Dead Battery

[Hey Jimmy]

So, around a month ago I went out to my bike (2014 R1200RS) and tried to start it but it wouldn’t turn over, but had power to the display etc. I completed various tests after charging the batter and it appeared the battery was no good. 
I changed the battery started the bike and away I went for a ride, came home turned everything off. 

Job done? no. I went out to my bike again and it was completely dead no power on anything. 

I have no accessories and have tested for parasitic drain, all appears to be ok. 

I’m in the process of recharging the battery so I can do some voltage checks and test the alternator is charging the battery when I’m riding. 

Does anyone else have some suggestions or known experience with this?

Thanks in advance

[Motorhead1977]

If you're absolutely positive there is no parasitic drain then my thoughts go to lack of charging while running except I would expect that the bike would give you a "failing to charge" warning. Others far more knowledgeable than I should speak up soon.

[Grumpy Goat]

So, around a month ago I went out to my bike (2014 R1200RS) and tried to start it but it wouldn’t turn over, but had power to the display etc. I completed various tests after charging the batter and it appeared the battery was no good. 
I changed the battery started the bike and away I went for a ride, came home turned everything off. 
...

You changed the battery to what? Was it a new battery that was known to be fully charged? How long was the ride?

If your replacement battery was not fully charged and the ride was a relatively short one then maybe not enough charging would have occurred. Also, if the replacement battery was not new then who knows what may be going on.

When my battery was dying it would light up the dash but not have enough power to turn over the engine more than once, and eventually it would not even do that. It also would not hold any charge overnight. New battery fully charge solved that issue, and I have a few accessories but none that are live when the bike is off.

[Hey Jimmy]

Hello, I have fully charged the new battery twice with each ride being around 1 1/2 hours each with the same result

Thanks for clarifying. Sounds like the battery is not being charged sufficiently by either the charger or the alternator. Any chance you've tested the voltage at the battery after charging and before the 1-1/2 hour ride? If the voltage is 12.6V or better (fully charged) then it is likely the alternator. I'd test the battery after the ride, say after some time sitting, like an hour or two, then take it from there. 

I have no personal experience with troubleshooting the alternator on the RS so would have to research that as well.

[Hey Jimmy]

Bit of an update. After some playing around with fully charging the battery and voltage testing it on and off the bike over a few days something didn’t add up. I discovered the fuse had blown on my multimeter doh ? so after changing the fuse I’ve confirmed that there is a parasitic draw on the battery. After looking at YouTube videos I seen that pulling the fuses during the draw test can help work out what’s pulling power but this didn’t help.

[Grumpy Goat]

Bit of an update. After some playing around with fully charging the battery and voltage testing it on and off the bike over a few days something didn’t add up. I discovered the fuse had blown on my multimeter doh ? so after changing the fuse I’ve confirmed that there is a parasitic draw on the battery. After looking at YouTube videos I seen that pulling the fuses during the draw test can help work out what’s pulling power but this didn’t help.

Thanks for updating the thread with that but now the mystery is in locating the parasitic draw especially given you have no accessories fitted. 

[Liteitup]

There is at least one circuit under the seat that stays live for approximately one minute after shutting off the bike. Not familiar with 2014 model and not sure if this is applicable, but my 18 RS, 16 XR, and now 22 GSA all had/have it. I use it to power my radar detector on all 3 bikes.

[Ray]

Bit of an update. After some playing around with fully charging the battery and voltage testing it on and off the bike over a few days something didn’t add up. I discovered the fuse had blown on my multimeter doh ? so after changing the fuse I’ve confirmed that there is a parasitic draw on the battery. After looking at YouTube videos I seen that pulling the fuses during the draw test can help work out what’s pulling power but this didn’t help.

Thanks for updating the thread with that but now the mystery is in locating the parasitic draw especially given you have no accessories fitted. 

As a reminder - I had a defective computer board draining the battery that was replaced before I picked up the bike in Nov 2015. I replaced the stock battery a few months later and haven't had any problems since.