More Battery Problems

[fatbaldbob]

Went to use the bike yesterday R1200gsa TC, ignition on and nothing, no click no ignition lights no sign of life at all.

I put a meter on the battery and it read 4.5v, so battery obviously flat. Hooked it up to a charger and by bed time it was reading 5.5v after about 8 hours on charge, checked it again this morning and it's still only reading 5.5v and no sign of life when ignition was on, this is now after about 15hrs on charge.

So battery is obviously knacked, my question is: bike is in regular use and there was no sign of a problem, fine one day totally dead the next, can this happen with no warning signs or previous degradation? Or should I be looking for a problem before buying a replacement?

 

[JPR]

Had exactly the same.
Mine gave up the ghost while I was actually on a ride.
No warning whatsoever.

 

[Sgt Bilco]

Bob, GS batteries just suddenly fail with little or no warning. I always carry a spare on my big trips because when it's gone, the bike just won't go and it's a real pain.

Try a Motobatt as your next one as they are a good price and a great battery.

 

[fatbaldbob]

Thanks guys, had GS's for ten years now and never had a battery fail, guess I must have been lucky But reassuring to know its not just me or a problem with the bike, I'll get a new one ordered.

 

[(RIP) Miff]

Had it happen with cars before now. A cell suddenly dies.

 

[Mr K]

Had it happen on car and van, fortunately not the bike.
It's the nature of modern batteries - At work started the van and drove 20 miles, parked for 30 minutes (no lights or anything on) and when I went to leave not even the dash lights came on.

 

[stever1]

Fairly regular occurrence on BMW bikes. Just had a new battery fitted warranty, on my RT at 21 months old. Same thing happened on my last GS at about 18 months.

 

[sethmopp]

Sounds worrying, mine is just coming up for 2 years and 31000 miles, should I get one just in case???

 

[Fanum]

Sounds worrying, mine is just coming up for 2 years and 31000 miles, should I get one just in case???

No...they do have a shelf life.

Don't worry...20 times the number of people who have said that their battery has lasted 3 years have had their OEM battery for 7 or more years......but because it hasn't failed, it's unremarkable so you rarely hear about it

There's nowhere in Europe that you can't get a bike battery inside 24 hours, so buying one 'just in case' is a bit daft IMO