Dead battery

[Mikeybikey57]

Went to start my S10 yesterday and scrub in the new front tyre, turned the key and……….nothing. The bike was totally dead. Took off the quick release panel and the upper fairing to look at all the fuses and electrics but everything was intact, including the big 50A main fuse. After checking that all the leads to and from the battery were tight and unbroken, I took the battery out and gave it a visual once over and it all appeared sound. Used my trusty home made test light across the contacts and nothing, not even a faint glimmer from the bulb.

I put my Optimate charger onto the battery and the the display firstly indicated that it was charging……... for about two seconds. Then it flipped onto 'Absorb' for a few more seconds before switching straight into 'Maintain' mode. I left it for a few hours before coming back to it and re-checking it, to find it still in 'Maintain' mode but still unable to illuminate my test light when disconnected from the optimiser. Hmmmmmmm. I think we'll take that as "the battery is knackered" and go get a new one. Off to my local bike emporium for a (genuine Yuasa) replacement, which they had in stock but wanted £154.00 ($258.75) for. ??? After picking myself off the floor, they did say they had a non-genuine OE equivalent for one third of the price, which is now on the bike.

All seems well now but I was just wondering. In my 40 years of riding bikes i've never had a battery go dead on me like this. Is this sort of thing that happens a lot on S10's and what could have made what appeared to be a perfectly good, well maintained battery just give up like that?

 

[Karson]

Never heard of this on a stock, electrically speaking, S10. So either your OEM Yuasa was dead/dying, you left the ignition on, or you've got parasitic draw from any wiring projects you've installed. How old was the battery?

A battery is like tires and brake pads - they go bad and need replacement over time, so keep that in mind.

Keep an eye out on that non-OE battery over time, though. I'm personally a little sketchy of them as while they might meet OEM specs, the build quality, and consequently the lifespan, do not.

 

[The Ferret]

It is quite easy to put the bike away in park mode ie parking lights on (UK). That may have taken your juice!

 

[EricV]

As has been said, either something was left on, or you have a parasitic draw. And, you're a very bad boy for not having the Optimate plugged in when ever you're not riding the bike.

What electrical items have you added to the bike? Any chance one of them is a powered tank bag ring? Some devices, even when installed correctly as instructions dictate, will draw current when nothing is on, and drain a battery flat, damaging it if it sits long enough. GPS units, powered tank bag rings, communication equipment and others can do this.

 

[markjenn]

I'll run a little counter to the flow here to say that while vehicle batteries more typically die a slow death with warning, the "suddenly dead as a doornail" scenario is quite common. Happened numerous times to me. Batteries, especially on a motorcycle that may not see regular day-to-day use, are consumables, just like tires, filters, and oil. Some replace them every 2-3 years regardless of whether they're still working Okay.

- Mark

 

[Mikeybikey57]

The battery is just coming up to three years old and was always put onto an Optimate over the winter months, or if the bike isn't going to be ridden for more than a week. It was only off charge for two days, prior to the battery dying and had never given even a hint of going into terminal decline. Even when it'd been off the Optimate for a day or three, when plugged back in, the Optimate would always register as 'Charging' for only a few minutes before cycling round to 'Maintain'. I always assumed that this meant that the battery was in good health.

With regard to any parasitic draw, all of my electrical extras (Oxford heated grips, LED lamps, wired in via the factory accessory plugs and a pair of Fiamm horns) have been tested, as has their wiring/switches/controllers and are appear to be fault free and functioning as they should.

Maybe i'll keep the new battery plugged into the Optimiser all the time from now on, just in case. We all know that if a battery, or anything else on a bike is going to fail, it'll always do it, just before you want to go for a ride. :

 

[Brick]

My 2012 Super Temere's battery died like that with just over a year on the bike. No warning just dead. Always keep it on the Battery Tender then and with the new battery.
Sometimes shit just happens. Don't remember what I paid but I do know it was a LOT less than your $258 battery.


Brick

 

[EricV]

There is always a possibility that the battery had some kind of flaw, but batteries don't just go dead. My oem battery on the FJR was 9 years old when I sold the bike and still just fine. Left it plugged into the Optimate III when ever I wasn't riding it. Saw the desulphate light 3 times, once being when I first hooked it up the Optimate after owning the bike for perhaps 8 months w/o using a maintenance charger.

Have you checked for dark current draw? All modern bikes use some current when the bike is off, but it's usually tiny. Google checking dark current or parasitic draw and follow the directions to see what your draw is with the key off. It may tell you if something is up.

 

[markjenn]

Another factor is the infant mortality of original batteries in new vehicles is much higher than replacements. I don't know if Yamaha ships its bikes with batteries installed/charged or not, but regardless, a battery in a new vehicle is often subject to trying conditions of sitting around for long periods early in its life.

I wouldn't over-analysis this too much. Batteries fail and occasionally fail earlier than they should, no matter what regimen you use.

- Mark

 

[scott123007]

Batteries CAN and DO fail suddenly. Internal shorting is not common but it does happen. Sounds like that is what happened to yours.

 

[creggur]

Batteries CAN and DO fail suddenly. Internal shorting is not common but it does happen. Sounds like that is what happened to yours.

Likely ^^THIS^^.

See it all the time - I'm in the service end of the car biz - and sometimes batteries just take a shit. Some will even test fine on our factory $8,000 GR8 tester, but hit them with a good old-fashioned pile tester and they drop like flies.

If you've checked for parasitic draw, and your charging system is in good working order I'd chock it up to "shit happens" because sometimes....it just does.

 

[Chuck B]

I'm of the batteries can/do suddenly fail...see it all the time. Sometimes difficult explaining that to my customers (not in the Motorsports arena) but again, not uncommon.

 

[talreli]

Happened to me on a previous bike, where the battery went dead with no warnings. It turned out to be a bad alternator, so the battery never had a chance to charge. I doubt that this applies here cause you seem to be doing ok with the new one. Just wanted to bring up this other angle.


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12 Yamaha Super Tenere
04 Kawasaki Vulcan 750
84 Suzuki DR500

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[tomatocity]

The worst parasitic draw is turning the engine off using the sidestand... then not turning the key to the off position. Replaced the battery after the second time I did this (while traveling).

 

[macca]

I've had a duff optimate kill a battery, maybe that's on the fritz. After having 3 optimates over the years all die I'm now a fan of Aldi's bike battery chargers though only seem to stock them when bike specials are on or failing that CTEK chargers

 

[Checkswrecks]

Batteries CAN and DO fail suddenly. Internal shorting is not common but it does happen. Sounds like that is what happened to yours.

Absolutely!
If you were to open the dead battery, you'd likely find some black sludge between the plates. Batteries normally installed have some space under the plates for the debris to fall to. My guess is that a deposit built somewhere and enough finally collected for it to drop as a mass. With the slanted Tenere installation I'm surprised more folks haven't complained of this.