Electrical Help on a 2007 XB12SS

[casshole23]

Ok, I am not the best at fixing electrical issues but at the present moment I don't really have another other choice but to try and fix it myself or let it sit and I do not want to let it sit until I can get the bike to a shop. Here is the issue: I was driving the bike last season and it died on me. I started working on it and had fixed a couple of minor issues but then noticed the battery was draining so I replaced the battery. The bike started right up and ran for about 15-20 minutes before it died. I tried to start the bike and the battery was dead. I recharged the battery, check the percentage of juice in it and it was at 100%. I let it sit overnight unconnected to the bike and it was still 100% full. I now hooked it up to the bike and let it sit over night again. This time, the battery dropped to 70% just being connected and nothing turned on. I started the bike and let it warm up for about 5 minutes. i checked it after that and it was down to 50%. Any suggestions or links to other threads that may help me troubleshoot what this could be? Thanks

 

[Cooter]

You'll need a voltmeter.

 

[casshole23]

I do have a multimeter.

 

[2004xb12s]

Do you have anything hooked to the bike such as alarm systems, leds, quick charging cables, etc?

 

[casshole23]

As far as the electrical goes the only thing i know is that it is set up with the quick charging cables which I disconnected from both the negative and positive battery terminals prior to me testing it.

 

[2004xb12s]

I am pretty sure insufficient grounds can cause this type of issue. I would check the voltage of the different ground points against the full voltage of the battery. That should allow you to see if voltage is being lost as it travels through the circuit. The power is going somewhere....[confused]

 

[casshole23]

Sounds good, how do i test that and where would i find the different ground points? Sorry, like I said, the electrical side has always been my weakness.

 

[2004xb12s]

The different grounds are listed in the manual but a few I can remember are...One that grounds to the inside of the tail section on the rail. I believe it is on the throttle side but not 100% positive. And there is one big one going across the frame between the front of the seat and the airbox. You can also check the ground to other various points along the bike. Have you had any powdercoating or painting done on the bike lately?

 

[casshole23]

Ok, thanks. I do have the service manual so I will check those out tonight. What setting should I have the multimeter on to test those and what would i connect the black and red wires to? Nothing like that at all.

 

[2004xb12s]

Just keep the red or positive side on the battery terminal and use the ground connector to touch all your ground points. It should read the same charge as connecting straight to both battery terminals.

 

[casshole23]

Sounds easy enough, thanks. Any thoughts on it possible being like the stator? I mean it only ran for 5 minutes and dropped 20%.

 

[2004xb12s]

It could possibly be that but that wouldn't make sense why the battery would drain down to 70% overnight without the bike running

 

[casshole23]

Good point, unless there may be a short in the stator itself? I will start with the easy stuff first though. I will try this out tonight and let you know what I find out. Thanks for the help, much appreciated.