Older bikes had a problem with the red switch that could drain the battery quickly if left down. That said, mine will die pretty quickly if I don't keep the accumate on it.
Has it got an alarm? That might be proving too much for the battery if it is getting a bit weak. 4 weeks is a long time to go without keeping it on something like an Optimate.
Batteries shouldn't be drained after 4 weeks normally but as has already been pointed out, alarms can run the battery down after 4 weeks. Set yourself up with a fixed charger lead to your battery and top it up every couple of weeks.
Agree with the above, I have a "Talking Alarm" on my 1000ss and if I dont start her up once or twice a month, it drains very badly? not the best starter in the world anyway! seen some posts about getting fatter leads which helps
The early bikes had a problem if the red switch was fully down, there was a software update that was supposed to cure the problem, you should also get a warning on the dash that the kill switch is down, I would not expect a standard bike to flatten the battery in four weeks I know that during the icy weather mine was left for more than four weeks without any problems. Could be worth checking what the voltage is on the battery when you have re-charged it and then 24 hours later.
I have my 1200s Sport on an optimiser if its been over a week without starting it. Never had a flat battery that way. They are big old pistons to turn over.
I don't really understand all this stuff about flat batteries. Had my MTS1200 since March 2011, never charged the OEM battery, never used an optimate, never had a problem. At times I have left the bike in the garage for a month, come back to it, and it's started first touch. If some bikes flatten their batteries in a few days or need repeated charging, surely there must be something wrong with them? Which could presumably be fixed?
Do you have a satnav powered cradle wired straight to the battery? A Tom Tom Rider 2 cradle drains quite a lot of power even when the satnav is un-docked unless you wire to an ignition switched power source such as the OEM Ducati satnav connector.
Yes I do but didn't realise they draw power without the sat nat mounted, hopefully that could be the cause..
Why / How do they draw power? I've a rider (TomTom) and it draws no power with the TomTom fitted if it is turned off.
My dealer fitted an optimate lead before I collected the bike this was a good move. It is still on the original battery and all is well providing I keep it on the Optimate. 5+ days off and I'd expect problems getting it to turnover. Pete, you have a special battery! Recommend you get onto an Optimate or similar.
I've hard wired mine in with a discreet plug just under the fuel tank, same as Kirky over a week standing I plug it in.
My Multi has been garaged for 7 days now so I attached the optimate. It started charging at 0.8A but quickly dropped off to 0.2A and switched to the retention test after 7 minutes. That is less than 0.1AH Given the battery is 7AH or 8AH, it should have plenty left in it after 4 weeks. I don't have an alarm, I know they can suck juice. Once the battery has become completely discharged, then I think it will be useless and will need replacing no matter how much charging and conditioning you give it.
The Tom Tom Rider 2 probably has a linear regulator in the cradle to drop the 12V plus from the bike down to 5V for the Satnav. It doesn't take much input current when the satnav is out of the cradle (couple of mA), but maybe enough to flatten the battery over 4 weeks, especially if it is drawing more current due to being faulty. Worth a try anyway, just disconnect the cradle input plug.
