Whirling noise at idle, different tan the jetson mobile

I have recently noticed a whirling noise in the motor of the ST 1300 (05) and I am having the battery get low after 4 or 5 short rides. It gets to the point that the amps may be down on the battery, as it will turn over but the fuel pump wont come on and when you turn off the key the lights stay on and will not go off unless the battery is disconnected. I do not have a meter to check to see if the battery is being charged But I did replace it with in the last month and found it was a defective battery, the replacement went down too and with a run back to the auto parts store for a battery test, they say it is good .... any one else experience this ? does anyone have any advise ? The bike only has 58,000 miles on it

I think you've got two problems going:

seawalker said:

... when you turn off the key the lights stay on and will not go off unless the battery is disconnected.

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That says failed ignition switch or a short having developed somewhere between it and the rest of the bike. Was your bike subjected to a vigorous wash before this started?

I am having the battery get low after 4 or 5 short rides. It gets to the point that the amps may be down on the battery, as it will turn over but the fuel pump wont come on ... I do not have a meter to check to see if the battery is being charged But I did replace it with in the last month and found it was a defective battery, the replacement went down too and with a run back to the auto parts store for a battery test, they say it is good ...

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That sounds to me like something in the charging system has failed. If there's new noise, my money would be on the alternator bearings having gone south, which has been known to happen. Supra Sabre and a few others can tell you about that first hand.

Your batteries are/were probably fine, but without being able to measure the system voltage, anything you're doing to fix it is guesswork. A meter that will get the job done can be had for about $20.

--Mark

Another possibility is that the battery is getting drained by the electrical problem and you are hearing the alternator working to recharge it. The electrical problem sounds like the dreaded burnt up green ground wire behind the left cowl in the big connector.