it is that if I had to add the acid then it wouldn't be charged.....but would have been nice if they'd mentioned it at the shop. Dunno if this is the norm now for batteries but this is the first one I've bought that need charging before first use. Anyway I'm just pissed cos I was too stupid to work it out. So full throttle start in the morning - fingers crossed!

If it's been a while, you may not need the full throttle start. Just try starting normally to begin with.
If that doesn't work, then go for it.