Hello guys, hoping for some help here.

The other day I parked my 2008 Tenere with the parking light on and didn't notice for a couple of hours. The next morning there wasn't enough juice to fire it up so I removed the battery and hooked it up to the optimate. After refitting it I turned the ignition on and got absolutely nothing, completely dead. Obviously I checked all the fuses to no avail and thought maybe the main relay was a somehow broken so tried replacing that but no joy. Not trusting the old battery I got another today, charged it up and..... nothing. Not a dickie bird. I can't believe a connection has been lost or corroded. How can something so critical happen from taking off a battery?

Ideas appreciated as it's my only transport and I'm kinda up **** creek at the minute.

Thanks in advance.

I take it you checked that the new main relay had fuses fitted, they don't always come with them? Sometimes fuse holders and terminals are coated to prevent corrosion in storage which needs to be removed/rubbed off. Maybe try plugging in and unplugging the fuses/connectors several times?

Have you tested the new battery? I've bought batteries in the past that have been faulty out the box - it might show 12.5+ Volts on a multimeter and fool the Optimate into indicating it's good but as soon as a load is applied that quickly drops to zero as they can't provide any current (Optimates don't perform a load test, only no-load voltage drop).

Are the battery terminals clean and tight?

Have you dislodged a cable when removing/replacing the battery?

Could be the ignition switch? You might not get ignition, but if you turn it to the park position, do the side lights work?

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Thanks for the reply.

I've not checked the relay for fuses but it's a sealed little unit. I'll have it out and make sure I've not missed anything (obvious) tomorrow. I can't see how any connections may have come loose and everything looks good, bolts tight etc. There is nothing happening off the ignition, not even side lights when turned to park. I've got hold of a multimeter today so will see how the new battery reacts to load, other than that I intend taking every connection apart and sanding it down to shiny metal before putting it back together again. Don't know what else to do. Electrics are not exactly my strong suit so it looks like I'm in for a learning curve.

Sorry, I perhaps should have been a bit clearer earlier... What I thought you meant by the main relay is the starter relay. This is the one that the battery feeds all the bike's electrics through. It looks like this...



It has two fuse holders (the one on the right is to hold a spare fuse). ALL the power from the battery goes via this main fuse. If it has blown, or has bad contacts, then NO power will get from the battery to anything. Have a look at this main fuse - it could well be your problem.

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Yes, checked that and the fuses are fine. I'll take it apart and make sure all the connections are shiny metal. If that's not it then I'm stumped, if the battery has power and fuses are fine then surely something must be getting power somewhere? I'll let you know how I get on.

Maybe you could also try your spare key (maybe your chip in the key is broken). Is the red led still flashing? And i would also check all fuses with the mutlimeter.

Ok, so all power connections sanded down and shiny, fuses checked visually and with multimeter, red key used but no joy. The only slight signs of life I've noticed are a click from a power relay I believe to be aftermarket (heated grips, extra power socket etc run off of it) and there seems to be another small click from the clocks/display when the ignition is turned on, otherwise nothing, not even an immobiliser led flash.

When I said before I'd changed the main relay I cocked up and it wasn't the main(?) 5VK-81950-40 relay assembly but the power relay I heard click. If the 5VK relay (or any relay for that matter) had somehow gone pop would it result in the symptoms I have?

At least there is some click. It is strange that the immobilizer led isnt flashing. I think the best thing to do it to download the service manual (u can google it, i think it also should be somewhere here). Go to page 8-35 there it is written step by step what to do. U just continue at step three (checking the main switch). Did you also check the battery power? U should measure the battery voltage when you turn the motorcycle on and see if the voltage drops significantly. If it drops and the voltage doesnt increase anymore than your battery is bad or empty or you have a short circuit.

Well, I must be a total muppet. Thanks for the suggestions, I got a manual and was about to embark on things well beyond my expertise but did some more continuity testing and found the main earth wasn't cutting the mustard. Odd that it could go so fast, maybe I disturbed a bad connection when I changed the battery and it has been sat outside getting rained on all year. I've sworn at myself a lot.

Cheers.

All I can say to you is K.I.S.S.

Steve

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