Time for a new battery?

I was getting the bike a once other for a bike trip next week. The battery was almost drained and did not have enough juice to start the bike. The last time I rode it was 3 weeks ago for about an hour. I had bought this battery (Yuasa YTZ14S) from a forum member Evapar about one and a half years ago.

Is it time for a new battery? Or is this normal?

JC

SpikingJC said:

is this normal

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If the baterry is in acceptable condition, wasn't excessivly undercharged when you parked the bike and there is nothing on the bike which remains on and is draining it the battery shoould not go dead after only three weeeks of not being on a charger.

fnmag said:

Is the clock resetting?
Load test the battery.
In the future, keep your battery on a Battery Tender type device.
If you're concerned about your battery and can't load test it, buy a new one.

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The clock did reset. I didn't know it would be 3 weeks of no riding. Next time I'll plug in the battery tender

Andrew Shadow said:

If the baterry is in acceptable condition, wasn't excessivly undercharged when you parked the bike and there is nothing on the bike which remains on and is draining it the battery shoould not go dead after only three weeeks of not being on a charger.

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The only thing I could think of is the Scorpio alarm. It wasn't armed during those three weeks, but I guess it could still be drawing some power.

JC

A happy battery is a fully charged one (as in longest life).

You won't hurt anything by getting your battery(ies) on a Maintainer whenever they are parked. Just get in the habit of plugging it in every time you put it away. There are various inexpensive ways to make it easy to do. I like/use the Genius GC016, since it also shows state-of-charge, takes 2 seconds to connect or doff.

http://www.geniuschargers.com/GC016

SpikingJC said:

The only thing I could think of is the Scorpio alarm

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That might have something to do with it or it could just be a battery on it's way out.
Normal st1300 drain on the battery should be 2.5ma or less. Don't know what a scorpio drains when it's not armed.
If you have a mutlimeter hook up the leads for low current measurement and stick them between the bat neg and the disconnected negative lead from the battery with the bike off. iirc the scorpio has an internal battery back up so it's unarmed current draw may change as that battery needs charging does the alarm manual mention any no load quiescent drain figures?

With the battery fully charged start the bike and try to get a reading at the battery while it's cranking. It shouldn't sag lower than 10.6 volts or so. Sort of a make shift load test.

st1300r said:

It shouldn't sag lower than 10.6 volts or so. Sort of a make shift load test.

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And that's why the clock resets.... the drop out on the clock is about 10.5v. When it drops below this on engine startup ( due to heavy current drain ) many notice their clock is off.

Charge the battery up fully, test it. Replace if needed , esp if going on a long trip.

I had my clock drop out a few times; ignored it. Then one day I was 70 miles from the house, shut it off and went to restart it and it was dead! I couldn't even push start it as there was not enough power to power the fuel pump.

A charging and a load test are in order. As suggested you should also run a parasitic draw test to see if your alarm or any other devices might be draining the battery. Here is an article that might help you with the procedure (You can also use your shop manual if you have3 one, the procedure is in there as well): http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/repair/how-to-stop-car-battery-drains

Keith

One of the most usefull accessories.
http://www.oxford-shop.co.uk/item3729.htm
And my battery is 5 years old (It's time for a NEW battery!!!!!)

Make sure to charge your battery, load test it with a multi-meter and you should see over 12 volts then turn on the key and start bike and while doing this if your voltage drops below 10 volts it is time to replace the battery. Also it is a good idea to keep your battery on a battery tender while the bike is not in use.

You may want to get on of these devices to monitor your battery health. Also, it has a built in voltmeter so you can see if your alternator is charging correctly. Usually, a new battery starts out at 75% on this device. After 9 months on my new battery, my battery is around 70%. My last battery went down to 16% and I almost needed a boost, so that was enough indication to change out my battery.
I've never used a battery tender in the 34 years of biking, so I can't comment on them. I'm also a daily drive year round, weather permitting.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-ARGUS-ANALYZERS-BATTERY-BUG-BB-SBM12-BATTERY-FAILURE-WARNING-SYSTEM-SBM-12-/121353434004?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1c413a7394&vxp=mtr

Prolly time for a new battery. I nursed one for 6 months couple years ago. If I didn't ride at least once in 4-5 days bike would turnover but not crank.

I'd charge it one more time, and see what happens. If it fails to start after a few days of idleness you'll know.