TRAIL ZONE

ASK DR PHIL

Suzuki DR-Z400E Flat Battery

Hi Dr Phil, 

I own a Suzuki DR-Z400E 2008 model. I haven’t had many chances to ride it of late (very unfortunate!) and found the battery was flat and when started the speedo was flickering on and off. I could not read anything. Lucky I bought it with the kickstart kit, which had to be used! After about a half-hour ride I switched it off and went to flick the ignition on and the battery was still dead. I have heard the DR-Zs and some other bikes’ batteries don't sit well for long periods. How do I overcome this problem in the future? And is this due to cold conditions in Winter? Any help will be much appreciated.

Nick Pallot, via www.trailzone.com.au

Hi Nick,
Thanks for your letter and we’’re sorry to hear about your battery dramas. We’ve heard of many similar examples just like yours; we even had a dud battery on one of our own TRAIL ZONE Project Bike Suzuki DR-Z400Es – just consider yourself lucky your bike has a kickstart!

What we can highly recommend is one of the new Smart chargers we a’re actually using on all our current long-term test bikes (check out TRAIL ZONE back issue #19 where we go into plenty more details on these essential chargers, call the TZ office on (02) 9905 ZONE to order a back issue). We’’re extremely happy with the Oxford 360T Maximiser Smart charger. You can even leave this unit on your bike 24/7 when not riding. Though all we do is whack it on the night before a ride. These units are available from the Australian distributor Ficeda Accessories, check out their website at www.ficeda.com.au then call them on (02) 9757 0060 to find out your nearest dealer.
Best of luck with it and enjoy the ride!

– Dr Phil,

    www.trailzone.com.au