New battery fitted but drains quickly

[Frosties]

Hiya fellas,

Got an issue as per title which I hope someone can help with.

Noticed last Friday and more so on Saturday that the bike was a lot slower to start.....getting to the point of the battery having next to no reserve. Prior to this the bike has always started first hit.

Ordered a new battery on the weekend which was due yesterday.

Monday was slower to start and Tuesday the bike went flat. Left it 5hrs then just got it to catch.

Got home Tuesday to find new battery waiting for me

http://www.wemoto.com/parts/picture/hl-813102/. 

Fitted it, started the bike and thought all was good. Wednesday morning the bike seemed slower to start and steadily worse until no go tonight (Thursday) after stopping for fuel.

Checked the charging on weekend and all good at 14.2Vdc. I always run with the headlights on and the heated grips are wired through the ignition. When the bike is off nothing is left powered - do not have an alarm.

At a loss as to the cause apart from a dodgy starter motor which kills the battery - but after a 50 mile run, albeit with lights on, I would've thought the battery would be good again especially when I left it for 10 mins on tickover (lifted to 1500Rpm to try to counter act issue) after stopping at work.

Any advice as always is much appreciated.

Cheers fellas.

[ram33]

you can check for battery drain with meter
see link
http://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Parasitic-Battery-Drain

[rybes]

have you checked the glove box light ? sometimes they stay on when ya shut the door. lol

have you tried unpluggin your heated grips ? id start there first even if its not that at least youll know its not them. does the battery go flat or is it just hard to turn over ?

[Sin_Tiger]

I'll take a punt on the ignition switch being the culprit.

[Frosties]

you can check for battery drain with meter
see link
http://www.wikihow.com/Find-a-Parasitic-Battery-Drain

Have a decent Fluke MM so will try that once it's charged up

have you checked the glove box light ? sometimes they stay on when ya shut the door. lol

have you tried unpluggin your heated grips ? id start there first even if its not that at least youll know its not them. does the battery go flat or is it just hard to turn over ?

It was actually the seat belt warning light because I never put it on!!!!  Definitely not the grips - pulled the fuse, but good shout fella.

Ignition switch  What would I be looking for there? Can't work out how that causes a battery drain......I'm all ears though fella.

I'll take a punt on the ignition switch being the culprit.

[HeavyHustler]

Test the battery when not running-
Test again with bike at idle-
Test again when revving the bike to 5k rpm-

If your tester shows no sign of volts going up then the alternator is not charging.  No charge = Dead Battery = New Alternator

[rybes]

aaaaaaaaaah the seat belt warnin light. they can be tricky little buggers 

[Frosties]

Test the battery when not running-
Test again with bike at idle-
Test again when revving the bike to 5k rpm-

If your tester shows no sign of volts going up then the alternator is not charging.  No charge = Dead Battery = New Alternator

Already checked that one. On idle @ 1100rpm alternator kicks out 12.4Vdc, @ 1500prm the alternator pickes up to 13.1Vdc, 2000rpm & upwards it kicks out 14.2Vdc. This was the reason I upped the idle to 1500rpm in an attempt to give the battery some extra help when sitting at lights. Thanks for the idea though 

[ssevy]

My buddy had similar symptoms with his 2000 Legend this summer. We checked and cleaned every switch, and finally pulled the starter out as our last option. The commutator was covered with a layer of dust that had baked on, and was not getting enough current to spin. That end of the starter was just packed full of black dust, and it was hard to spin by hand. A new starter corrected the problem. He got one from a ND dealer that dealt mostly in large truck alternators, etc., but they were able to order him one. I think it was just under $100. Identical part and everything. Reading back through your posts, I am not clear if you ever determined that the battery was actually dead or low, or if you were assuming it was the battery because of the starter symptoms? If you test the battery and it is okay, you might look at the starter. By the way, the mileage on his original starter was only about 35,000 miles.

[HeavyHustler]

Test the battery when not running-
Test again with bike at idle-
Test again when revving the bike to 5k rpm-

If your tester shows no sign of volts going up then the alternator is not charging.  No charge = Dead Battery = New Alternator

Already checked that one. On idle @ 1100rpm alternator kicks out 12.4Vdc, @ 1500prm the alternator pickes up to 13.1Vdc, 2000rpm & upwards it kicks out 14.2Vdc. This was the reason I upped the idle to 1500rpm in an attempt to give the battery some extra help when sitting at lights. Thanks for the idea though 

Donuts!     Well then......are your terminals tight?  IDK but am curious as to the outcome.  Keep at it matey!

[London_Phil]

You really need to confirm you have a parasitic drain or not, as per reply 1 to this thread. If you don't know what your drawing in a power off situation, you are only guessing what "might" be at fault.
If you have no alarm, there should be no issue to put your Fluke MM in series with  the negative to earth and then look at your drain current.
Regards Phil

[Frosties]

My buddy had similar symptoms with his 2000 Legend this summer. We checked and cleaned every switch, and finally pulled the starter out as our last option. The commutator was covered with a layer of dust that had baked on, and was not getting enough current to spin. That end of the starter was just packed full of black dust, and it was hard to spin by hand. A new starter corrected the problem. He got one from a ND dealer that dealt mostly in large truck alternators, etc., but they were able to order him one. I think it was just under $100. Identical part and everything. Reading back through your posts, I am not clear if you ever determined that the battery was actually dead or low, or if you were assuming it was the battery because of the starter symptoms? If you test the battery and it is okay, you might look at the starter. By the way, the mileage on his original starter was only about 35,000 miles.

Ahhh crap! I was really hoping no one was going to throw this one in - it's been at the back of my mind. I'm currently at 39,000 miles.

You really need to confirm you have a parasitic drain or not, as per reply 1 to this thread. If you don't know what your drawing in a power off situation, you are only guessing what "might" be at fault.
If you have no alarm, there should be no issue to put your Fluke MM in series with  the negative to earth and then look at your drain current.
Regards Phil

Totally agree Phil so bought an Optimate 2 to make sure the battery was 100% - only took 3hrs to get to a green light. Going to leave it on charge over night then start eliminating tomorrow with current draw when ignition is off. Got a sick feeling it's the starter though! 

HeavyHustler - yup! Trust me, these terminals are tight. Any spare doughnuts going, chuck them my way!

Cheers for the help fellas 

[London_Phil]

Update your profile too, where are you?. Updating your profile has been scientifically shown to improve responses, maybe.....

[Bixxer Bob]

Update your profile too, where are you?. Updating your profile has been scientifically shown to improve responses, maybe.....

[Frosties]

Update your profile too, where are you?. Updating your profile has been scientifically shown to improve responses, maybe.....

Done sir 

Hopefully these potential replies could possibly assist in my attempt to maybe have a shot at fixing this issue. Second thoughts.........................