Tank Slap - Motorcycle Forum

Bike had a service and when they came to put the tank back on, it wasnt running. Tank off and it worked, tank on and it didnt ... went on for a couple of times before it was fine. I phoned to see if I could collect the bike and they told me that it was done only they'd flattened the battery as he explained the nor running scenario

Its been on the trickle charge for a week showing all the lights etc, its now been off for 48hrs as I was a way for a few days and I've just gone to start it and its flat.

Have they killed my battery ??

Tricky. Maybe they did fully discharge it, but you then topped it straight back up so I would have thought it would be ok again. How old is the battery?

Maybe look into why it wouldn't start when tank was fitted. Have they crimped a wire and it is dischrging onto the bike?

Just found that the positive terminal wasnt tight. Just gone to tighten it and found the bolt had been crossthreaded in to the square nut, housed in the battery terminal

Just wrestled it out, re-tapped it and refitted .... just needs a battery charge, which Im doing now.

Would a battery with only a clock (no alarm), go flat with 3 weeks of no real charge ??

Battery is 12months old

Would a battery with only a clock (no alarm), go flat with 3 weeks of no real charge ??

Battery is 12months old[/quote]

It shouldn't do.

I'd agree with bratty. I've left the rsv for a couple of months without a charger or starting it and it was fine.

It's alarms and cold weather that are the batteries enemy.

A battery that goes completely flat is very hard to recover.

I'd say a battery shouldn't go flat in that time period, however I'd also say check for discharge with a multimeter set to amps or milliamps, if as D6 mentioned a wire is trapped and there's a small continuous discharge it'll kill it fairly easily.
I'd also agree that a battery that has been fully discharged can be permanently damaged, but you'd have a hard job making a case for that with the workshop unfortunately.

+1 mate. That level of discharge over such a short period of time with only the clock drawing from it would make me think a wire has been pinched somewhere. If they've damaged when the tank was off I think it's worth a punt going back to them to complain. Wouldn't hold my breath though.

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Thanks

I've just noticed that the rev counter needle isnt sweeping

Hmm. The main loom to the headstock goes through the right side of the tank void (as you sit on the bike) from what I remember. Might be worth a check....

Deegee wrote:I'd say a battery shouldn't go flat in that time period, however I'd also say check for discharge with a multimeter set to amps or milliamps, if as D6 mentioned a wire is trapped and there's a small continuous discharge it'll kill it fairly easily.
.

Battery went from 12.10v to 12.06v in a minute ... is that too much of a discharge with only a digital clock drawing from it ??

YES

THANKS

The Voltage drop is one way of showing that there is a discharge, but if the engine has been running and/or charging the battery it will still be dropping down from 13.5 -14.5 volts so if you looked at the battery drop for a minute that may be the reason. Also if there is a discharge it can be a wiring harness fault or a battery cell fault - causing an internal discharge. When a battery is run flat by a heavy load (i.e cranking) it can dislodge a small flake of sulphate from one of the plates, that can short out the pos/neg plates creating a small but continuous discharge, if that's what has happened the battery is scrap.
Have you got an amps/milliamperes function on your meter? If so with the ignition off, remove one of the battery leads, set the meter and its leads to amps and put in line between the battery terminal and the removed lead and check the discharge that way, if it's a fault with the bike it will register, if it's a fault with the battery it won't. Hth DG.

I havent been running the bike as it wont start and the battery is dropping on the Multimeter with the bike idol.

The battery was run flat, through the bike cranking - they told me that at the garage who serviced it

Unfortunatley, I havent got amps or milliampres on my multimeter

I've been to see the garage today and their service guy wasnt in so I'll speak to him tomorrow.
I've got someone to test the battery for me tomorrow morning

Just tried it again after I charged the battery on an external charger and it fell from 13.89v to 13.73v in a minute with the battery out.
Hopefully, with the battery out it means theres no problem with the loom and the battery is finished

Just a conclusion to this

Dealer who did the service took the battery off me this morning and have de-sulphated it and recharged.
The ends of the battery we concaved and it was obvious when comparing it to a new one ..... but brought back to try

Anyhoo, I went to a mate at Dudley Motorcycle Centre who put it on to a Yuasa conditioner, which despite its de-sulphate and recharge, it automatically flashed up 'Replacement Needed' .... so I stumped up and paid for a new Yuasa

Thinking about it, the battery is still the battery which was subjected to the Stator and Rectifier swap so it was a s good as fried

Glad you got it sorted, but as a side note, if it was an AGM battery, I have recently been through 2 of these (one under warranty) within 3 months each.
It turns out older bikes (even mine with its uprated reg/rec) don't work well with AGM batteries. Every bit of information I could find states that AGM batteries can be charged as normal, but i've slung a standard battery in my bike now and it's been fine for 3 months