I never leave the key in the ignition switch of my cars or trucks when they’re not running, but I always leave the key in my motorcycle in my garage. Never had a problem…until recently. One of the obvious problems with leaving a key in the ignition is that it’s possible to inadvertently leave the key ON. After doing some work on my moto and driving it around the driveway a bit that’s what I did: Key ON, driver OFF—for two days!
![photo](http://roadtraveler.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/photo1-1024x644.jpg)
When I returned to the old BWM 1150GS and realized the key was ON but nobody was home, I had the deadest vehicle battery I’ve had in a very long time. There was not a flicker of electricity to be found or even hoped for in the displays or idiot lights. Starting batteries don’t like to be deep-cycled, and dead and empty for two days is a deeeep cycle. Would the relatively young (2 years) BMW gel battery accept a charge and rave on along the back roads this summer?
My electrical guru friend Paul said to put the battery on a long, slow charge, and hope for the best; “should be fine”. After plugging-in my AccuMate charger—the one that should have been plugged-in when I parked the bike—the dash lights showed a dim glow like an oil lamp on a cold night. I had hope.
![photo copy 2](http://roadtraveler.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/photo-copy-21.jpg)
After twenty hours charging, the AccuMate was green. Now the question was, would the battery start the bike repeatedly and keep the ABS lights from blinking, or will it be a one-hit wonder? I pressed the starter and the engine fired easily. Good. After letting the oil pressure build, I turned off the motor, and restarted the horizontally-opposed twin. Five times. Every time the motor sprang to life quickly and idled well without the characteristic staggered wig-wag of the ABS light indicating a low voltage fault. Lucky me…now where is that ignition key going to be stored?
Copyright © 2012 James Langan