my bike eats batteries

DanF

DanF

DanF

Soldato
Joined
16 Feb 2004
Posts
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Location
London
Just had to put in the 2nd new battery in less than a year for the ktm 990, pretty sure the previous owner put in a battery before I bought it as well.

the new batteries voltages are

12.8v just charged
12.68v fitted with ignition off
12.2v lights on engine off

14.4v engine running from tickover to 6k rpm, seems to hold steady all the way through.

Does that look right?
 
Looks alright to me voltages wise

Should be lasting you longer than a year though,letting them run flat won't help them as will very cold weather

Maybe worth a lithium ion battery? They are expensive though but don't lose their charge so fast
 
yeah the battery I got last summer was a Motobatt Motorcycle Gel Battery CTZ14-S / YTZ14-S. The one fitted when I bought it looked like a pretty cheap one so just put in the oem spec Yuasa YTZ14S.

Shouldn't really be going flat as it's used 2-3 times a week.
 
Was your mottobatt a yellow one? Iv had my mottobatt coming up to 2 years now. Not a single hiccup, even after two failed rectifiers leaving the battery flat twice, leaving the battery for 6 werks unused and still held its charge. I use my bike everyday too. Maybe you have a short, small drain or a dodgy earth.
 
wire up a volt meter on your dash (ebay around a tenner) so you can keep an eye on it. might be your rec is dying
 
I have a yellow motobat! It's been in the cold unused for a few months and it still had enough charge for my electronic ignition. Which admittedly only requires 8v. Still, easily the best and most reliable thing I've purchased for my bike.
 
I've got an Odysee on the GS and that's awesome for big twins - I never bother with an optimate, but Motobatt are supposed to be very good too, so I'd suspect an electrical issue.
 
God the new fully charged battery started the bike, it stalled then it only just restarted it :o maybe my engine is about to seize or something. Ran pretty rough until it warmed up.
 
when did you put the new battery on? if its a bad earth it could have drained it overnight ect

I would have thought a bad earth would show up in the charging/running voltages when you tested though? not sure
 
well rode it home tonight and it started fine and ran fine. Maybe it was just a symptom of it being sat for 3 weeks before swapping out the battery. Will check the voltages over the weekend to see if it's draining much each day.
 
scrivz69 said:
Just buy an optimate and keep it plugged in when your not using it.
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This, I use n on mine all year round last summer my 52 plate cbr600 killed its battery. Got a mate who runs a garage to swap it for him to find it was the original 13 year old honda battery.
 
After my comments I think I may have jinxed myself, These last couple nights temperatures have been -2 and my bike needed jumping from a lad of a taxi driver on both occasions. The cold is deathly :(
 
Aha, I used car jump leads on to the spare motobatt this morning just to make sure it started. The old battery is still holding charge so might be fine in warmer weather.

Having to wait for the bike to fully warm up atm. If I try to use it too quick it seems to run bad for the whole journey.
 
stuie said:
This, I use n on mine all year round last summer my 52 plate cbr600 killed its battery. Got a mate who runs a garage to swap it for him to find it was the original 13 year old honda battery.
Click to expand...

have to keep it parked out in a shared car park. I wish I had a garage
 
DanF said:
have to keep it parked out in a shared car park. I wish I had a garage
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I've got the same issue. Been a week since I used mine and with the weather hitting -4 here night before last my battery was totally flat, had to jump it from the car AGAIN. :mad:
It is still the original battery from '08 so may invest in a Motobatt when I get her serviced after the cold weather.
 
DanF said:
yeah the battery I got last summer was a Motobatt Motorcycle Gel Battery CTZ14-S / YTZ14-S. The one fitted when I bought it looked like a pretty cheap one so just put in the oem spec Yuasa YTZ14S.

Shouldn't really be going flat as it's used 2-3 times a week.
Click to expand...

a motobatt most certainly is NOT a cheap battery


buy an optimate/oximiser to keep your battery tip top, but it cold be your rectifier failing
 
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