I am an idiot.. A no start story

[Ezayakyala]

Heading home from a glorious 2nd ride of the season. Wife texts me and asks me to pick up steaks for a stir fry. Why not? The grocery store is right there on the way home. I jump off my bike skip into the store.. find some good looking meat and realize I am going to have to stick this into my jacket to get home. Not an issue… it’s a 5 minute ride home. The steak will be fine. I get back out click the bike on as i always do and hit the starter .. the bike just blinks red at me… WTF? .. how could this happen. This bike has never let me down… hmmm.. try emergency start procedure.. does not work. Is my battery dead? I treat this battery better than my body. Always plugged in to a tender and parked in a heated garage. No way its a bad battery i think.

Luckily I am in the parking lot with a Canadian Tire in it. I always keep a screw driver in my tool bag. Pop the battery out head into Canadian tire. With a sheepish look on my face. They test my battery. It says the battery is faulty. Yay I am saved. They spend 10 minutes looking for a battery that matches. The steak in my jacket is about 30 minutes old. We find a battery hooray ! But wait I have to stand in line to pay for it.. get the receipt validated and come back and pick it up. Steak timer is at 40 minutes by the time I pick up my battery.

Head back to the bike.. Have a hell of a time getting the nuts in the battery without them wanting to slide out. Get everything plugged in. Moment of truth. NO START. Red light blinking mockingly at me. Steak timer 1 hour.

I look at some videos on YouTube… Emergency start needs the spare key and the saddle bag mounts might be in the way so my FOB is not getting close enough. This is a brand new battery… did the alarm system crap out? Then I notice someone saying something about turning the FOB on and off by pressing the Triumph Logo. He said it went from Red to Green meaning it was off. I look at my FOB and point it to the sky.. by the power of Greyskull … I press the button.. .Red to Green.

Bike Starts.. Steak timer is at 1 hour and 45 minutes. I put the steak in the garbage and head home. At least I have a new Battery.

 

[pica]

It happens from time to time... precheck list is a great thing to have for those moments in a little bag together with your spare key and another cr2032 battery

 

[Einar]

For future reference:

• The pattern of blinks indicates the error. A single long flash indicates a key communication fault.
• Even if the smart key is turned off or has a dead battery, it'll still work as a passive key if positioned correctly under the tail. The correct location, if you have the Triumph bag mounts, is directly between the two attachment points on the left side.
• Always also check the secondary ignition switch, if in Canada or the US.

 

[A1A Rider]

If you are in Calgary, AB, wouldn't the steak be ok? Seems like it is not too warm there yet.

 

[Journeyman]

Great story. Reminds me of the time I was 2 hours from home visiting a woman (new relationship). Let's just say the night went really well and then when I go to leave.... no start. Had her take me to get a new battery for remote (not the fix), then she drove me all the way home and then back to her place. I trailered it the next day home and then discovered, for the first time, there is an on/off switch on the remote. Never told her...

 

[Tripps]

The steak would have been fine, I would have gone home and cooked it.

 

[DesertRat]

. Steak timer is at 1 hour and 45 minutes. I put the steak in the garbage and head home. At least I have a new Battery.

You shouldn't Abuse your Meat.....especially in Public

 

[Gimlet]

Great story. Reminds me of the time I was 2 hours from home visiting a woman (new relationship). Let's just say the night went really well and then when I go to leave.... no start. Had her take me to get a new battery for remote (not the fix), then she drove me all the way home and then back to her place. I trailered it the next day home and then discovered, for the first time, there is an on/off switch on the remote. Never told her...

Existential question: if you didn't know you had to wake up the key fob to start the bike, how did you ever start it in the first place?

First alert I had on my R3 when I bought it was "Key fob battery low". I now have a battery-for-life card from Timpsons (UK riders will know what I mean).

 

[papanorm]

I've also had my share of catastrophic battery failures in my time. Got stranded for half a day once. I feel your pain.

 

[stingray]

That steak was just aged, nothing wrong with it. The R3 is the one to throw in the trash. Welcome aboard.