battery draining

[hodgy]

Hi,have search forum but can't seem to find the answer,the problem is that if i leave the battery connected while stored in the garage it loses charge within three to four days,barely turns the engine over,the bike is a daytona 1200se and has no alarm fitted or clock or anything you would think could drain the battery,i would have thought a new battery would give you a couple of weeks without the need for charging.The battery is charging fine when the engine is running.Any help is gladly received.Thanks Hodgy.

[ervdrvr1]

Yea, it should hold a lot longer than a few days. I disconnect mine because of the clock, but it won't go dead for a couple of weeks if I leave it hooked up. I would think you may have a short someplace if it's a new battery. I would check the ignition switch and the harness going to it around the headstock first. Then check the starter relay and load relief relay(if equiped).

Erv
Deep in the Heart of Texas!!

[trypcil]

Buy a Battery tender and if you know your battery is over 2yrs old, or approaching that, plus if the bike has only been ridden sporadically and stored for perhaps a month at a time - chances are the battery after 2yrs, it's spent - get a new one! I prefer the top up type, as opposed to the sealed sort, I think they last longer. The idea with the battery tender is that you connect the adaptor leads to the battery and every time you put her away, snap connect to the tender - thus the battery is maintained to it's optimum. A battery maintained with a tender, will last you longer, not be a pain and part of a good routine and stave off a Sprag attack!

[Roden]

Hey tryp, will a top up battery really last longer? I was thinking of putting a gel battery in because I am led to believe that they are stronger and crank much better.

I keep mine on a tender and keep the electrolyte up but on a really cold morning (minus temperatures) the bike will struggle to start, takes maybe six attempts. Any other time it is just fine. I put it down to the cold temperature.

Your thoughts?

Cheers,

Roden

[trypcil]

I've found in the past that the wet style batteries do seem to last longer or are servicable at least. I leave the bikes for weeks on end(work) - sometimes taking the batteries out to tender - but generally they get abused and repeatedly the wet cells, (with me regularly as possible topping them up), they seem to get the cranking amps to the starter motor for longer where as the sealed variety tend, in my experience to falter somewhat sooner by loosing an ability to hold a charge - with batteries of similar age. There could be many reasons for this, I tend to find that the wet type batteries are better suited to my Bike lifestyle/pattern - so far! I'm running a sealed Yuasa on the S3 presently, as I've done before but there will come a time when the wet cell from the Spripple will inevitably take over starting duties, as has happened before - but left to my own devices I find the sealed ones generally trouble free for their duration - 2+ish yrs as opposed to perhaps 21/2 for the wetuns. Living in LA., temperature is rarely an issue so I won't comment there - but them sealed jobbies are sure easy to maintain. http://www.yuasabatteries.com/batteries.asp This article is very positive in it's pitch - but my experience has me holding a slightly different perspective, or my reality has been a little extreme for normal battery working perameters, or strangely lucky - confabulatory even! If you get more than 2 trouble free years from a battery of any kind - all is good, basically! Keeping 2 bikes in working order is simplified by having one maintenance free battery, halves the duties! Nothing is really simple.