The GSXR battery is nearly 8 years old now, so I’ve been looking after it lately (occasionally) but it’s a pain to remove the seat as it’s held on with cap head screws.

I could have jerry rigged a quick connect / disconnect plug, but thought it was time to find another battery tender that had the plugs supplied with the benefit of them being weather proof.

I did some searching and kept coming back to the CTEK XS4003. So I grabbed one off eBay http://myworld.ebay.com.au/4wdextreme/ ($85AUD delivered was the cheapest by far for us Aussies, but they went up soon after, but still the cheapest I’ve found since).

I’m impressed. 4 modes, 8 stage charging. (8 stage charging might sound like a wank, but it’s important to me how it goes about it). Suitable for outdoor use, comes with eye-lets and plug, clips and plug (and travel bag ).

Steve approved http://www.ctek.com/en/chargers/12v

Leads onto the battery (the only thing I would like is fused leads, but it’s still not enough to get me to fit my own in-line fuse even though I have a few holders here).

Plug rests behind the rear brake reservoir

Plug out

Plug connected

The charger on my bench at stage 4 (absorption)

Their pic:

(The cold mode can be used for AGM batteries too as it bumps the voltage from 14.4VDC to 14.7VDC for the pulse in maintenance mode).

Motorcycle Wisdom: 

Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul.
Life may begin at 30, but it doesn’t get real interesting until about 60mph.

You start the game of life with a full pot of luck and an empty pot of experience. The object is to fill the pot of experience before you empty the pot of luck.

If you wait, all that happens is that you get older.
Midnight bugs taste just as bad as noon time bugs.
Saddlebags can never hold everything you want, but they they can hold everything you need.

It takes more love to share the saddle than it does to share the bed.
The only good view of a thunderstorm is in your rear view mirror.
Don’t ride so late into the night that you sleep through the sunrise.
Sometimes it takes a whole tank of fuel before you can think straight.

Riding faster than everyone else only guarantees you will ride alone.
Never hesitate to ride past the last streetlight at the edge of town.
Never do less than 40 miles before breakfast.
One bike on the road is worth two in the garage.

Respect the person who has seen the dark side of motorcycling and lived.
Young riders pick a destination and go. Old riders pick a direction and go.
A good mechanic will let you watch without charging you for it.
Sometimes the fastest way to get there is to stop for the night.

Whatever it is, it’s better to do it in the wind.
Two lane Blacktop isn’t a highway; it’s an attitude.
When you look down the road it seems never to end, but you better believe it does.
Winter is nature’s way to tell you to polish.

Motorcycle boots are not comfortable for walking. That’s why they are called “motorcycle Boots.”
People are like motorcycles; each is customized differently.
Sometimes the best communication happens when you are on separate bikes.
Good coffee should be indistinguishable from 50 weight motor oil.

The best alarm clock is sunshine on chrome.
A friend is someone who’ll get out of bed at 2:00AM to drive his pickup to the middle of nowhere to get you when you are broken down.
Catching a yellow-jacket in your shirt at 70mph can double your vocabulary.
If you want to get somewhere before sundown, you can’t stop at every tavern.

There is something ugly about a new bike on a trailer.
Everyone crashes. Some get back on. Some don’t. Some can’t. Be careful.
Don’t argue with an 18 wheeler, a bus or even a car.
Never be ashamed to unlearn an old habit.

A long ride can clear your mind, restore your faith and use up a lot of fuel.
If you can’t get it going with bungee cords,wire and electrician’s tape it’s serious.
If you ride like there is no tomorrow, there won’t be.
Bikes parked out front mean good chicken fried steak inside.

There are old riders.There are bold riders. There are no old bold riders.
Always replace the cheapest parts first.
You can forget what you do for a living when your knees are in the breeze.
Patience is the ability to keep your engine idling.

Only a biker knows why a dog sticks his head out the car window.
There are two types of people in this world; people who ride motorcycles and people who wish they could ride motorcycles.
Never try to race an old geezer; he may have one more gear than you.
Gray haired riders didn’t get that way from pure luck.

writer: Nick Ienatsch

“The Pace”, first appearing in the November 1991 issue of Motorcyclist magazine.

Racing involves speed, concentration and commitment; the results of a mistake are usually catastrophic because there’s little room for error riding at 100 percent. Performance street riding is less intense and further from the absolute limit, but because circumstances are less controlled, mistakes and over aggressiveness can be equally catastrophic. Plenty of roadracers have sworn off street riding. “Too dangerous, too many variables and too easy to get carried away with too much speed,” track specialists claim. Adrenaline-addled racers find themselves treating the street like the track, and not surprisingly, they get burned by the police, the laws of physics and the cold, harsh realities of an environment not groomed for ten-tenths riding. But as many of us know, a swift ride down a favorite road may be the finest way to spend a few free hours with a bike we love. And these few hours are best enjoyed riding at The Pace.

A year after I joined Motorcyclist staff in 1984, Mitch Boehm was hired. Six months later, The Pace came into being, and we perfected it during the next few months of road testing and weekend fun rides. Now The Pace is part of my life – and a part of the Sunday morning riding group I frequent. The Pace is a street riding technique that not only keeps street riders alive, but thoroughly entertained as well.

THE PACE
The Pace focuses on bike control and de-emphasizes outright speed. Full-throttle acceleration and last minute braking aren’t part of the program, effectively eliminating the two most common single-bike accident scenarios in sport riding. Cornering momentum is the name of the game, stressing strong, forceful inputs at the handlebar to place the bike correctly at the entrance of the turn and get it flicked in with little wasted time and distance. Since the throttle wasn’t slammed open at the exit of the last corner, the next corner doesn’t require much, if any, braking. It isn’t uncommon to ride with our group and not see a brake light flash all morning.

If the brakes are required, the front lever gets squeezed smoothly, quickly and with a good deal of force to set entrance speed in minimum time. Running in on the brakes is tantamount to running off the road, a confession that you’re pushing too hard and not getting your entrance speed set early enough because you stayed on the gas too long. Running The Pace decreases your reliance on the throttle and brakes, the two easiest controls to abuse, and hones your ability to judge cornering speed, which is the most thrilling aspect of performance street riding.

YOUR LANE IS YOUR LIMIT
Crossing the centerline at any time except during a passing maneuver is intolerable, another sign that you’re pushing too hard to keep up. Even when you have a clean line of sight through a left-hand kink, stay to the right of the centerline. Staying on the right side of the centerline is much more challenging than simply straightening every slight corner, and when the whole group is committed to this intelligent practice, the temptation to cheat is eliminated through peer pressure and logic. Though street riding shouldn’t be described in racing terms, you can think of your lane as the race track. Leaving your lane is tantamount to a crash.

Exact bike control has you using every inch of your lane if the circumstances permit it. In corners with a clear line of sight and no oncoming traffic, enter at the far outside of the corner, turn the bike relatively late in the corner to get a late apex at the far inside of your lane and accelerate out, just brushing the far outside of your lane as your bike stands up. Steer your bike forcefully but smoothly to minimize the transition time. Don’t hammer it down because the chassis will bobble slightly as it settles, possibly carrying you off line. Since you haven’t charged in on the brakes, you can get the throttle on early, before the apex, which balances and settles your bike for the drive out.

More often than not, circumstances do not permit the full use of your lane from yellow line to white line and back again. Blind corners, oncoming traffic and gravel on the road are a few criteria that dictate a more conservative approach, so leave yourself a three or four foot margin for error, especially at the left side of the lane where errant oncoming traffic could prove fatal. Simply narrow your entrance on a blind right-harder and move your apex into your lane three feet on blind left turns in order to stay free of unseen oncoming traffic hogging the centerline. Because you’re running at The Pace and not flat out, your controlled entrances offer additional time to deal with unexpected gravel or other debris in your lane; the outside wheel track is usually the cleanest through a dirty corner since a car weights its outside tires most, scrubbing more dirt off the pavement in the process, so aim for that line.

A GOOD LEADER, WILLING FOLLOWERS
The street is not a racing environment, and it takes humility, self assurance and self control to keep it that way. The leader sets the pace and monitors his mirrors for signs of raggedness in the ranks that follow, such as tucking in on straights, crossing over the yellow line and hanging off the motorcycle in the corners, If the leader pulls away, he simply slows his straight way speed slightly but continues to enjoy the corners, thus closing the ranks but missing none of the fun. The small group of three or four riders I ride with is so harmonious that the pace is identical no matter who’s leading. The lead shifts occasionally with a quick hand sign, but there’s never a pass for the lead with an ego on the sleeve. Make no mistake, the riding is spirited and quick in the corners. Anyone with a right arm can hammer down the straights; it’s proficiency in the corners that makes The Pace come alive.

Following distances are relatively lengthy, with the straightaways taken at more moderate speeds, providing the perfect opportunity to adjust the gaps. Keeping a good distance serves several purposes, besides being safer. Rock chips are minimized, and the police or highway patrol won’t suspect a race is in progress. The Pace’s style of not hanging off in corners also reduces the appearance of pushing too hard and adds a degree of maturity and sensibility in the eyes of the public and the law. There’s a definite challenge to cornering quickly while sitting sedately on your bike.

New rider indoctrination takes some time because The Pace develops very high cornering speeds and newcomers want to hammer the throttle on the exits to make up for what they lose at the entrances. Our group slows drastically when a new rider joins the ranks because our technique of moderate straightaway speed and no brakes can suck the unaware into a corner too fast, creating the most common single bike accident. With a new rider learning The Pace behind you, tap your brake lightly well before the turn to alert him and make sure he understands there’s no pressure to stay with the group.

There’s plenty of ongoing communication during The Pace. A foot off the peg indicates debris in the road, and all slowing or turning intentions are signaled in advance with the left hand and arm. Turn signals are used for direction changes and passing, with a wave of the left hand to thank the cars that move right and make it easy for motorcyclists to get past. Since you don’t have a death grip on the handlebar, your left hand is also free to wave to oncoming riders, a fading courtesy that we’d like to see return. If you’re getting the idea The Pace is a relaxing, noncompetitive way to ride with a group, you are right.

RELAX AND FLICK IT
I’d rather spend a Sunday in the mountains riding at The Pace than a Sunday at the racetrack, it’s that enjoyable. Countersteering is the name of the game; smooth, forceful steering input at the handlebar relayed to the tires’ contact patches through a rigid sport bike frame. Riding at The Pace is certainly what bike manufacturers had in mind when sport bikes evolved to the street.

But the machine isn’t the most important aspect of running The Pace because you can do it on anything capable of getting through a corner. Attitude is The Pace’s most important aspect: realizing the friend ahead of you isn’t a competitor, respecting his right to lead the group occasionally and giving him credit for his riding skills. You must have the maturity to limit your straightaway speeds to allow the group to stay in touch and the sense to realize that racetrack tactics such as late braking and full throttle runs to redline will alienate the public and police and possibly introduce you to the unforgiving laws of gravity. When the group arrives at the destination after running The Pace, no one feels outgunned or is left with the feeling he must prove himself on the return run. If you’ve got some thing to prove, get on a racetrack.

The racetrack measures your speed with a stop watch and direct competition, welcoming your aggression and gritty resolve to be the best. Performance street riding’s only yardstick is the amount of enjoyment gained, not lap times, finishing position or competitors beaten. The differences are huge but not always remembered by riders who haven’t discovered The Pace’s cornering pureness and group involvement. Hammer on the racetrack. Pace yourself on the street.-MC

Source > MotorCyclist