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Why does my Duke battery go flat? Why does my Duke battery go flat?
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Photo by Andy Miller, UK, Taking a rest, Jokulsarlon, Iceland

I haven't been everywhere...
but it's on my list!


Photo by Andy Miller, UK,
Taking a rest,
Jokulsarlon, Iceland



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  #1  
Old 5 Jun 2008
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Why does my Duke battery go flat?
On my Duke II - if I don't ride it for more than a day, the battery is flat and I either have to jump start it, or put it on the charger.

It is not the battery, because I just replaced it. (old battery did same thing)

If its something serious -- PLEASE dont tell me. Just lie, or something, tell me it will be okay.

BECAUSE , when my XT had the same problem, after an eternal wild goose chase, it turned out to be a faulty stator...and I'm still having therapy over that whole circus.

If a side stand on my Duke costs £60 -- I may as well remortgage the house if the stator goes on the Duke!

PS: I noticed tonight, that the NEUTRAL light, kind of 'flickers' when I increase the revs.
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  #2  
Old 6 Jun 2008
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The temporary work around is to disconnect the battery from the bike .. you only need to do one lead and the safest one to disconnect is the negative lead... if only one lead comes away from the battery negative and it can be routed to a uncomplicated point (one you can get at without removing anything) then put it there and use that to keep the battery from discharging.

Long term you need to find out what is discharging the battery - to do this you need to be able to measure the battery discharge current .. see

HELP NEEDED: electrical problem in Morocco - ::. UKGS'er.com .::
and / or
Flat Battery Fault Finding - ::. UKGS'er.com .::
to do this.

Then remove all the fuses .. if the current is still high then it is only the things left connected - like the starter motor circuit and alternator ... bike alarm too?
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  #3  
Old 6 Jun 2008
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Thanks...
HOW VERY EXCITING... !!! I'm going to try that RIGHT NOW.. and I'm going to use my very own, brand new meter to do it!!

It does have an alarm too.. so I'll check that out.

THAAAAANNKKKSSS!!!
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Old 6 Jun 2008
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ahhh, how I miss the 'good old days' when electrics meant starter ciruit and lights and horn circuit... very little to go wrong. My '68 triumph has about 4 electrical components - that can all be bench tested blue-peter style with a 1.5v battery and a light.

Nice bike though, very nice indeed!

I have a bit of a thing for diagnosing electrical problems, so if you're still suffering I might try and free up some time when I am down your way if you like (three weeks ish??). My money is on the alarm. Bike batteries are absolute crap at the best of times.... Disconnecting the batt. should confirm that it is a loom/bike electrics problem, could even be a bust relay (stuck open)
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  #5  
Old 8 Jun 2008
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Electrical Diagnostics..
Well... I KNEW I shouldn't have listened to anyone.. and just ignored the problem... because... what turned out to be just a MILDLY annoying problem... has suddenly turned into THE END OF THE WORLD.. or just abouts!!

I inspected all the wiring when I noticed what seemed to be a crack in the plastic under the seat.

Turns out - the ENTIRE SUB FRAME has snapped off... and I was basically sitting on a seat, with underseat exhausts, that was hanging off a single bolt and a bit of metal as thin as.. well very thin!!!!

Although my first instinct was to sob uncontrollably and run away (I did the first, not the second).. I have managed to take everything apart and the sub frame will hopefully be welded on Monday...

HOWEVER --- I discovered (with the whole bike in bits) some peculiar things:

LOTS OF WIRES, seemingly going NOWHERE.

IS THIS NORMAL??

Do the manufacturers maybe just use ONE WIRING setup for several types of bikes... and if it doesn't need the wires, it just LEAVES IT DANGLING??

I have taken some pictures, to show you -- in case it looks familiar:

PIC 1: Shows a 'chocolate block' type thingy with about 5 wires going INTO it... but its just dangling loose, and there's nothing to connect it to.

Also - another GREEN wire, with a proper connecting thingy on it (you know the sheathed connecters that slide into each other) ALSO going nowhere and I can't find a wire it connects to.


PIC 2: Shows a wire with a weird kind of rubber thingy on the end... almost like a plug.. and nothing it connects to.. just hanging there.

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  #6  
Old 8 Jun 2008
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where are the pics?

unconnected wires could be a number of things, like the option of a lambda sensor, a removed sidestand switch etc, it is unlikely that unconnected wires would drain anything.
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