04 ST1300 battery dies suddenly

[J. Hawkins]

I have an '04 ST1300 with 79,000 miles. Every once in a while, I find my batter dead. I charge it back up, it starts and works fine. I ride it regularly and it has never died on a ride. Then the battery dies again, all of a sudden?!I I charge it back up and check the voltage every day for while and it stays good. Then a week goes by and it is dead again. I replaced the battery with a lithium battery. It worked perfectly, for a week. I rode it once or twice, no problems. I checked the voltage a few times for a week or so and felt it was all good. Then I found the battery dead again! I cant find any drain. I show no draw when using a meter to check for a drain. It seems something is intermittently "turning on" and draining, while it is sitting. Any ideas out there???

 

[MattSTlouis]

My phone charger will drain the battery in about 2 weeks.

 

[Catmandu2]

My ctc (Canadian Tire Corp.) agm's generally last 2-3 years,,, before letting me down with very little warning. But a voltage load test,,, 2-3 minutes with the ignition turned on,,, should should show pretty close to 13v for a healthy battery,, I have read. One early warning sign is the clock losing time,, while sitting for a week or so. Since this has recently happened,, and the time frame is about right,,, I was checking stock at the store just up the street. They had one,,, but the price has jumped from $90.cdn ($66.us),,, to about $180.cdn !! Yikes,,, I am shopping the agm market now,,, cheers,,, CAt'

 

[Larry Fine]

You can measure parasitic drain with a milliammeter in series with one of the battery cables, but do not turn anything on while the meter is in the circuit!

Added: The only thing that should draw power with the key off is the clock.

Note: A USB power port will draw power even with no cord plugged into it.

 

[DannoXYZ]

Here’s parasitic drain procedure for different Honda. Drain may not be constant. You may have frayed power wire somewhere that’s shorting to neighboring wires or to frame. When meter is connected to measure drain, go around harness and gently squeeze & wiggle it to see if it changes drain current.

 

[Kevcules]

Disconnect your negative cable while your bike rests for a week. Then check the status of the battery to determine if you have a drain. Sure sounds like it.

 

[SMSW]

How dead is dead? If you are running a lead acid battery all the way down to zero volts, the plates can swell, shed sponge lead and short out a cell. You might survive one or two total discharges, but sooner rather than later that battery will be toast. Lithium batteries like a total discharge even less and don't even make good paper weights.

If you do use a multi meter in series to look for parasitic drain, make sure you know the meter's limits. As @Larry Fine pointed out, turning anything on will increase current flow probably in excess of the meter's capacity. You will then have a fried meter to go along with the dead batteries. Years ago this was how I discovered my Keithley meter had a fuse protecting it from my stupidity.

 

[Terminator2]

Boy, has trickle charger extended battery life the last 5 years.

 

[wjbertrand]

Loose cable somewhere? I assume, since you replaced the battery, it’s not at that end but it’d be good the inspect the length of both cables for damage or looseness at the other end.

 

[tpasco1995]

Do you have a battery tender installed by chance? You can spend all day chasing parasitic drain, but batteries that aren't fully charged will sulfate on their own even without a load just from temperature changes after a couple weeks.