Battery dead on a 1 year old bike | Page 2 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Battery dead on a 1 year old bike

Fine and dandy, however we are talking a tail light – if it's a standard incandescent bulb it's pretty hard to screw it up in such a fashion that it's gonna kill the battery.

  • If you run positive to positive and negative to negative, it'll work.
  • Again, if incandescent, you can even hook it up backwards and it'll still work normally.
  • If you don't hookup the ground or the positive properly it just won't work, but it still won't kill the battery...because there's no circuit completed and therefore it's not drawing any power. .
  • If you short something out, it'll pop a fuse...not kill the battery.

Now, if it's LED the story is basically the same except most will not run on negative polarity, but it still wouldn't kill the battery.

The only plausible way the new taillight could kill the battery is if he somehow wired it to constant power, however as I mentioned one might assume he would have noticed the tail light was never going out, not to mention there wouldn't be any constant power circuit at that end of the bike anyways assuming he spliced into the stock tail light wiring.

This comes full circle to being a battery that suffered over the winter months because of being left in a probable low state of charge and then not maintained.


Ah haw. Exactly. There we go again assuming he would realize the light never went out and he has basic knowledge of assessment, cause and effect.

Maybe he left the key on for the entire install.
So many maybes.

To assume it is the battery right away is nieve.
 
So you did the "custom tail light" yourself.
Willing to put money down that you messed up the wiring and it is draining the battery.
New battery will also die within days.

Re-check your wiring, or have a professional check it.

No sense getting a new battery only to kill it as well.

Maybe he left the key on for the entire install. You never know amirite.
 
Let's also review the fact that the OP is addressing a public forum for simple help with a simple issue.
Diagnostic skills come into question.....No?
 
Maybe he left the key on for the entire install. You never know amirite.

Yep, and on an already potentially low battery, in the cold of February, that could have been its last gasp.

How about the OP replaces the battery (since clearly it's shot, no matter how it happened) and reports back.

My bet is on the fact the problem magically resolves and the tail light is purely coincidental. Correlation does not automatically equal causation.
 
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I don't think he left the key on for the entire install. That was just a red herring I threw out in desperation. Fact is the battery is toast. If I were the op I'd get a new battery and report back. I think we'd all like a feel good wrap up to this saga. You can cut the tension with a knife around here.
 
Yep, and on an already potentially low battery, in the cold of February, that could have been its last gasp.

How about the OP replaces the battery (since clearly it's shot, no matter how it happened) and reports back.

My bet is on the fact the problem magically resolves and the tail light is purely coincidental. Correlation does not automatically equal causation.

That's like suggesting I borrow a good CDI to swap my suspected bad CDI to see if it is indeed my CDI.
 
That's why I always have an extra CDI for each bike. This approach never fails. Thumbs up.
 
First issue is that you assumed that everybody has the same basic mechanical ability as yourself.
Not always the case

I've seen some pretty screwed up projects.

ie. Morrets don't belong on an automobile.

What's a morret?
 
Twist-on wire connectors are a type of electrical connector used to fasten two or more low-voltage (or extra-low-voltage) electrical conductors. They are widely used in North America.
Twist-on connectors are also known as wire nuts, wire connectors, cone connectors, or thimble connectors. One trade name for such connectors, Marrette, is derived from the name of their inventor
 
ca_products_wire-connectors


In the UK, items similar to those used in North America, but made from ceramic materials, were sold under the brand "Scruit". Such ceramic connectors are currently sold in South Africa under the name "Porcelain Scruits".

We should'a had "scruits" here...lol
 
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Does not seem normal I just changed a battery for someone on a FZ1 it was a 2007 and it was the first time the battery had ever been changed. So that's 10 years he got out of it

I would check all your connections, +/- at the battery and the ground especially, I've had a few bikes with electrical problems simply caused by loose connections or ground.

After that Id charge the battery, see if it holds a charge on its own, and then check the charging system on the bike to make sure it is actually charging the battery.....

No sense in buying a battery unless your sure its faulty. I think your a YTZ10S.......The FZ1 was a YTZ14S and not cheap as it was a sealed battery for around $250
 
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Ahh a marret! And yeah they do belong on cars, every stereo/amp I've ever installed has utilized them
Yeah the spelling was wrong. However, I have never used one in a vehicle. Audio systems should be crimped and heat shrunk imo.

To reinforce @lowrider s point; I'm totally the guy not noticing that my taillight was on 24/7

sent from my Purple LGG4 on the GTAM app
 
While we're on topic anybody has an old battery they are not using?
 
...I'm totally the guy not noticing that my taillight was on 24/7....

I've had my brake light stay on before. The rear brake plunger was gummed up. Needed a clean and adjust. Light didn't stay on when the bike was turned off though.
 
What about Flywheel? He's not so innocent.
 
So many problems could be solved if people had a basic understanding of a multimeter...
 

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