Motorcycle Newbie Needs Help

My Uncle Just Gave Me His Suzuki TL1000S and it's my first bike he said the only problem is that it wont start he said it was that it needed a new battery but i'm not sure. when i turn the ignition to on, the headlights are bright then they dim out and when i try to start the bike it doesnt start it just makes this clicking noise. so is it really the battery. and is there a special charger i need to charge the battery?????

BTW...after my first time riding it this bike has a lot of power maybe to much for me considering that it's my first time. the front end likes to come up alot under 3/4 throttle the bike is amazing. i always wondered the the facination was about bikes now i see.

It could be the battery. Try that first, if the new battery dies then chances are the stator maybe bad, and its not charging the battery.

You could try to use a trickle charger and see if it will recharge the old battery. Just get a small one that charges at like 1Amp. You may want to take it to Autozone and see if the battery is even holding charge at before you get a charger.

As for a TL1000S for a first bike.. Thats just crazy.. I wish you the best of luck. You may want to consider buying a small cheap beater to put some miles on then move up.

Take an MSF course too! www.msf-usa.org

I would take your battery to an auto place and ask them to test to see if the battery has a bad cell. You dont need to charge it or anything just ask them to test it. If its not the battery I would check your voltage regulator. Pull the harness out from the volt regulator and check for any burn spots. If theres any burn spots on the harness your regulator BLEW. And if its neither then its most likely your stator. I would check those 2 first.

You got a good bike just be sure to take your time to learn. That low end torque can be quite unforgiving.

I would take your battery to an auto place and ask them to test to see if the battery has a bad cell. You dont need to charge it or anything just ask them to test it. If its not the battery I would check your voltage regulator. Pull the harness out from the volt regulator and check for any burn spots. If theres any burn spots on the harness your regulator BLEW. And if its neither then its most likely your stator. I would check those 2 first.

You got a good bike just be sure to take your time to learn. That low end torque can be quite unforgiving.

come to find out the battery was dead. i bought a battery charger and charged it right up and it's been starting up with no problem ever since. i got pretty comfortable with the bike i pull thru 1st and 2nd gear very slowly and then give it some power in 3rd gear and it still pulls very hard. i'm starting to love the bike now. only thing i hate about it is that it doesnt tell you what gear you are in. so i have to get used to that. but other wise it's a pretty good bike