Battery faffery

[James132]

Hi all,

Start of this year I picked up a 2016 MT-10. Absolutely love the bike.

A few weeks ago, after fitting a new exhaust I went to take it out for a ride and the battery was dead (down at around 11.5v). I assumed this had been because whilst removing the old exhaust, which was a complete C*** I started the bike a couple of times to get some heat into it. Then once the new system was fitted, obviously started it up to hear. After a hour hooked up to the oximiser she fired up.

This week, after being stood up in the garage for 2 days (not on the charger) it was dead again, again reading around 11.5v.

I've read various things online about battery's on modern thou's being lucky to last 2/3 seasons. Is this really the case?

So my question is, what can I do to find the issue?
Poor condition battery not holding charge, or a drain somewhere on the system?

If it was to be a the first, is it worth replacing with a lithium?

Thanks.

[Islander]

Check for a current drain when the ignition is off.

[doggone]

[Courier265]

One question, do you know what brand of battery you have?

Most bike's I've owned come with a Yuasa battery, however I don't know
about Yamaha because I've never owned one.

As for lithium batteries, I'm interested in some input on that subject
because I'm considering this myself.

[James132]

[Islander]

[Barnoe]

If you haven't got an alarm of some sort and after the drain test above
your looking at a new battery

as already said Yuasa are good, and on your bike probably £75 to £90 you can get cheap batteries from around £20 if cash is tight

I bought an alarm on another bike and after fitting it, found my battery flat quite often. If i ever did that again i think i would invest in an optimate.
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You know you are old when you're told to slow down by your doctor and not the police.

[stinkwheel]

[MCN]

Any real bike garage or car garage should have a High rate Discharger used to hammer the battery and uncover bad cells. One bad cell means the battery is fubar.
A multimeter will only show a battery charge state. To be 100% sure it must be load tested.
(On older (not maintenance-free) batteries it was possible to determine individual cell condition by dipping one test probe into the electrolyte of each cell while the other probe is held on a post. But a more involved explanation required. Even some 'electricians' are no good at batteries.)

And the leakage tests are important too of course.

You have a bike so you MUST have a multimeter too? Yes? 😁
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[raesewell]

Put your multimeter onto the terminals and start the bike watching the voltage as you crank it, if it falls below 9.6 volts you need a new battery.
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Yamaha FJR 1300 Normanton West Yorkshire

[MCN]

[raesewell]

It does help if you have a multimeter with memory function.
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Yamaha FJR 1300 Normanton West Yorkshire

[kramdra]

2 years is a very short life. The battery might be bad but there will be another problem. First thing I would check is the stator -> regultor -> loom connectors. They often get melty.

RC chargers usually have a discharge capacity test. A new battery has 10x more capacity as they degrade, so this will give a good indication how much life is left.

[James132]

So today I took the battery off the bike (yuasa for the chap who asked).

I measured the resistance across the bike circuit which was 74Kohms, which to me indicates the bike circuitry is ok and no drains to earth?

The battery is now in the house connected up to the oximiser. I will take it off charge and measure the voltage over the next few days.

[MCN]

[James132]

[raesewell]

A good battery fully charged and at rest should show 12.8 volts
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Yamaha FJR 1300 Normanton West Yorkshire

[The Shaggy D.A.]

Not seen it myself, but I did read recently that a dirty battery may have tracking through the crud between the terminals, so might be worth cleaning it if that looks like a contender.
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Chances are quite high you are not in my Monkeysphere, and I don't care about you. Don't take it personally.
Currently : Royal Enfield 350 Meteor
Previously : CB100N > CB250RS > XJ900F > GT550 > GPZ750R/1000RX > AJS M16 > R100RT > Bullet 500 > CB500 > LS650P > Bullet Electra X & YBR125 > Bullet 350 "Superstar" & YBR125 Custom > Royal Enfield Classic 500 Despatch Limited Edition (28 of 200) & CB Two-Fifty Nighthawk > ER5

[MCN]

[raesewell]

[kramdra]

If it is not reading above 12.6 while charging I would suspect the charger is shit or on the wrong mode. While charging should be at 14.7v

The resistance measure shows there is no significant leakage but doesnt mean the charging or connections are any good.

[stinkwheel]

I wouldn't count a low resistance as there being no leakage. Stuff can power itself up and semiconductors can leak.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.