XL1200C, 15months old, ridden 2-3 times a week (longish rides), battery discharging within 24 hours to the point where my charger (which is a good one) wont detect it so wont charge it. Been back to the dealers under warranty a couple of times now and still no resolution. Battery been replaced once and no loose earths. Seriously pissed as it looks like I will either be without the bike for the whole of the holidays or I will have to fork out for an uber battery charger which will detect it. Just bought a bloody trickle charger too which I consider to be a cop out when you take into account the bike is so new.
At this moment in time seriously consdiering getting rid of the fucking thing and buying something more reliable (and no not a Harley). Any help appreciated because im at my wits end as my HD experience is being seriously tainted by these problems.
No accessories on the bike to draw extra power from the battery. As for over-charging, wouldnt know what to check for.
Every time a dealer sees it they automatically assume a drained battery caused by under use which isnt the case. On friday I was told it was probably a loose earth on the engine, but that was rectified and the result was still the same. They didnt seem to think there was any issue with the charging system. Trouble is all dealers are on holiday now until Jan by which point I will have missed a week+ of good riding time.
Cheers sss. Trouble is I cant get the bloody thing running to test it. Dealer told me if the battery was so flat jump starting it wouldnt make a difference as the battery wouldnt hold a charge so didnt even try.
By the way, whats MTA?
Cant say for definate that I turned the key back two clicks, but the lights, etc are all off before I put the steering lock on.
I am wondering about the alarm now you come to mention it. There again would it have sufficient draw on the battery to drain it within 24 hours?
The original battery had a faulty cell and was replaced under warranty about six months ago. This latest problem came out of the blue. I remember washing the bike before I put it away which some thought might have been a cause. However, I rode through some pretty crap weather without so much as a blip prior to that.
Dont want to dis the dealer just yet as they seem a knowledgeable set. There again they did fit my Ikon shocks on the wrong side before now?
Cursed, beginning to wonder.
Hey Blackadder,
I feel ya pain Brother. If they cannot fix it this time in mate - I would be locating a good auto electrian
and forking out of my own pocket for the auto sparkie to look at your bike. What about if you request the Dealer to refer you to a auto sparkie??
Glimmer of hope.
Left the battery on the charger irrespective and went down to the garage (more in hope than expectation) to see if there was any change after the six or so hours its been connected and voila there is the feintest of lights on the charger. Sooooo the battery is now taking some charge and all may not be lost. I'll give it a good 12 hours or so then keep it on the trickle overnight. Still doesnt resolve the cause of problem, but at least I should be able to get some k's under the belt during the holiday. Will take it to the dealer once they are back at the start of Jan. Fingers crossed its not a false dawn.
No longer hate the bike, funny that !
Cheers all you've been a great help and that info from kiwidave is awesome (copied and pasted for future reference). The one thing that stands out is the need for a multimeter so out to get one today.
Its worrying that so many Sportys and relatively new ones at that suffer this same problem. Got to say its left me twitchy as I had an Alfa Romeo a few years ago which was beset with electrical problems and as much as I loved the car in the end it had to go as it was driving me up the bloody wall. I dont want that to be the case with the Sporty. Bit worried that it will now die on a run.
Just before these problems started I had given it a vigorous wash after riding through some roadworks and spraying some concrete like shit all over the bike. Like I said before I'd ridden through some pretty crap weather in the weeks before so ruled this out as a cause. Looking at some of the advice given I now wonder whether this might have caused som oxidation on contacts. Pretty poor if so but worth a check now. Once I check the voltage though if there is any sign of a blip its going back to the dealers under warranty with a demand that its fixed once and for all and that I get a report showing what has been done.
Thanks for the offer Cyclone didnt realise you had the same problems with yours. I'll get a multimeter of my own as a first step then any pointers you can give me would be most welcome.
UPDATE:
Got myself a multimeter and checked the voltage on the battery after 24 hours charging. 4.29 fecking volts! Now that could indicate a knackered battery. However, its less than 6 months old plus most motorcycle battery chargers dont detect the battery if below 6v. Mine seems to detect it as the light on the charger is lit, but it still doesnt seem to be charging it. Need to get is above the magical 6v level to really see some change. Any suggestions apart from flying a kite with a key on it connected to the battery in the next thunderstorm ?
i had a similar problem on my 08 custom - found it was the relay switchs contacts staying open due to water damage - when i put into stealers they replaced relays and the battery as the relays staying open had caused the battery to drop some cells - they never actually showed me the relays but they were under the electrical/battery cover - i did notice that the alarm flash only happened if i turned the power switch to on even without the keys in the ignition and if i switched it off the bike would go out of alarm mode - hope this helps
Finally got the bike going (boy it sounded sweet) and checked the voltage. As soon as I connected the battery it dropped half a volt, although having been completely run down it didnt really surprise me as the alarm system probably consumed most of that. It started first time and the running voltage was around 14.17v. Revved it to check the voltage again and the voltage only moved slightly up to 14.2v. From kiwidaves earlier posts this makes me think there might be a problem with the regulator as I couldnt see the lights brighten either. At this point I realised the owners handbook is shite. Anything more than basic stuff it tells you to take it to a dealer. Next stop is to buy a proper manual on DVD. At least I am getting somewhere at last and all thanks to you guys and none to the dealers.
Did about 150km today with four stops. Started perfectly every time. When I got back measured the voltage at 12.67. After 3 hours it was down to 12.32.
However, noticed the Engine Check Lamp no longer comes on when I flick the Engine On switch. There is also an absence of the circuits charging noise (or whatever the noise is that acompanies flicking the Engine On switch). In fact the last time I noticed that was when I reconnected the battery and the ignition was switched off at that time. So this being the case it seems like it could be related and the reason for the excessive draw on the battery. Any ideas ?
Did a quick check on the regulator and seems to be no leakage (zero reading with ignition off on both pins). Reassuringly dry too.
