Yamaha FZ6 can't handle heated gear.

[sedanman]

I rode the wife's spare bike (2007 FZ6) to work this morning. I had a heated liner under my leathers and heated gloves. I don't ride this bike very often and stalled it about a mile from my job. The battery was too flat to restart the engine. A coworker stopped and gave me a push to get going and l charged the battery at work. The bike starts fine after my commute home. I can only surmise that the heated gear is too much for the charging system. l had no indication the battery was going dead until l stalled the bike. If l hadn't stalled l wouldn't have known l had a dead battery until l tried to start the bike and ride home. My commute is 54 miles each way.

[sedanman]

P.S. the battery is brand new.

[01xj]

A brand new battery doesn't necessarily mean it's charged and you said you don't ride it often. Are you keeping it on a battery tender? What's it reading for voltage currently?

[sedanman]

The battery was installed a few days ago. It was supposedly charged at Cycle Gear while my wife and l went to dinner so it might not have been totally charged. I haven't checked open circuit voltage yet.

[MattR302]

Yeah, the FZ6 has a really weak charging system, especially if you're using the dual headlight mod, there's not much extra juice. They're really easy to push start on your own though. When I installed my heated grips, I installed a waterproof digital led voltmeter on the inner fairing so I can keep an eye on the voltage. I definitely recommend doing that if you'll be using heated gear often - if it starts dropping below 12v you can turn the heated gear down/off.
I've also switched my headlights to dual 35w HIDs, but use dual led halos as my DRL's. And I built a led tail light and turn signals to save more power.

[whynot]

I used my '07 FZ6 with all the heated gear, socks on up, no problem.

[breakdirt916]

my fzr600 can't do much either...

it'll do heated grips = low = fine

heated grips = high = battery might die before I get home

I used to turn em off 20 mins before getting to destination

you check your regulator and what not?

when my regulator pooped out, it overcharged my battery and killed it...swapped regulator, and good to go

[number9]

Can you get upgraded stators to generate more current?

[sedanman]

We keep the FZ6 around because it's paid for and will likely get relegated to track day use only in the near future. A friend is in town this weekend so we shook it down so he could ride with us. I do like the idea of a voltmeter and may add one.

[sedanman]

Bike did fine today. Put 160 miles on it without incident.