Issues with city riding

[Chris03]

I went riding with two friends (one on a Harley, the other on a BMW) into Manhattan yesterday. Pretty cool ride, not as much for the riding - no twisties, no speed, but it's an good way to see the city. You cover a lot more distance than on foot, have a better view than in a car, and it's always interesting to see how differently people react to the different bikes.

Anyway, two things happened that I assume are nothing to be concerned about, but I thought I'd check. Not unexpectedly, we ended up finding ourselves in typical New York City traffic - inching along, 2-3 car lengths at a time. After 5 to 10 minutes of this, I noticed the engine would get a little bogged down as I'd start to roll - the RPM would just seem to drop more than normal. Once going, though, the bike ran as it normally would. I assume the plugs were just getting a little fouled.

The second issue was that on one occasion, the sluggishness above caused me to stall (or maybe I just couldn't hear the engine with everyone on the street laying on their horns...). When I went to start it back up, the battery was dead (or nearly so) and couldn't turn the engine over. I pulled over to the side of the street and waited about 10 minutes for it to recharge, which it did, and I continued without incident. As we were in the traffic, the fan was running pretty steadily, although the temp never got much above the middle of the gauge. I assume the fan and lights were draining the battery at a faster rate then it could be charged. After we got clear of the traffic and hit normal speeds for a while, I could shut it off and start it back up without any trouble.

I assume these things are to be expected when a bike like this is taken so far out of it's element.

 

[A'Busa'd]

Yes, the Busa doesn't like to sit in traffic. I think you nailed the problem.

 

[HillsRider]

Your main problem with the battery is that the alternator does not charge below 3500 rpm. Sitting around in traffic for a while will drain the battery. Gotta get on the road & ride it like it you mean it!!

 

[Revlis]

Use the Sidewalks! or shut her down and crab walk her along.

But yeah sounds pretty normal. Next time wait till she starts getting overheated then placate her with some lanesplitting, that usually makes my Busa much happier. But especially down here, when it gets really hot she hates sitting in traffic and that fan start running alot.

 

[Charlesbusa]

The battery thing normal.

But the stalling/sluggish engine. I've been in lots of super slow traffic and my engine never stalled or became sluggish.

 

[Chris03]

Thanks everyone, I thought it was pretty much to be expected. About the stalling, it very well could have been because of all the noise around me making it hard to "feel" the engine as I started rolling. With how smooth it runs, without the audible feedback it's sometimes hard to tell it's running at all - especially when your beside a Harley...

 

[The Big Red One]

Charge your battery Chris...it sounds like its low...in fact if it wouldn't start your bike its too low for the bike's charging system to completely recharge it. Bike batteries aren't like car batteries...how well you keep it charged when your bike is sitting directly affects battery life.....and starting. Bike batteries are so much smaller than car batteries that they lose a bigger percentage of they're overall charge much quicker than bigger batteries....if you only take it out for a couple of slow rides through the winter your gonna have to charge it or you'll be having that prob quite often.
I've been in very heavy traffic for very long periods of time on very hot days and my Busa has never did anything but run and start perfectly......but I check and charge my battery quite often...hope this helps

 

[Furball]

Dang, I'm glad I read this post...I had no idea that our bikes would react like this in traffic....never been stationary for more than 5 minutes at a time in mine....but I will remember this if I ever get stuck in some big city traffic...

If the bike doesn't charge til 3500 RPM, could you rev it up while sitting to charge?

 

[Busafied]

hmm..

Crack your throttle SLIGHTLY when trying to crank it in that situation.
After getting caught a few yrs ago in heavy traffic I figured it out by accident, trying anything to get it to turnover and start.
.
Sense then, I have ALWAYS slightly cracked the throttle after slow driving in traffic, or jumping off the road after hauling oates, when needing to crank her back up quickly..
Clears the gas through the head and out the exhaust (eliminating vapor lock).

Your battery is low too.