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Battery drain

ickysticky74

ickysticky74

Active Member
Hello All - I have a 2006 Electra glide - 88 engine- Biktronics stereo set up- Sony radio and kit to make the handle bar controls work. I also have a fuel pak, oil pressure and temperature gauges. That is all the electrical add ons on my bike. Last summer my stock battery from 2006 stopped holding a charge so I purchased a new battery. Over the Summer the battery would drain if it sat for two weeks. I put my bike up for the winter in a buddies pole barn with concrete floors - not heated. So I go out to start it today after he had the trickle charger on it since 9:00 AM today. I tried starting it at 6PM and no go, the battery has no juice and when I turn it on - no voltage on the gauge. With the trickle charger on it the speedometer and the RPM gauges make a ticking sound like a clock and and move every time it ticks just centimeter in sync. There was moister all over my bike. So I leaving the trickle charger on all night hoping it will take a charge. Why would my bike be draining could the stereo not be grounded properly? Why now is it making a ticking noise and the gauges moving with the ticking sound. I am getting my bike this weekend and kicking my old lady's SUV out of the garage. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
First, congrats on getting 6 years out of the original!
Have measured voltage at the battery with a VOM? The gauges could be ticking because there is not enough voltage to operate them correctly. Maybe the trickle charger is not working properly. Need to take some voltage readings to know for sure.
 
Sounds like you have a dead battery, will not take a charge, that would explain the ticking you see. You will need to go through your electrical components with a digital volt meter to determine where your drain is, I would start with the radio as that seems to be the last thing you mentioned. You may also do a charging system test to see if you have a drain here also JMO
 
Once you get a known fully charged battery you can take an amp reading from the positive post of the battery to the unhooked positive cable to get an idea of the amount of draw. If an unusual amount of draw, you can pull fuses until the draw reduces, hopefully a deduction can be made as to the issue.

http://www.hdtimeline.com/archive/t-19889.html
 
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Thanks Guys. The stereo was turning off as I was riding. I called Biketronics and they said to ground the stereo because Harley's ground wasn't that great. It stopped turning off so I thought it was ok so I never grounded the stereo. Could the battery be garbage now even though its not a year old?
 
ickysticky74 said:
Thanks Guys. The stereo was turning off as I was riding. I called Biketronics and they said to ground the stereo because Harley's ground wasn't that great. It stopped turning off so I thought it was ok so I never grounded the stereo. Could the battery be garbage now even though its not a year old?
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Yep, but I would pull it out, charge it slow over night and load test it Check your grounds with an ohm meter, you can not have enough grounds IMO
 
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Brand new bikes come out of the factory with issues. So its not impossible for the battery to be toast. What brand of battery is it? It may be that you have a larger underlying issue that killed your battery.......
Take it and have it load tested after a good charging.
 
Bodeen said:
Brand new bikes come out of the factory with issues. So its not impossible for the battery to be toast. What brand of battery is it? It may be that you have a larger underlying issue that killed your battery.......
Take it and have it load tested after a good charging.
Click to expand...

I bought it from Napa Auto Parts store. Thanks. Its making me insane because its not at my house and have to wait until the weekend to go and get it.
 
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