One day one photo - 1: Optimate trickle charger - my new best friend

Through September I usually like to post one photo from my day and giving a snapshot of the life of 2wheel chick at this time of year. Some of the things are fun, some are banal and irritating, and some moments are lovely and heartwarming.

Here goes with today's photo:

Trickle charger to the rescue of my motorbike battery

You may or may not know, dear reader, that I got into motorcycling last year. I now have an A1 motorbike licence, so ride a Honda Monkey 125cc - a minimoto, which is actually quite cute. When I bought the bike, just over a year ago it was fitted with a Datatool tracking device - a useful add-on in case the Honda Monkey is stolen.

However, I have been having quite a few problems since I changed the battery. I am not sure if it's the new battery, which may not be as good as the previous one, or if it's the tracking device. Three times I have had to call the breakdown service to start the bike as a result of the battery going flat. Initially, the battery was replaced as the mechanic thought it was a dud. But it seems that the Datatool may be the problem. Yesterday the battery went flat after five days of not riding the motorbike. After riding the Monkey around for two hours the voltage was back to 13.8. But then today the bike failed to start. The battery had gone flat after barely 24 hours! Annoyingly I only discovered this when I was starting the bike so that I could go to my fencing class. So that ended up being jettisoned. The tracking company helpline, Scorpion was closed for the day, so weren't able to do anything until they reopen on Monday. So in the meantime I am using the trickle charger while waiting for Scorpion to sort out the problem. I will have to use it regularly now. In fact the guy from the breakdown service says that he has the trickle charger permanently plugged into the bike whenever the bike isn't in use. Thank goodness for Optimate. While it's good to have this safety net of the trickle charger it seems strange that I should have to use it when the bike won't be left more than a couple of days unridden. I will still see what other solutions Scorpion can provide, as well as getting a better battery.