How quickly does your battery go flat if you dont use the bike? 3 days?

My original SLA (but not AGM) battery also had the same issue. I am minded to try an Odyssey PC535LC AGM, that should tell me if its the battery or not.

I just tested the bike on a multimeter for a few hours and after turning it off and letting the systems shutdown, it isnt drawing any current - so i am at a loss. More testing required i think :D
 
had 2 bikes with a tracker fitted from new, an XR and now a ATAS, XR was an OE conventional battery, ATAS is an OE Lithium, both ran down the battery fairly quickly, unless on a charger. I disconnected the Lithium over Winter and has not needed a recharge once.
 
BobT said:
But you have AGM and the OP has lithium, two very different batteries.
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Rupertexists said:
Bike is new to me, a month. It has alway done this for me. Now it has a new lithium battery. The SLA battery it came with had the same problem, the dealer tested the original battery and said the battery was ok
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I know. The way I read it is that the same was with the AGM as with the lithium - unless I've missed something?
 
yep, both batteries flat after 3 days. I'm going to charge the lithium overnight and start another test, see where I get to.... :beerjug:
 
Rupertexists said:
I have a '19 r125gs and the bike wont start after 3 days from a full charge with a new battery. The bike powers up but wont crank, just reboots the LCD. I have disconnected the tracker. Is this 'normal' behaviour for the r125gs? My old R12gs always started even after a month (with a good battery). If I put a jump pack on it starts first time.
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Same year, Nov. No tracker or alarm. Started after 11 months of no use. Not plugged in to anything. Just serviced, battery health is fine.
 
Rupertexists said:
My original SLA (but not AGM) battery also had the same issue. I am minded to try an Odyssey PC535LC AGM, that should tell me if its the battery or not.

I just tested the bike on a multimeter for a few hours and after turning it off and letting the systems shutdown, it isnt drawing any current - so i am at a loss. More testing required i think :D
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how did you measure the current drain with the multimeter? presume you had it on amps and between the battery lead and terminal to measure the drain (or a DC clamp meter?) . If there was no drain after the system shuts everything down then it must be either a weird fault where something is starting up intermittenlt (like a tracker) or both your batteries are faulty. Could try charging your old battery up and leave it off the bike and stand it for 3 or 4 days, if it has dropped voltage and won't start bike when you connect it back to bike you know it's goosed. If it still has a reasonable voltage after standing 3 or 4 days (12.4v and above for example) & starts the bike a few times then it must be something weird with the bike ??. and a drain somehow??
 
BobT said:
It came new with the tracker that I did not ask for. It also came with a years free subscription for that tracker. I have no need for it, nor do I want it drawing current at any time.
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Not sure that when the subscription ends it will disable the tracker from using any power?? may just disable your access to the tracking?? Might be worth checking with BMW what happens with respect to power drain from the tracker when the subscription ends.
 
pbbanks said:
Not sure that when the subscription ends it will disable the tracker from using any power?? may just disable your access to the tracking?? Might be worth checking with BMW what happens with respect to power drain from the tracker when the subscription ends.
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Me not being clear there. I will leave the thing while the subscription is running, and I am doing other things to the bike, and will physically remove the tracker around the one year point.
 
Never has, and its been left 2 months before without starting?... and it has an alarm on it (but not set)
 
pbbanks said:
how did you measure the current drain with the multimeter? presume you had it on amps and between the battery lead and terminal to measure the drain (or a DC clamp meter?) . If there was no drain after the system shuts everything down then it must be either a weird fault where something is starting up intermittenlt (like a tracker) or both your batteries are faulty. Could try charging your old battery up and leave it off the bike and stand it for 3 or 4 days, if it has dropped voltage and won't start bike when you connect it back to bike you know it's goosed. If it still has a reasonable voltage after standing 3 or 4 days (12.4v and above for example) & starts the bike a few times then it must be something weird with the bike ??. and a drain somehow??
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Yes, i tested the amps across the negative terminal and it was approx 4amps when turned on (engine not running), then turning off it stepped down to approx 1.5a, 0.5a and then 0a as the bike shut down over a minute or 2. Then it stayed at 0a as it watched the meter for 3/4 hours :augie. Yes, i think it is a weird start up fault now (starter motor?). Yes, this is my plan to charge and test both batteries after 3/4 days. :thumb2
 
Rupertexists said:
Yes, i tested the amps across the negative terminal and it was approx 4amps when turned on (engine not running), then turning off it stepped down to approx 1.5a, 0.5a and then 0a as the bike shut down over a minute or 2. Then it stayed at 0a as it watched the meter for 3/4 hours :augie. Yes, i think it is a weird start up fault now (starter motor?). Yes, this is my plan to charge and test both batteries after 3/4 days. :thumb2
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Strange!. Think earlier though you said when you connected a jump starter it started, so you'd think that it wasn't the starter or the bike having a fault at starting. Points back towards an intermittent battery drain or 2 x dodgy batteries. You sound as though you are on the case anyway so let us know how you get on. (if both batteries are OK after standing 3 or 4 days think I'd be to the stage of taking it back to the dealer and asking for a loan bike while they let the bike stand for 3 days and try and start it :-) )
 
P.S. or get a Foxwell battery tester , I have one , they are about £30 and test the CCA of a battery and state of health of battery. Gives a good quick indication of battery condition.
 
My GS (new in September, Datatool, no alarm) has stood for a couple of weeks at a time but never had a starting issue. I assume it has a lead acid battery but haven’t looked. Needing a battery charger on a regularly-used vehicle seems very unsatisfactory to me.

It is inevitable that any battery system will run down over time. Batteries all have self discharge rates which vary dependent on the chemistry, Lithium tends to be better than most, and there may be accessories or faulty systems connected to the battery, either of which can also cause a drain.

I think the recommended capacity is 14Ah. If that were discharged over three days, 72hours, it would imply a current of only 0.2A, and it would probably be marginal for starting after 72h at half that discharge current. Try turning everything off, disconnect one battery terminal, and measure the current if any using a multimeter between the disconnected wire and the battery terminal. I expect that it should be substantially zero, or a very few mA at most. Don’t turn anything on, or you’ll probably blow the fuse in the meter.
 
Rupertexists said:
I have a '19 r125gs and the bike wont start after 3 days from a full charge with a new battery. The bike powers up but wont crank, just reboots the LCD. I have disconnected the tracker. Is this 'normal' behaviour for the r125gs? My old R12gs always started even after a month (with a good battery). If I put a jump pack on it starts first time.
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Has a USB charger been connected directly to the battery? If it has, even though nothing is plugged into it, it will still be drawing a few watts of power and therefore flatten the battery.
 
SteveC10 said:
Has a USB charger been connected directly to the battery? If it has, even though nothing is plugged into it, it will still be drawing a few watts of power and therefore flatten the battery.
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No, nothing direct
 
Rupertexists said:
I have a '19 r125gs and the bike wont start after 3 days from a full charge with a new battery. The bike powers up but wont crank, just reboots the LCD. I have disconnected the tracker. Is this 'normal' behaviour for the r125gs? My old R12gs always started even after a month (with a good battery). If I put a jump pack on it starts first time.
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Is this normal? No.

Does it sound even vaguely normal? No. How would you, for instance, go away on your bike, have a couple of days off and then find your battery flat.

Something is draining your battery. As the bike seems to be secondhand, finding what some ‘Careful owner’ might have done to it, might not be easy. There again, it might be easy or it might be something you have done. For example, a phone left connected overnight can flatten a motorbike battery, just as parking lights can flatten a car battery. Some bods report their GPS devices / cradles draining their bikes’ batteries, often not helped when bods swallow the oft heard, “Just connect it to the battery, mate” advice. Assuming you have not had the bike long, take it back to wherever it was you bought it from and get them to fix it to your satisfaction.
 
Mr Bean said:
I may be wrong, but believe it's 11.8Ah.
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Here are the stats for different battery types:

Shido Lithium battery LTX14-BS-Li
4Ah
240 CCA
1.1kg

Odyssey PC535LC AGM
200 CCA (535 for 5s)
14Ah
5.2kg

Yuasa YTX14-BS
200 CCA
12.6Ah
4.6kg
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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