Hi guys, I came out to my CTX that I just road last Sunday for 200 miles and my battery is too weak to turn over the bike. It only has 550 miles on it, so there must be a problem. Has anyone seen this before?
I did have a USB plugged in with MP3's but I can't imagine that is the problem.
Tony
When I had my Goldwing I purchased an Odyssey AGM battery for it. Odyssey makes wonderful (and wonderfully expensive) batteries.
When I tried to buy one for my Stratoliner, they politely told me that with current motorcycle designs downsizing batteries (and the high temp mounting locations) the repetitive engine starting amperage and electronic suites trickle requirements severely drew down batteries, and unless they were operated non-stop at fully charging rpm for hours, there would be an overall decline in the battery charge/health.
A couple of factors may be at work in your situation (aside from the Occam's Razor principle that the battery is bad). The battery may have been installed for many months before you purchased the bike, and never properly brought up to full charge. Most small print recommendations for "new" batteries are to charge at low current values for at least 24 hours before placing the battery in service.
Typically when I don't ride the bike for a day or two, I put it on "life support" with my Battery Tender (or equivalent). And one of my first "mods" is to install a charging pigtail. In the case of my new CTX, I prevailed upon the dealership to install the pigtail as a condition of delivery (largely because if somebody was going to break one of those infamous panel tabs, I wanted it to be them....
).
My thoughts would be for you to get your Tender charger hooked up, let the bike charge for a few days, and see whether your problems go away over the long term.
If not, then of course you have three possibilities: bad battery; insufficient charging current; excessive current drain while idle.
Even with the ignition in the "Off" position, the battery has to supply continuous power to the bike's widget section to keep the clock running and maintain the memories of your Trip Odometers, et. al.
That's why some sort of Battery Tender is pretty much an essential appliance with today's high tech bikes.
Best of luck with it.:smile:
