My 2007 1098 seems to be running down its battery although its kept on charge! If i disconnect the battery from the bike the charger reads "full charge ready for use" within hours of being charged however connected to the bike the charger never seems to get battery fully charged! When the bike is running the dashboard indicates 14.2 volts and I've had the battery checked! This seems to have happened since I've had my ECU remapped but it may just be coincident!!!
Questions... How did you "check" the battery? Does the bike charge at 14.2v at tickover or at say 3-4k? Have you got an alarm fitted? If not check the battery voltage after a few hours to see if it is leaking charge, the present cold climes are killing a lot of batteries! Is it the original battery? Would be overdue replacement if it is? Where is your tax disc? If it is at the front of the bike try moving it to the rear, pillion peg would be ideal! The ring of steel bolts has been known in the past to sub-generate a strong electromagnetic field which will leech out a small but persistent electrical draw from your battery?
Hi, Tick-over or 3000 rpm's charge remains around 14-14.2, No alarm just the standard immobiliser as fitted by Ducati to this bike, Tax disc is mounted by the front sprocket cover, Not sure about original Battery however its a yuasa 14 not as per spec a 12 so its a slight upgrade of power and the battery was checked by my local tyre centre using what looked liked to me a commercial tester!!!
How are you checking the battery to know its losing power, on the dashboard reading? Have you got a multimeter? Try swapping the tax disc to other side of the bike, failing that take half the bolts out of the surround, leaving three in a triangle shape.
I have a oximiser with 4 LED lamps indicating battery state, When the battery is connected to the bike and on charge only 3 lights are on and when i try to start the bike the battery fails to turn the engine fast enough to start however with the battery disconnected from the bike and on charge 4 lights are on! after leaving it on charge for a while and reconnecting it to the bike it spins the engine over easily and starts the engine!
garyjaffa With the battery connected to the bike there will always be a small drain occurring from the alarm if fitted, and the immobilizer, so the electronics in the oximiser will detect this drain and that's why you are never seeing "full charge ready for use". If it's still the original battery it's now 5 years old , and with the best will in the world probably is now past it's optimum! replacement would be a worthwhile investment if it is indeed indeed the original. I would not rely on a tyre fitters assessment of the battery condition! As 470four has mentioned, The ring of steel bolts has been known in the past to sub-generate a strong electromagnetic field which will leech out a small but persistent electrical draw from your battery? I found that an alternating pattern of stainless steel bolts and normal steel bolts goes a long way to rectify this effect:wink:
garyjaffa I think it's unlikely it's the charger as you have previously mentioned that with the battery disconnected from the bike the charger shows 4 lights. This cold weather will have a significant effect on the battery's ability to deliver it's designed cranking amps especially if it's 5 years old! You will find by experimentation that a battery brought inside a warm house and allowed to warm up to ambient temperature will deliver more power than one that has been standing in the freezing cold.
This has been going on for over 4 weeks (before this cold spell!!) so i think I'm going to invest on a new battery! any suggestions on make type?
As you're in Bristol, why not pop into Bristol Batteries and ask them to test yours? Bristol Batteries Ltd | We Stock brands from Varta, Yuasa, Avon, Exide, Himura, Enersys, Trojan, Haze, Odyssey, Midtronics, Duracell, GP Batteries plus many more. If it's buggered it a new one while you're there...
Gary As others said the immobilizer has a milliamp draw so if the battery is left not plugged into a charger it will slowly die. I wouldn't think that the draw is large enough to stop an Optimizer being able to charge the battery to full float charge. How is the optimizer connected to the battery on the bike, are you using a flying lead? If so check all the connectors and connections are good. If any are iffy the charger may not indicate full charge, I found this out with an CTEK when the battery flying lead had a poor connector. Batteries are notoriously hard to check. The only real way is to discharge test them, a voltage check will tell you nothing. Many batteries (especially gel types) will happily charge to float but have no capacity, as soon as a demand is made on them the voltage just collapses. Do you know if the reg/rec warranty mod was done on the bike? As others said if its an original battery it will be getting long in the tooth, matter of fact I'm replacing mine this year (07, 1098S). It was behaving fine would charge to float but it was getting touch and go to get the bike to start, like the starter was bogging down (and it was tested and came out fine, but the dealer warned me that the test was not 100% battery could still be on the way out). Ducati fitted 2 different capacities with the 1098 I can't remember the detail but they upped the Ah on the battery on later bikes. That's about all I got John
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I had a similar issue with my van battery, it was indicating over 12 volts and charged fine but when demand was placed on it, the thing would die. Went to a battery specialist (not a tyre fitters) and they use a multimeter type of thing but it carries out various load tests and found it was only putting out 350 cold cranking amps rather than the 850 it should have. You can also test the drain on the battery by removing the positive lead and then using a multimeter on amps between the positive lead and the battery positive to see if there is any current being drawn.
Took the battery into Bristol batteries today and this time it failed the test so new battery it is! Thanks everyone for all your help and advice
But what did they say about the tax disk holder. Ducati really should look into this as it seems to be a persistent problem with a lot of bikes. I have removed all bolts and replaced with gold coloured wire. Regards Steve
New battery fitted and everything is fine so dont think it was anything to do with Tax disc holder (just checked and mine is plastic!)
