How long does a battery (Exide) hold a charge sufficient to start the bike? My original battery which was some 3/4 years old ran down after about 2 weeks - I say ran down but it still had about 12.4v but didn’t start, lights dipped, no start although occasionally after pressing the started many times it would start.
Now with a brand new battery the same thing!! Battery charged on an optimate all week with reading of 12.7v to 12.8v, take it off charge and obviously it starts no problem but leave it a couple of weeks and it hardly wants to start (same as above) and anything longer than a couple of weeks and no start at all until charged.
I know it is starting with the lights on but I have 2 1970’s Hondas (no driving lights obviously) but I can leave them for months and they still start on the starter.
There is a constant drain running the clock. If I park my Breva 750 or Nevada up for more than two weeks I remove the neutral terminal. Indeed, I share the battery between them as they are never both taxed at the same time. No such care needed on the V11.
I can’t see that the clock and the digital trip are going to cause that sort of current drain over a fortnight. It was never a problem on my 2008 V7 Classic. I am sure that started with ease up to a month after the previous usage. If the bike is left for more than a month, for instance on SORN over the winter, then I charge my bike batteries monthly.
There must be some other current drain.
You could try putting an ammeter between a battery terminal and the cable end. I don’t know whether you should use the negative or positive terminal, if indeed it matters. That should give you an indication of the drain on the battery. Ii might be worth checking the manual to see if that specifies what the current drain ought to be when the bike is not in use.
I’m sure it’s been mentioned several times, and elsewhere, battery voltage alone is not an indicator of its health or state of charge. Also do not (electric) start a vehicle without driving/riding it, or put it on a charger afterwards, as that merely depletes the battery charge and LA batteries must not be left in a discharged state.
My Spada and R80 has the old style dash clocks and it’s surprising how that can deplete the battery over a few weeks. I had a regime of periodic charging. Modern vehicles with electronic dashes etc. must be put on charge at least once a month (include cars in this) if not used. Even the Ural which no parasitic drain to speak of, except the ECU’s are always ‘live’, goes on the optimate every two weeks if not used, and always needs it.
Always leave mine on an Optimate, or else it runs down after a couple of weeks, even with a brand new battery. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a kickstart again…
PS if it’s any consolation the Volvo is just the same…
