I have an 08 610 TE with less than 300 miles on it and my stock battery is already toast. It's hooked up right, getting right around 14v when running. If I leave it on my tender overnight it gets me to work and back but if I dont hook it up when I get home, its dead in the morning. Is is worth it for me to warrenty this thing as they will just give me the same brand or should I just pony up for a better quality battery? If so, what do you recommend?
I highly recommend putting a voltmeter on the battery and observe what it reads while running the engine at a few thousand rpms (neutral in garage works). I've got a hunch it's not charging, there have been a few reports of that. Blue wire issue? something like that, hopefully someone with more knowledge will post up more information.
Stock Varta batteries are kinda hit and miss there are more than a few reports of very early failure. You might want to consider a better quality bat if you're charging system checks out OK. I would still pursue it as a warranty issue but tell the dealer that you would be willing to pay the difference for a higher quality piece.
Do you live near any “High Voltage Lines” that are putting out large amounts of EMF You really should pick yourself up a Spectrum Analyzer Recent studies done by the US Military have now proven that EMF from these lines can and will drain small batteries including older style pace makers, watch batteries, small electronic devises and more importantly Motorcycle batteries. Some cases have even reported the foam from the motorcycle seat as "potentially carcinogenic" do to EMF. Man it’s just not safe to even own a Motorcycle with a battery any more I really think you should just sell your bike and get a new bicycle.
thanks everyone. The charging system is fine. 14 ish volts when running. The only thing I havent done is to try disconnecting it to see if maybe something on the bike is drawing it down. Dont think that is too likely. I am going to run it by the dealer tomorrow and find out how easy he is to deal with on warrenty.
I got one of the bad ones. Here's mine at 700 miles: Blew its top 30 miles out from an event start and stranded me. Luckily it was one big waterhole after another that day or the acid would have done a number on my rear bits.
Yipes. Thanks for making my decision for me. I'm going aftermarket even though the dealer gave me a new one today and let me set it up. The downside to the FI on these things is you have to have a battery.
I had my aluminum foil hat on so missed it. I thought stray voltage was the problem. My '03 TE610E still has the original OEM Yuasa battery. Norman
There might bit some fact to the emf. A female co-worker was going through watches & watch batteries like they were going out of style. We had a large industrial microwave curing oven on our line. Technition told her it was most likely the cause of the dead battery, & warned her & management that all employees, management & especially visitors with pacemakers were not allowed anywhere near it. TG its been disconnected for a few years, I found that scary as I had just been transfered to that job.
I think there have been too many reports of early failures on the stock Varta batteries to trust the new ones, despite the longevity of older ones. It seems the quality is not there today and perhaps it's hit and miss with them if you get a good one or not. There's quite a few new failures reported over on advrider. I could have warranty'd mine, but I wasn't taking a chance. I agree with whoever said they don't seem to hold up to the rigors of off-road.
I picked up a Yuasa, set it up and installed it today. Did a couple little things to make it nice and snug so I'm looking forward now.
The voltage would be well below 14V if the blue wire was disconnected - right? (That is why I suggested to measure the charging voltage before doing anything else)
Blue wire was connected. The dealer had a gizmo to load test the battery and it failed badly. He was great about the whole thing. If this is the only problem I have with my new bike then its all good.
