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I finally got a chance to take my bike, a 2000 Intruder 1500, for a long ride. I needed to check on a project about 150 miles away, so I thought it would be fun to ride my bike especially with the forecasted highs of upper 70's. Bubbling with excitement, I woke at about quarter till five Thursday morning. Even though the temps were in the forties, I was still excited to be riding. I stopped by the office for a while and headed out at about 7:30. Still pretty cool (insufficient cold weather gear) I was just riding and enjoying my trip--for about the first sixty miles. I was really glad I was running out of gas just so I could stop, otherwise, I was about ready to start poking holes in the gas tank (as if one could easily get to the gas tank on this "under the seat, hold no gas" bastrd).

Anyway, I fill up with gas and am about to get going again and the bike won't start. It would turn over, but not enough to fire off the engine. Luckily there was a parts house close by, so I removed the battery and walked the couple hundred yards or so (a pleasurable experience for my "O Ring"). The short of it is, I bought a new battery and was on my way after about an hour or so. The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful, but I wanted to share some notes:

1) The front end seems to have just a slight vibration at higher speeds.

2) The engine or drive train makes a real hummy sound at certain speeds--like the harmonics are just right to make the sound.

3) People in cars are really stupid.

4) My right hand was really tired by the time I got home.

5) My left and right "O Ring" were REALLY tired by the time I got home.

So, all of that leads to a couple of questions:

1) I checked in to a Corbin seat. A little pricey, but boy do I need some help. Anybody got experience with them? BTW, I'm 6'1", 250--I got a big gut, but small hips and butt.

2) The guy I bought the bike from rigged up a quick connect for a trickle charger and warned me that I should keep the charger on the battery, especially when I don't ride it for long periods of time. I've cranked the bike with no problem just about every other day for two weeks. What gives? What could be making a draw on the battery? Or is it not being charged by the bike properly?

Ya'll make any and all comments!

Comment on the battery. How old is the battery? Did it have enough water in it? Did you check the connection before replacing the battery? Is the new battery working okay?

No, I didn't check the water in the battery. I was in the middle of nowhere and I just wanted to go forward, not monkey around with it. The sticker on the battery was dated 2005. It should have been o.k. I'm guessing.

Have you checked to see if the system is charging properly? If you have a volt meter check it while bike is running and rev up a bit. It should show a bit over 12 volts. Also if no meter start bike light against a wall see if the light gets brighter when revving engine. Hope this helps you.
I replaced a battery one time and when hooking up the new one I found that the ground cable was loose at the frame.

It should show a bit over 12 volts with the engine off (assuming a fully charged battery). 12.2v-12.4v. With the engine turning fast, expect 13v-14V, depending on the rpm.

Should actually be closer to 13 volts if it's a sealed battery.

I took the old battery in first and the guy at the parts store put a meter on it. The meter indicated that the battery was a 75% and 12.3 v. So, I thought the same thing about loose connections and put it back on, checked all the connections but to no avail. That's when I said to heck with it just give me a new one. I really appreciate everyone's advice so far. I'll check all those things.

Everyone else pretty much covered your charging situation. For comfort, you can get a sheepskin cover that helps alot over the stock seat. I'm concerned with corbin and mustang seats as they tend to move your riding position forward about an inch (something i'm not interested in). I'll probably just get a gel pad in the end and mod my existing seat myself. As far as your right hand, get a vista-cruise. They are sweet on the long haul. I've got one on both my bikes.