Battery losing charge

[TFT]

I replaced the battery on my wife's 2001 XX last year because it kept losing it's charge if it sat more than a week or two. the new battery is doing the same thing. what could be causing the discharge?

[RXX]

I replaced the battery on my wife's 2001 XX last year because it kept losing it's charge if it sat more than a week or two. the new battery is doing the same thing. what could be causing the discharge?

Entropy

[Zero Knievel]

A good battery SHOULD NOT lose charge over 1-2 weeks if there is no drain on them, but being in Alaska, I don't know how cold affect the bike sitting in the garage/shed.

Now, is there anything drawing even the smallest amount of current when the bike is not being ridden?

[TFT]

The bikes are well pampered. they sit in the carpeted bay of a heated garage.

the only thing that draws current is the clock.

[ironmike]

I'd suspect a loose connection or a poor ground... it sure sounds like one of those frustrating electrical gremlins that you've gotta hunt for. The clock shouldn't put that much of a drain on the stored charge. Break out the multimeter and start probing each and every circuit - 'sorry, but there's no assured short-cut in this sort of hunt that I'm aware of. FWIW, I'd keep a smart trickle charger on it when it's in storage.

[Biometrix]

Do you have a multi-meter? If so you should connect it between the negative battery terminal and the ground wire. Check the draw and then start pulling fuses one at a time to see if the voltage drain drops. I don't have an XX service manual anymore but there was a specific section that described this procedure as well as what the acceptable range was. I think they called it a "leak down" test. I had to do this on my Valkyrie when I had the same problem and it turned out to be the alarm system was pulling about 10x what it was supposed to while the bike was off.

At least you can isolate the offending circuit this way. Electrical problems suck.

[XXMAN]

Everything you ever wanted to know about testing and changing a stator can be found here:

http://www.cbr1100xx.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=53455

In short:

Always start with a fully charged and tested battery Basic charging test results are masked by having a weak battery. When in doubt, charge it over night and take it to Batteries Plus and have them test it.

To test the stator:

Disconnect the yellow stator wires going to the R/R. The connector is on the riders left side of the bike, under the tail cowl. Based on year, it will either be part of the connector going to the RR (97/98), or a separate connector (99+).

Start the bike

Set your meter to AC volts

Test across the yellow pins. There's 3 of them, so you've got 3 ways to test (a-b, b-c, a-c).

You should get ~10-15VAC at idle, and when you rev it up it should climb to 50+VAC

If you don't get those kinds of voltages, the stator is bad. If you do, the RR is bad

Note: The connector for the stator is notorious for getting loose and cooking itself. When you pull the connector, if it's brown and the wires are burnt, that can be the problem. Still test the stator, but you should consider cutting and soldering the wires with a nice Western union splice and covering it with heat shrink tubing.

Thank Hobi