Newbie again: Battery Tender never shows "green-charged"?

[maxtog]

If the battery is still connected to the bike you would still have the possibility of a parasitic draw and not know for sure if the battery is bad. ?

No, any parasitic draw would be tiny and will not affect the resting voltage measurement in any significant way.

[fmwhit]

Sounds like he needs a parasitic choke-lol.  Only Kidding.

[silvermane]

Well last night I thought I would disconnect the battery charger and when I got home from work today to go for another break-in ride, IT WAS DEADER THAN A DOORNAIL
I haven't had the chance to work on the issue of the battery tender telling me the bike is always drawing current somewhere, but I guess this proves it, ugh.
I've owned dozens of new bikes but this one's given me fits since day one.  On my ride home from the dealer my dash kept flashing crazy messages, but of course it was only about 18 degrees that day.
I want to like this bike but with only 400 miles on it, just about every ride there was something aggravating going on.  To tease my wife, I keep telling her that me and this bike just aren't getting along.
What I hate more than anything is my weakest talent is electrical - go figure.
Maybe it's a lemon?  double-ugh!!

[gPink]

warranty work

[silvermane]

...that's what I'm afraid of

[VirginiaJim]

What I hate more than anything is my weakest talent is electrical - go figure.
Maybe it's a lemon?  double-ugh!!

Possibly not.  With what you are describing it could simply be a bad battery.  These bikes are very sensitive to battery voltage and it doesn't take much of a drop to cause issues.  Take it back to the dealer and get another battery.

[Conrad]

Well last night I thought I would disconnect the battery charger and when I got home from work today to go for another break-in ride, IT WAS DEADER THAN A DOORNAIL
I haven't had the chance to work on the issue of the battery tender telling me the bike is always drawing current somewhere, but I guess this proves it, ugh.
I've owned dozens of new bikes but this one's given me fits since day one.  On my ride home from the dealer my dash kept flashing crazy messages, but of course it was only about 18 degrees that day.
I want to like this bike but with only 400 miles on it, just about every ride there was something aggravating going on.  To tease my wife, I keep telling her that me and this bike just aren't getting along.
What I hate more than anything is my weakest talent is electrical - go figure.
Maybe it's a lemon?  double-ugh!!

What other issues are you having?

[silvermane]

What other issues are you having?

Good question.  The bike only has this battery not taking a charge issue.  I know that my aggravated tone above sounded like the bike has many issues but it's the for now just the battery only.  The many problems I spoke of are the accessories w/blue-tooth (Sena, Zumo, iPhone).  So I'm hoping it's just a battery problem.  Since day one, it's been an issue since it won't charge and hopefully there's not a short somewhere.  Maybe since this bike sat for a more than a year at the dealer is the real problem?  Once I get everything squared away, I'm going to hardwire everything to a FuzeBlock but not until I get to the bottom of this dead battery problem.

[maxtog]

Maybe since this bike sat for a more than a year at the dealer is the real problem? 

Oh yes, that could, indeed, be a problem.

Lead acid batteries do NOT like being stored/sitting unused with a very low or no charge.   If it really did sit for over a year without EVER being charged, until they did when you bought it, that could contribute to issues.  Fortunately, testing a battery with the right equipment (a load pile) is not that difficult and very definitive.

[Tim]

warranty work

...that's what I'm afraid of

The one and ONLY issue I've had with my 09 was the Battery which Warranty replaced with no further issues.

Yet, knock on wood.    Got till 12/2014 to find out.

[silvermane]

Thanks Tim for the confidence boost.  I've had/have three Aprilia's during the past twelve years and ran them very hard and long and never had a problem one, so I've been spoiled.  This is my first Kawasaki in riding 36 years.  Many Honda's tho.  I've been one of many fortunate riders that's never had mechanical problems over the years.  I do all my own wrenching so that helps, maybe.

Concours feedback thus far (400ish miles): Not bad.  I am a hot rod at heart and following the owner's manual on keeping it under 4k has been tough.  Keeping it in Eco mode has help remind me.  This bike really falls between my Futura and Gold Wing in weight feel.  Feels heavy compared to Futura and light compared to Wing.  I can see getting used to the ABS will be tough for me.  I'm very comfortable with Brembo's hard into turns, but this ABS feels like they're making decisions on their own making me very cautious in turns.... for now.  I am shock how heavy the front feels to me too.  It feels like I'm going to go through a front tire within 2k miles.  All in all, I am pleased.  I just need to get past this electrical issue to feel more comfortable, oh and when the break-in period ends 

[maxtog]

This bike really falls between my Futura and Gold Wing in weight feel.  Feels heavy compared to Futura and light compared to Wing.

It will feel a whole lot "lighter" when you start revving up the RPM's after full break-in    Certainly did for me! Now it only feels heavy when I am trying to maneuver for parking or at a stop light.... and with my short legs, we are talking HEAVY 

[silvermane]

Continued saga: Well today I got off work early enough to look further into the charging/dead bike issue.  Since the dealer for me is very far away, I just picked up a replacement battery on the way home...
*While disconnecting the negative frame connection I was amazed at the strong sparks that the leads gave the frame while removing?  I don't recall in the many years of removing ground cable seeing such spark?  *Next while sliding the battery out to disconnect the positive cable, the first obvious problem was the screw wasn't even hand tight :/  *Now sliding the battery completely out, the negative cable wasn't even hand tight either :/  So for the first 400 miles maybe these loose connections has been doing something??  *Installed the new battery with no problems.  *Rode a bit with no evident electrical issues, BUT, I was informed again from a driver that my break lights are stuck on, again?!  Ugh!  *Now the only good news is when I got home from a freezing ride, the Battery Tender for the first time went to GREEN   Maybe the original never-tightened battery was the culprit?  Could this condition short-out the battery giving it bad cells?
Any veteran input with all of this would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.
Thanks!

[lt1]

Loose connections could have caused all your problems.  Odds are the battery itself was probably fine.

[maxtog]

Maybe the original never-tightened battery was the culprit?

I don't think so.  Trickle charging is a very low current affair.  It suppose it is POSSIBLE, but I think unlikely.

Could this condition short-out the battery giving it bad cells?

Again, highly unlikely.  That would not cause physical damage to the battery.  The most likely symptom of poorly connected cables to the battery will show up on highest current demand- when starting.  The bike will seem to have a fine battery and electronics work and it charges... then when you go to start it, it is weak or just won't start.

It is possible you just had both a bad battery AND poorly connected cables.  The former would be warranty from Kawasaki.  The latter would be the dealer's fault for improper setup.

A load pile test on the battery will tell if it is good or bad, definitively.   I certainly would have at least first checked the cables, performed the voltage test  and resting current trickle test (that I described early) before buying a new battery.  But, that is me.

[VirginiaJim]

Loose connections could have caused all your problems.  Odds are the battery itself was probably fine.

+1 and that was mentioned in the second reply....to check them.

[silvermane]

I've been in contact with the dealer explaining all my problems (battery & brake light) and explained I can't take it in cause it's dead.  We worked it out that if the original battery if they test it shows bad, they will credit me my costs for tune-up supplies that I am due for.  I'm okay with that, and I can ride again.

As I stated before this new battery on the Tender is showing constant "green" indicating charged ok.  For kicks I have the old battery by itself charging all night and it as always has shows a "constant "red" light.  As many have indicated the likely hood of sitting in a bike for over a year, never being tightened, never being charged, may have been it's demise.

Now back to the brake light problem again :/

[lt1]

Admittedly it is hard to separate good advice from noise.  I'm not going to re-read the whole thread, but you might get some benefit from it.   I believe it was already mentioned that a BT will not charge a depleted battery.  You will need to get the dead battery up to a chargeable (by the BT) voltage, or jump the old & new batts together, then hook the BT up to them, in order for the BT to work, even if the battery is salvageable.

IIRC, on post-recall bikes, adjusting the brake light switch is a bit/much more difficult, but the concept is the same as on the vast majority of bikes.

[silvermane]

The new battery has everything working perfectly now and again thanks to everyone's input and help!  I took the stock battery from this new bike to Auto Zone for testing and it showed a direct internal short (dead cell).  Since I got the battery issue fixed, now I am able to move on to installing the FuzeBlock for electrical installs.  To run wiring, as most of you know it's best to remove the tank (which was a breeze to remove) I ran into many body work bolts not nearly tight.  I proceeded to check the entire bike and found many loose bolts.  I realize the dealer owned the battery bolts just sitting there loose, but heads up to other new bike owners - you may want to check all your bodywork bolts too.

One of these day I'll fix the brake light sticking on problem.  I've tried a few things here and they worked for a few days but shortly thereafter it sticks again.

Thanks again to all for your time and experiences shared!!!