battery leakage

[Bulloween]

Hi guys, I'm having problems with my battery. Last 3 years I lost 2 batteries. So I decide to check the charging system due to the service manual. Anyway R/R and stator are both ok but during leakage test I found some problem. I measured the leakege between 0.6-0.9 mA, and its not a steady reading, the measurement changing randomly between 0.6-0.9 mA. The manuals says it must be smaller than 0.1 mA for 99-03 models and 2.5mA for newer (with Abs) models. So I need your advice or experience about this problem.

[Jyrays]

With such an old bike I would think to check the whole wire harness. You can pull up fuses one by one to narrow the search.

I never had such a problem with mine so cannot help more detailed.

[Tarwdu]

have you tried disconectimg the voltage regulator/rectifier.
if you have heated grips, the switch could be playing up.

gs

[Bulloween]

thanx guys. I checked the R/R and its ok. Uninstalled the heated grip and the other accessories but there is still a leakage between 0.5-0.9 mA. I try to unplug the fuses one by one and recheck the leakage.

[SB]

I accept that 0.5-0.9 mA is higher than recommended by Honda but I don't think this is going to kill the battery.

At 0.5 mA current drain it would take approx 2 years to discharge the battery.

If the batteries are failing the prime suspect is the Rec/Reg.

SB

[Bulloween]

Thank you SB, you are right. I think my batteries ( the same brand) are not good enough to handle for 1 year  . But I'm still currious about the leakege limits for the varaderos on the honda manuals. The manual says "its ok when measured mA is below 2.5 mA". If tihs is true I feel relief and change the battery with a better brand. If its not I have the check the charging system components and wiring harness

[Two Plugs]

Thank you SB, you are right. I think my batteries ( the same brand) are not good enough to handle for 1 year  . But I'm still currious about the leakege limits for the varaderos on the honda manuals. The manual says "its ok when measured mA is below 2.5 mA". If tihs is true I feel relief and change the battery with a better brand. If its not I have the check the charging system components and wiring harness

I had exact the same problem with both my MK1 Varadero's; so I changed the stock battery for a MotoBatt gell battery in combination with an Optimate IV battery charger if the bike is left out of use for longer periods. This combination has been a BIG improvement in extending the batteries live span.

[Bulloween]

I had exact the same problem with both my MK1 Varadero's; so I changed the stock battery for a MotoBatt gell battery in combination with an Optimate IV battery charger if the bike is left out of use for longer periods. This combination has been a BIG improvement in extending the batteries live span.

Thanx Two Plugs. So what was your readings about the leakege? Do you think ~1 mA of lekage is normal ob an ABS varadero?

[Two Plugs]

I don't have a clue about electricity at all, but I think its not normal that a battery is fully drained when the bike isn't used for 3 weeks or more. 

Which was my case.

The leakage in my case was most likely caused by the (Honda) heated grips, or a faulty connection in the left indicator switch (corrosion)

[Bulloween]

I am suspicious about the engine start button or engine start relay. This weekend I'm going to interrogate them 

[Skye]

Can be the solenoid and contacts under it that needs to be clean. A lot of heat and how much consumers you have fitted to the bike can melt this contact and drain or shorten batterys lifespan

Had tried the Motobatt. Didn't do any improvement. Only thing that battery did was get lose contact. Screws needs to be changed to keep the cable sticked to the batterys poles.

[Bulloween]

Thanks Skye. This weekend I will deal with the relay, try to recover it or at least change it and search for a motobatt in my country.