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XT660z tenere battery life

Hi folks think i may have a duff battery, Have not been able to ride my bike for 3 weeks due to other commitments. Anyway tonight thought i sneak in a short ride for the last hour of daylight. BUT the bikes battery was totaly dead not even a neutral light, the only thing showing life was the running lights had a faint orange glow. It started and ran ok after a charge but i would expect a ten month old battery to last longer than 3 weeks. When i first got the new bike i did notice that the engine turned quite slow after a weeks lay off so i checked the alternater was charging which it was.
So folks how long can you leave your bike before the battery runs flat? does the immobilizer run the battery down quick?:119:

Mine sits around for weeks at a time while I'm away at work, and during cold weather because I am a wimp.

The battery was well down after a month once, so I've taken to leaving it on a trickle charger after two or three weeks.

From my experience, three weeks should be ok if it's not very cold outside. My battery is 5.5yrs old.

+1 for a trickle charge if the bikes parked up for more than a couple of weeks.
But I do find the park light key position a pest at times when leaving the bike in the daylight. I've nearly left the lights on again at work. Luckily hasn't been drained to dead flat yet.
The Dealer where I got my Tenere from has just replaced an original Yuasa battery in his own bike after 9 years service.

It may be worth checking the fluid level in your battery to if possible Keithy2.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Desert Racer (Post 212895)

Your right about the parking lights but i always check, However i did have to move the bike during my garage sort out and I always leave the bike with the steering lock on. Its a very slight possibility I left it in park but i dont think I did. Any way have just checked the battery this morning after riding it last night, the battery shows 12.5 volts and when i ran the engine it went upto 14.2 volts so it is being charged. I am going to the LLangolen bike fest on sunday so it will be well charged after that run! I have just had a look at the battery its a sealed unit with no level view window, connections are tight. Thanks for the replies.

No problems with my OEM battery. Bike stands outside even in winter.
Battery hasn't charged ever since I bought the bike 7 years ago. Button pushed and the bike fired up immediatly even after several month winter break.

I'm still on OE battery after seven years and never been a problem. I do use an Optimate, but more for peace of mind rather than necessity.

Might be worth checking the current being drawn from the battery when the bike's ignition is switched off? It should only be a few mA on a standard bike (without alarm).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pleiades (Post 212926)

Hi not being electrical savvy, what connection points could I use to connect my meter to and so get a reading on the milli amp usage?

No problems here: still run the OEM battery, my '08 Tenere with 104.500km's on it. In the wintertime I pull the battery and use an Optimate too. After winter it always starts on first try, so no problems whatsoever. Have to say I don't have any extra equipment connected to the battery, like heated grips, extra lights or satnav.

Quote:

Originally Posted by keithy2 (Post 213080)

Hi not being electrical savvy, what connection points could I use to connect my meter to and so get a reading on the milli amp usage?

First test would be to remove the positive battery terminal(s). Run a bolt through all the terminal rings that you had connected to the positive side of the battery (the stock ones and any accessories you might have connected there) and fit a nut and tighten to clamp all the rings together. Next connect your multimeter (set to measure current) between the clamped positive terminal rings and the battery positive terminal and take a reading with the ignition off. Start with the meter set to read Amps (just in case there is a larger draw) and then fine tune to the 500mA scale after that. DO NOT turn the ignition on with the meter connected or you will risk frying it! [You can remove the main fuse and connect the meter across the fuses terminals to measure the current draw, but this will only give a reading for those components connected through the main fuse (which isn't everything and won't cover any accessories).]

The above will measure the current being drawn by everything on the bike when it's at rest. If there is a spurious current, then the next thing to do is establish which circuit is causing it.

To do this, the easiest way is to (with the ignition off and battery terminals reconnected) remove one fuse at a time and connect the multimeter across the two fuse terminals and get a current reading. Repeat this with each fuse in the fuse box. Don't forget to do the same with any accessories (and their fuses) you have added too. This should tell you exactly what is causing any background current drain.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pleiades (Post 213108)

Thanks very much for the instructions pleiades I will give it a good checking over.