| Author | Message | ||
     Moboy516 |
I put a new battery in April and that battery was only 9 months old. Now, it's August and this battery is dead too! Any ideas what might be the problem? It's kind of embarrassing to go on a group ride with 50 guys and need a push start every time we start.  | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
Ride it more? You probably have a small short that isn't affecting running, but leaves an open circuit with the key off. Something that is just putting a trickle drain on the system. break out a VOM and start checking wires... | ||
| Fullpower |
it is also possible that you had a couple defective batteries (it does happen) buy your next battery from an auto electric shop, get a good one, have them fill and charge it, and insist that they LOAD TEST the new battery in your presence. have them write the results of the load test on the invoice. most new AGM batteries throw down at least 20% more CCA (cold cranking amps) than their book ratings. a couple good brands to look for are Yuasa, and Interstate. i would expect to get 4 or 5 years service out of an AGM battery | ||
| Fullpower |
for referance, i just loaD tested the stock battery in my XB12. bikes build date was july 2003. today the battery load tests at 390 CCA. which is damn good, considering it is only rated at 200 CCA. also note that the bike has 8400 miles on it, 90% of those miles had the high beam and pair of 55 watt PIAA driving lights blazing, and around a third of those miles i was running heated grips AND an electric vest. YMMV | ||
| Fullpower |
moboy have you installed an alarm, or any other parasitic drains? | ||
| Mikej |
The alarm system on my M2 will drain the battery completely in a month of not riding it. Sometimes faster. The alarm will be coming off this winter if I keep the bike. | ||
| Moboy516 |
Haven't installed any parasitic drains or alarms. I don't even ride with high beams very much. I ride a lot, I have 14,000 in 14 months, so I would expect a little more life out of it. I have had a very bad luck summer on the 'bolt. Two snapped belts, one wreck, one lost shift linkage 150 miles from home, bearings went out 100 miles from home, nail in the back tire, had oil filter vibrate loose on a ride at 100+ speeds and had to pull over with oil all over my jeans and shoe,.......UNCLE. I just wanna ride. | ||
| Fullpower |
damn thats a tough run moboy. i guess you have to look at the bright side: at least you aint a helicopter pilot. | ||
| Tbs_stunta |
Big twins tend to need more juice to crank (Guzzi, Buell, BMW, etc.) so its a good idea to put it on a charger more often. Get yourself a battery tender. If the Buells use regular batteries (not dry cell) you should be checking the water level, especially in the summer, which if really low can act like a dead battery. (Message edited by TBS_Stunta on August 17, 2004) | ||
| Glitch |
It's a sealed battery. | ||
| Darthane |
You must have an intermittent short somewhere, as mentioned before, that's causing a slow drain but no other apparent problems, or there's an issue with your charging system. I think two defective batteries, while possible, is a little bit of a stretch. Anyone know what the vehicle off current drain for an XB is? Anything over a couple thousands of an amp is most likely indicative of a short. I removed the battery from my XB before heading to Japan - it took less than 5 minutes on a trickle charger when I got home after nine months to report full charge. The battery on the Blast has sat for up to four months at a time and never been charged - always cranks well the next time I give it a go. |
