another charging system failure?

[Rhino]

Do you have an alarm or lights or something that is draining your battery? Or a short somewhere?

[sckego]

It sounds like you might have a current leak somewhere. It might be a short due to corroded connector, or one of your accessories or instruments starting to go, that slowly drains the battery while the bike is off. You'll always have *some* current leak, due to the clock etc staying on while the bike is off (which is why your battery will eventually go dead if just sitting in the bike), but anything that starts to increase that leak will kill the battery faster.

To check the rate, disconnect the negative lead from the negative terminal your battery, and use a multimeter to check the current between them. The multimeter should be measuring in mA, set for direct current. I think on my bike, an acceptable leak rate was around .1 mA. You might want to check on an R1-specific forum, or check the service manual if you have it, as to what the acceptable measurement is for your bike.

If that's not the problem, you can try going through the tests that I outlined here. If the current leak does turn out to be the problem, you're going to have to diagnose where the short is and how to fix it, and that's beyond my expertise.

Let me know if you need help with anything, or if you have any other questions!

[R-Sen]

I have a strong suspicion it might be the alarm on the bike. I will run that test once my frend gets off work so I can use his multimeter. Thanks I'll see what the outcome is.

[Blizzard_1708]

I have a scorpio alarm, and it does drain the power ALOT

[R-Sen]

Yeah that's what I have the 900 series

[R-Sen]

Did a couple tests n think it's the starter. I get 12.3 volts bike off, and 13.8 bike at 5k rpm. But as I'm trying to start it, it drops to about 9volts so between me n a ex R1 owner think it's the starter

[GRex]

bet your car does the same thing. voltage drops with the heavy load. If it is cranking over good, that is likely not your problem.

[sckego]

Your battery should be reading more then 12.3 with the bike off, I think. Nominal range is around 12.5-13. Did you measure the current leak? That could be why your battery is reading low, if something in the electrical system is draining it while it sits. I wouldn't worry about the voltage dropping while starting; like Grex said, that's pretty normal.

Edit - according to this page, a battery resting at 12.3 volts is only retaining about 55% of it's full charge.

[R-Sen]

It doesn't start smoothly struggles at times. Hey Sckego could u look at it sometime my buddy left put of town n is the one with the voltmeter. Maybe I explain it differently then it's acting, like that u can see for urself and I didn't check the Current leak.

[Blizzard_1708]

I know because of the alarm, if I leave my bike resting for about 3 days I will have a dead battery. Fortunately I ride all the time, so this doesnt bother me much

[sckego]

Yeah, no prob. PM me your address and what times you're free, maybe I can swing by sometime after work and check it out with you.

[R-Sen]

Mine goes a night n it's cross fingers hope it turns on in the morning if not a quick push start does the job.

Yeah I'll PM u my info, I can go to u since ur helpin me out. But I'll Pm u either way, thnks

[DarcShadow]

Bring it by the camping party. If we can't fix it we'll just chuck it into the lake. ha!

[Blizzard_1708]

hehe, that could be fun!

[sckego]

Question: have you tried disconnecting your alarm from the bike's electrical system and seeing if that fixes the problem?

[Grinner]

Bring it by the camping party. If we can't fix it we'll just chuck it into the lake. ha!

Id be down for being the first to see how far an R1 will ride across the top of the water!!!

[R-Sen]

Bring it by the camping party. If we can't fix it we'll just chuck it into the lake. ha!

Id be down for being the first to see how far an R1 will ride across the top of the water!!!

If anyone puts the R1 in the water it will be me. Maybe I can write it off with the insurance for having water damage.

[DarcShadow]

No, you don't want to do it, you need some one else to do it so you can then report it stolen. ha!

[armedandinsain]

Did I hear the call go out for a crash test dummy?