Hi there.

Im having an annoying problem with my bike. Basically the battery runs down when stuck in traffic iddling - is this normal?

I was stuck in traffic the other day for about 40 minutes, constant idling foot on the brake, and the check engine light lit and the bike started running poorly.

I think the battery is discharging when not moving. I have quite a high electrical load, electrical items list like this:

Phone charger - 500mah

heated gloves (!) 2.2 amps.

garmin zumo sat nav - ???mah

hid headlights - shoud be 35 watts so less than originals!

Digital tacho/speedometer - unkown draw again

Now the voltage is shown on the digital tach when riding. When I was sitting in traffic the check engine light came on when the system voltage was 9.7volts (!).

Is it normal for the system to discharge when not moving when everything is on?

Your help is much appreciated.

Also If I rev the bike when idling and hold it , the volts slowly climb from about 10.5 when idling to 11.9-12 volts.

Hi there.

Im having an annoying problem with my bike. Basically the battery runs down when stuck in traffic iddling - is this normal?

I was stuck in traffic the other day for about 40 minutes, constant idling foot on the brake, and the check engine light lit and the bike started running poorly.

I think the battery is discharging when not moving. I have quite a high electrical load, electrical items list like this:

Phone charger - 500mah

heated gloves (!) 2.2 amps.

garmin zumo sat nav - ???mah

hid headlights - shoud be 35 watts so less than originals!

Digital tacho/speedometer - unkown draw again

Now the voltage is shown on the digital tach when riding. When I was sitting in traffic the check engine light came on when the system voltage was 9.7volts (!).

Is it normal for the system to discharge when not moving when everything is on?

Your help is much appreciated.

Yep, its the heated gloves that are doing it, your bike should cope with the other things though, if you filter and stop sitting there in the traffic it would be better (If you cant or wont filter , switch the gloves off because you wont need them due to no wind chill at 0mph)

Yep, its the heated gloves that are doing it, your bike should cope with the other things though, if you filter and stop sitting there in the traffic it would be better (If you cant or wont filter , switch the gloves off because you wont need them due to no wind chill at 0mph)

hmm fair enough, I normally do filter, just It was at a junction where two lanes merge into one and I couldnt. When I got home and turned the engine off the bike would not start again. I have since ridden on two long journeys and the battery is now charged again but not as much as before. Will the alternator be able to charge the battery back up to peak or should I pull it out and charge it?

hmm fair enough, I normally do filter, just It was at a junction where two lanes merge into one and I couldnt. When I got home and turned the engine off the bike would not start again. I have since ridden on two long journeys and the battery is now charged again but not as much as before. Will the alternator be able to charge the battery back up to peak or should I pull it out and charge it?

It is posiible of course that your battery is past its best if its older than 3-4 years, as for charging, it might be a good idea to give it some charge yes, i dunno whether you have to remove it from the bike, it depends if you can get a connection in-situ! incidentally, is yur battery the type with plugs in the top, and if so do you you check and top up the distilled water?

It is posiible of course that your battery is past its best if its older than 3-4 years, as for charging, it might be a good idea to give it some charge yes, i dunno whether you have to remove it from the bike, it depends if you can get a connection in-situ! incidentally, is yur battery the type with plugs in the top, and if so do you you check and top up the distilled water?

heh, sealed lead acid battery, bike is 9 months old. I may take it out and charge it, depends on how it performs to and from work over the next couple of days.

Thanks for your help.

Put on a bigger battery if you dont want to cut off some devises... (or keep the idle speed higher than normal)

It is within logic that the battery dries out after some time (~40min for you) of pure consumption.

The generator produces XAmps/h (and that is above 2K revs/min-below that it drops dramaticaly) and you consume 2XAmps/h.