Dead Batteries

[chaparral]

I have an 05 with 32K miles. 2 weeks ago after being parked for 4 days; I had a 3 month old AGM battery dead in the bike when I tried to start it. Assumed the new battery was flawed. Slapped a spare battery in it(OEM) Bmw and continued to ride. The AGM battery accepted a charge and stayed charged. This morning I went to start the bike. Another Dead battery, the OEM Bmw. Swapped in the AGM and rode.

Has anybody experienced this? Before I start diagnosing the slow discharge I thought I would see if ths occured to anybody. When I park the bike everything shuts down as expected, no lights etc, I would suspect a phantom switch or a broken diode causing a 4 day drain. I live 400 miles from a dealer so it is extremely costly and time consuming to pursue that avenue.

 

Any suggestions?

[Boffin]

The early 1200s had a software glitch that caused the symptoms you describe. Have a dealer check that your bike has had the later firmware upgrade that fixes the issue.

 

Andy

[Rocker]

Chaparral

 

I've been dealing with the same problem for about a year. I've got a 280 milli-amp drain when the bikes parked that I can't find out why?

 

Have you solved your problem..please let me know?

 

Bob

[Lawman]

I was told by my dealer that failure to remove the key from the ignition could cause some battery drain..

[T__]

I was told by my dealer that failure to remove the key from the ignition could cause some battery drain..

 

Billy, sure it can cause a drain (if you don’t turn it off)..

Otherwise the motorcycle has no idea that key is in the ignition until you turn the switch on,, at that time the system can recognize the ID pellet in the key..

 

Maybe ask your dealer to explain & elaborate on his statement to you.. Just tell him I (Twisty) doesn’t believe him..

 

I leave the key in my 1200RT all the time when it’s parked in my garage or barn & never had any battery drain..

 

Twisty

 

[Lawman]

I think it was simply their explanation for why the batteries were going dead..I didn't say I believed them..I just repeated what they told me..

[chaparral]

Rocker

 

I talked to a dealer in AZ when I had the problem He said there will be a few milliamps drawn due to the clock, Mine was about 3ma. I Unhooked the battery and did another charge with a 12v lamp in series with the charger to limit charge rate. Re installed the battery . Measure to see if there was > draw. There wasn't so I hooked everything up and have been riding it for 5 months with no problem. A weird anomaly. 240 ma is a 1/4 amp. Do the math on a 17 AH battery. My problem cleared up after that. Scary as I didn't fix anything, maybe the Can bus??

[JayW]

I leave the key in my 1200RT all the time when it’s parked in my garage or barn & never had any battery drain..

Twisty

 

I'll make a note of that for the next time I am up in MI and need a nice bike in a hurry.

 

Jay

[Deek]

"I've been dealing with the same problem for about a year. I've got a 280 milli-amp drain when the bikes parked that I can't find out why?"

 

I installed an XM SkyFi radio.........love it. But I power it directly off the battery, and after installing it the battery went dead after about a week. This radio CONSTANTLY tries to charge itself through the power cord. I ignorantly assumed once the radio's internal battery was 100% charged it would no longer take power from the bike's battery. I was wrong. I learned somewhere that the power supply cord CONSTANTLY draws from the bike's battery if the radio is connected.

 

If you have done something like I did that might be the problem. I disconnected that XM radio and have not have the battery go dead since then.

 

 

[gavin]

I was told by my dealer that failure to remove the key from the ignition could cause some battery drain..

I was told by a dealer that some electronics stay live with the ign turned off, but it shuts

down if you put the key to the steering lock position,... if that makes sense.