I’ve been away for a few days and im getting low battery warnings via my phone (tracker app) already. The battery is less than two months old and was fully charged before I went away.
I know the electronics on most modern bikes draw from the battery when switched off and the aftermarket tracker will exacerbate the drain issue, but if the battery won’t survive a week or two of sitting idle in summer then I question the suitability of the factory fitted battery. So I’m considering an after market battery: any recommendations for a V100 please?
Battery problems are a PIA, the thing to look for are dimension’s will it fit in the same space.
Amperes, what is the maximum output of the battery.
What is the maximum output of your alternator.
I have had many different bikes and I always try for the bigger battery output, check the new stelvio, what size battery is fitted? Is it the same or a different amperage?
My bike was left untended for 3 months and started first time without any issues. I dont have my phone paired with the bike but it seems odd that a few days would see it drained so much.
get yourself a Ctek charger and keep the battery in good order, or if no power a solar charger, most trackers go into sleep mode and will only wake up and ping if the machine is tampered with or a low voltage is detected
all modern machines run the batteries down, even high end cars drain the batteries if not maintained
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Thanks, but I’ve had an Optimate charger - for years and it has always worked well for me, so not looking to change right now.
I’m not a fan of keeping the battery on charge if I go away for ten days and for the factory fitted battery to discharge to the extent that sulfating begins in just 10 days instinctively makes me want to get a beefier battery rather than a different charger at this stage.
First I would want to know why it’s discharging.
Here’s an idea, get one of those simple dial type 7 day plug-in timers, the Optimate could be turned on for a couple of hours per week?
As an electrician, I know you will be wasting you time fittting a larger battery and possibly voiding the warranty , a modern charger like a Ctek will continually test the battery and change the charge and test rate, the older optimates are just a trickle charger and not designed for modern batteries, its not sulphating the battery just discharging it, the ECU is drawing current all the time, modern cars and motorcycles are designed to be used every day, other option is to disconnect the battery, but like humans they need exercise or they get lazy and fat and roll over and die ? I have fitted lots of tracking devices, the current draw is minimal in rest state, but I leave my guzzi plugged into a Ctek full time, and my battery specialist ( 75 years in business) says that is the correct thing to do
I visit a storage yard where lots of high end campers are stored, they all have Cteks connected permanently and no damage is done to their batteries !
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Thanks. I’ve had various Optimates over the years, the current one is the Optimate 6 fully automatic charger, so I’m not interested in buying a Ctek at this time. It copes well with my 125Ah AGM 12v leisure batteries as well as my bike battery, so it suits me fine.
It’s good to know you can leave it on longer term as the advice I’d had from various sources was to NOT leave it on and you’re the first to suggest otherwise.
My issue is that for a battery that’s less than 8 weeks old I don’t feel like it should need that much care. My last BMW battery failed me mid-ride on a cold February morning at just 18 months old despite regular riding and charging. The BMW main dealer upgraded the battery under warranty as in his words “the factory fit cheap ones not up to the job”. Even that original BMW battery didn’t need charging every 10 days in summer, hence my OP question about a suitable replacement upgrade battery that won’t void the warranty.
aha
you didnt say it was the newer one
and yes BMW have had a few problems of late
buying cheap stuff from China
batteries, suspension failures, drive line failures, sensor failures
the current GS range seem to spend all their time having recalls
Indeed. My GS had eight warranty fixes and recalls in three years, including the battery, foot-peg clips, TFT, left instrument cluster, drive shaft, exhaust, software recall etc.
This is my first Guzzi, so wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s generally been good so far, but my instinct is that with the complex software and tracker that this battery may not be up to the job any more than the original beemer battery was, so rather than get stranded on a cold February ride as happened with the beemer, I’d rather pay for a decent battery myself now - providing it’s the right battery and doesn’t invalidate the warranty.
Any suggestions on suitable batteries welcome.
I only ever fit Yuasa or Sonnerschein , but I dont know much about the latest machines and whether it is fitted with a glass absorption mat or some other funny thing, as the charging systems are different and you have Canbus , it would be better to ask the supplying dealer rather than voiding the warranty, anything made in China would get chucked directly into the skip !
I have owned and ridden my 750 Breva for 21 years now, taken me all over Europe, even managed the Lord Mayors Show last year , although the Chemo knocked me out a bit and it took a few days to get over it
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On an American forum a V100S owner has had a similar problem. Turns out he had a faulty display which even though apparently off was draining 0.6 Amps on a permanent basis. He is getting the display replaced under warranty and it is a known issue with SOME V100S but not all. Maybe worth chasing your dealer?
Thanks South Westerly, I’m due back at the dealers in August so will ask them to check if the current draw is per spec.
Mine also drains quickly: I put in on charge every week if I don’t use it, which keeps it happy. If I left it for a month, I am sure it would be flat. Unfortunately, I think this is just a feature of an electronics packed machine, with a relatively small battery, rather than a fault. It’s no hassle to keep the battery topped up.
It shouldn’t. As I’ve said before mine was left completely alone for 3 months without any kind of charging and started straight away.
As you can see it is a known issue.
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Yuasa GYZ16H will physically fit and it’s 16Ah as opposed to 12 so will last a bit longer…
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I’ve been thinking about all this and everyone I’ve spoken to ( including myself ) finds the battery goes marginal or flat within about 3-4weeks, depending on the initial state of charge. The exceptions are SouthWesterly, whose 'bike stays charged for 3 months, and this US chap with the 1A drain. I’ve assumed this was the ECU staying alive, but in a low current mode, just not low enough. About 15 mA would give the drain we’re seeing.
I’ve checked and found the ECU etc appear to be drawing something less than 10mA, possibly close to zero; I can’t measure accurately below this right now.
However, my dashboard draws somewhere about 10mA occasionally jumping to 30mA. I believe the jump is when the immobiliser LED is flashed. This would give the sort of numbers most of us are seeing with batteries going flat in the garage.
So, my question is to SouthWesterly. Does the red LED in the top left corner of your dashboard stop flashing at some point when not being used ? Yours appears to be the only one which actually goes into a proper sleep mode or switches off completely.
I have more accurate measuring kit ordered and will check again later.
@andymay I have a 2024 Stelvio and the LED stops flashing after a couple of days, as it did on my preceding Ducati. Dashboard is similar (identical?) to the Mandello. Perhaps a firmware update will make yours more ‘Southwesterly’?
I have left my bike only for a max of 3 weeks, but it started like I’d just come back from a long ride.
I’ve done some more measurements with more sensitive kit.
My dashboard draws 10.8mA when I turn the key off, so in standby mode. The LED flashing takes it up to 22mA when it flashes, then back to 10.8 between the flashes. After almost exactly 48 hours, teh LED stops flashing, but the current draw stays at 10.8mA. Still at same current draw after 72 hours.
Current ( pun intended ) conclusion is that there’s a software glitch that prevents it going into the sleep mode, even when it thinks it is by turning off the LED.
This level of current draw amounts to about 2Ah for the first week and about 1.8Ah ( basically no difference ) per week thereafter. So this would take our 12Ah ( if fully charged ) batteries down to half after 3 weeks. That’s about right for a marginal/failed start.
It’d be nice if there was a firmware update, as you suggest. I’ll ask around some dealers.
