Decided to start the motorbike up on Christmas Eve but the battery was well and truly dead.

I suppose thinking about it we hadn’t been out on it since mid-September and it has only had very light use all year really. So probably it’s no great surprise when all is said and done.

Anyway I thought the best option, as always when it gets to that stage, is to bump start it off and take it for a ride. Hhmmm the only slight difference this time was that even switched on, the lights, the horn and indicators offered not a glimpse of life. Even the lights just around the clocks were not there just to indicate the key was turned to on.

So the fun and games then started. Tried pushing and bumping off in second gear to start with, the engine produced the tiniest sigh that it was still in there, my better half was helping and pushing and even the passing postman took a turn too. With every effort the engine seemed to try that bit harder to spark into life, first gear is always too tricky because it causes the back wheel to lock and the pusher ends up running into the back or skimming off to one side and gets a mirror in the shoulder! So we kept with 2nd and tried to find the slightest downhill slope in our street and each time kept pushing that bit longer and faster before jumping on……no joke it was maybe 25 attempts later it sparked into life….hurray!! Only to die the second I tried the indicator. Same happened the next time when I flicked the light switch.

The conclusion was that the battery had well and truly expired and was beyond the point of rescue. Thanks to my fascination with the little tutorial videos put up on YouTube I now tend to try to tackle little projects like this myself, I’ve had plenty of success based on the knowledge I’ve picked up that other have shared.

After shopping around we found a local trade centre with just the battery we needed and after a few checks we came away with the dry battery and the 6 pack to fill it with. We carefully managed to do that without putting holes in skin, material or anything else for that matter, not a drop was spilled. We then left it to stand for an hour as per the instructions and then sealed the battery up once and for all.

Then it was connected to our battery charger for 10 hours, out of the bike. We then placed the battery back into the bike, connected the terminals and secured the bracket housing it in tight storage.

The moment of truth, keys turned, the lights came on the dash, tested the indicators, lights and horn, all lovely and bright. Hit the ignition switch and the bike roared into life. A quick 20 mile blast down the motorway confirmed all was perfect great.