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[Twolanerider]

UJ

do you have any electrical upgrades on your bike that you installed???

The reason I asked, I had an electrical short on my ride due to the run/brake/control installation..... which I installed, the problem - wires rubbed on tire

and my old man ride, HD installed the run/brake/control on his bike and he had the same problem........ his battery would die after two weeks of sitting........

unfortunately you have a short somewhere that the dealer can not find........

While I have no idea what the spec might be the total draw on the battery in various parking stages should be a known quantity and can be measured.  Even without finding where a draw/short is the existence of one with the bike setting and switch off should be easily tested for.

[UglyJohn]

No electrical upgrades on this scooter. This started when I got the new motor which the I've told the dealer. They said they put a load on the batter and they had it for three weeks while my surgery was healing up. They could not find a drain on it. They even road it a hundred miles or so just to see if anything would shake loose. nada. All good while at the shop. Go figure!

I finally got it started yesterday, but I had to jump it several times. It's on a trickler now and I'm hoping to ride it tonight. Suppose to be wet and rainy, but it's been a week and can't stand it anymore. The bike, if it starts, is going to get wet...real wet.

[UglyJohn]

 :soapbox:Well, still getting dead battery..However, Good news, I think. The shop had it for over three weeks and per their records, the bike NEVER lost any battery charge...nodda a least bit! So, I took my Ultra for a nice long ride for about an hour and when the engine was good and hot, I brought it home and parked it in the nice and warm garage.

Now the one thing that the shop didn't do is lock the bike fork with the key, To their credit this might be the reason for battery drain...is the locking of the bike, which might be causing a short or ?? Anyway this is the difference I'm doing here. It's the only thing I can think that I was doing that they were not, locking up the bike, which I do religiously when in my garage. (This could be the answer...I'm a thinking)

I checked the voltage with my new digital meter last night and it read 12.42 volts. Sounds good, but I'm not sure what it's suppose to be. Anyway, I checked it this morning, 15 hours later and it's down .49 volts to 11.93! And that's in just 15 hours.   So, I'll take another reading tonight and then each morning and evening.

I'm gong to see how low the battery gets in the next four days. Then I'll do the usual....jump it. Also, since the lost of battery charge is "normal" at .20 a day, per HD, I guess I should carry my trickle charger with me and get a 100' extension cord to carry around. (and find a place to park near a electrical plug-in. 

Did I ever mention that I'm black and blue from kicking myself for selling my 2000 Road King?   
Ugly John

[grc]

John,

Ask your dealer if they left the key fob with the bike during their 3 week "test".  I've noticed here locally that the shops tend to hang the key and fob on the brake lever on the bikes with the new buttonless fob system.  If they didn't have the security system set but you normally do, that should make the diagnosis much easier.  You may be on to something with the fork lock deal, or you may have a security system problem.  BTW - they can eliminate all the BS if they would just do a simple current draw test.  There are specs in the Electrical Diagnostic Manual for how much current each component should draw (in milliamps).  H-D has an adaptor that plugs into the maxifuse holder to connect an ammeter, making it real easy to check overall draw.  If overall draw is excessive, then disconnect components one at a time until you find the guilty party.
And BTW, I've never heard of a "normal" .2 volt per day battery voltage drop.  If that was the case, everyone would be having your problem after sitting 3-4 days, and your battery would have been totally dead after sitting in your dealer's shop for 3 weeks.  How they can tell you stuff like that, especially after also telling you they had no voltage drop over the 3 week period, is just amazing to me.  If it were my bike, I would definitely find another shop.

FYI
Battery Approximate State of Charge - Open Circuit Voltage:
12.8 V  =  100% Charge
12.6 V  =   75% Charge
12.3 V  =   50% Charge
12.0 V  =   25% Charge

Jerry

[UglyJohn]

Thanks for the information GRC (and others). I went through the manual and found the information to back you up 100% on pages 8-24 and 8-26 of the 2007 touring manual. My bike has been sitting since 1/18 at 5pm after a long ride. It had a charge of 12.42 volts which means it had approx. 62% charge to begin with according to the manual. I checked it this morning at 8:32am and it shows 11.69 volts or . . .0% of full charge.

Also, I'd like to mention is that my bike sits in a garage which stays between 60-65 degrees. (yes, it's insulated and heated with the house system...spoiled, I know) and according the page 8-26 of the 2007 touring manual, my bike should be able to sit for 3 to 6 months without going below 75% of charge. (That's if it was 77 degrees)  But, to keep it at full charge a suggestion is to keep it on a trickler, which I don't have a problem with if it sat for more than a week. I ride all year round so it's normally not an issue with me.

Anyway, thanks for the information and I'm taking all the information with me with copies of the manual.
Ugly John 

[towjamin]

OK, i posted asking if anyone eliminated the alarm yet and a lot of guys thought that it was a dumb idea , "why not just disarm it", screw that, this is why you don't just disarm an alarm! you eliminate them, THE ONLY THING AN ALARM DOES IS KEEP THE OWNER FROM USING THEIR VEHICLE! ... Jamie

[Hoist!]

OK, i posted asking if anyone eliminated the alarm yet and a lot of guys thought that it was a dumb idea , "why not just disarm it", screw that, this is why you don't just disarm an alarm! you eliminate them, THE ONLY THING AN ALARM DOES IS KEEP THE OWNER FROM USING THEIR VEHICLE! ... Jamie

You can't simply disconnect it. See Reply #27 in this thread tj!

Hoist!

[UglyJohn]

Well, I've finally finished "testing" the bike after a long week. I did everything the dealer asked. Long story short, it does not have a "normal" current draw and the local shop does not have the adapter to plug into the Maxi fuse unit to trouble shoot to find out which unit is the offender. (I got the deer in the headlight look when I asked if they had one) So, simply, I'm screwed!   

I guess my only avenue is the call all the dealers in the state and find out if any of them have the thing-a-mi-jig that plugs into the Maxi fuse to trouble shooting the problem. If anyone has the part number of this test unit and/or the name of it I would very much be in appreciation. Heck, if it's not that expensive, I'll buy the frigg'n adapter for it might be cheaper than to travel the state, take a day or two off work etc... Other than that, I guess I'll just carry a 100' extension card and batter charger with me everywhere I go! 
UJ

[Twolanerider]

Well, I've finally finished "testing" the bike after a long week. I did everything the dealer asked. Long story short, it does not have a "normal" current draw and the local shop does not have the adapter to plug into the Maxi fuse unit to trouble shoot to find out which unit is the offender. (I got the deer in the headlight look when I asked if they had one) So, simply, I'm screwed!   

I guess my only avenue is the call all the dealers in the state and find out if any of them have the thing-a-mi-jig that plugs into the Maxi fuse to trouble shooting the problem. If anyone has the part number of this test unit and/or the name of it I would very much be in appreciation. Heck, if it's not that expensive, I'll buy the frigg'n adapter for it might be cheaper than to travel the state, take a day or two off work etc... Other than that, I guess I'll just carry a 100' extension card and batter charger with me everywhere I go! 
UJ

UJ, there are other ways to measure system draw.  As simple as putting a multimeter between a battery cable and a post if all you're trying to do is catch a significant system draw.  If they don't have a clue how to track a short or heavy draw you really don't want them working on whether they've got the right tools or not.  Sounds like they're either being intentionally dumb to avoid the hassle; or they're just dumb.

[UglyJohn]

I put the multimeter on before this past week as you had mentioned to see if I could get any indication of a draw, but the draw per day was between .3 to .4. Not enough for me to sit and watch the meter to really see which item was taking the draw. Now, I'm not the brightest rock in the creek when it come to electronics, but it would appear that I may be on my own with this problem. Like I mentioned before, I'm willing to buy the frigg'n adapter for the Max fuse unit if the cost isn't too outrageous. Maybe I can rent it out to he local shop for an outrageous price.  I just don't know.

On a serious note, I could pull the maxi fuse out everytime that I'm going to park the bike for more than a day or two. Sure beats taking an extension cord and charger with me! OR....maybe I can put a batter cutoff outside the bike so that I don't have to pull the side cover off all the time. Just a thought. Anyway, I do appreciate your input. Anyway, I'll search for the part number, name and cost of this adapter.
Thanks, UJ

[grc]

John,

You really need to find another dealer (even a semicompetent shop with one part time mechanic would be a big step up from what you're dealing with now) and refuse to have any more dealings with these clowns.  As 2lane stated, you don't need anything special other than an ammeter to check current draw.  The H-D tool just makes the whole thing easier for technically challenged folks like your dealer's staff (that's why I mentioned it in my earlier post).  It is called the "Harness Connector Test Kit, # HD-4140A.  I hope these fools are just messin' with you for some unknown reason and aren't really that friggin' stupid.  If they are that stupid, I can only assume they got their jobs by being related to the owner.  

Jerry

[towjamin]

You can't simply disconnect it. See Reply #27 in this thread tj!

Hoist!

i didn't say i wanted to disconnect it, i said i wanted to ELIMINATE IT , big difference, i am aware the  i need to replace the TSM, and since no one has done it yet, i guess ill be the Guinea pig , Jamie

[Hoist!]

i didn't say i wanted to disconnect it, i said i wanted to ELIMINATE IT , big difference, i am aware the  i need to replace the TSM, and since no one has done it yet, i guess ill be the Guinea pig , Jamie

Then you can let us know what to do!

Hoist!

[Twolanerider]

Then you can let us know what to do!

Hoist!

Yeah, because Howie would like to do this himself.  But his bike is having a tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiny bit of work being done to it now.

[Hoist!]

Yeah, because Howie would like to do this himself.  But his bike is having a tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiny bit of work being done to it now.

Well Don, frankly I'm a little confused why someone would ask for help, get an answer, then go on a rant about the answer they got. And he already knew the answer too!

Hoist!