Help. My bike is dead - is it the battery?

[bex]

Hello, well, 2 weeks in and problem number 1.

03 Monster 620s.i.e. Been on it every day since I had it, stored indoors at night etc.

Last used last night and all was fine, and then this morning nada - datatool system 3 alarm making its usual irritating beeps, but when I turn the key theres nothing, no lights, no checks - zilch, and the alarm doesnt go off when its armed and I turn key to on.

Is my battery dead?

What do I do? Buy a charger?

help....:thumbsdown:

[Stafford]

Start off by checking fuses.
Then battery voltage, you're looking for 12V+
If less then charge.
If still buggered new battery.
Then strip off the alarm :Furious:

[S4R Dude]

Get a new battery.

Keep it on charge when not in use.

Ditch the alarm.

Get a bloody great lock and chain! :)

[bex]

Ok thanks. I dunno how to do any of this technical stuff yet, I guess I'm going to have to pay someone, doh.

A friend has just told me its rare for a battery to die so suddenly and completely and its more likely to be a fuse, broken connection, or the alarm has somehow immobilised everything. I guess I need to call someone who does repairs, I'll be at it forever if I try to tackle it myself. And the tube was a bloody nightmare this morning! grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

[Stafford]

Er, battery's do just die overnight it's a pain in the ass but it's what they do.

[bex]

Hmmm, well whatever it is why do I have a bad feel this will cost me a lot of money.....? :(

The bike has just been through MOT 2 weeks ago…. if the main fuse or something has blown is this something that could have been foreseen or am I just unlucky? If it was main fuse is that an expensive repair?

[Paivi]

Erm, check the kill switch... ;)

[bex]

I did that already!

[Ducmon]

A friend had a similar problem on a vmax. we found out in the end that it was his alarm draining the battery in 48 hours . so that the machine would not start. try charging your battery and disconnect the alarm.

[bex]

Well I've borrowed a multimeter from a guy at work to check the battery. I guess I'll take it from there!

Any one recommend a good charger or are they all the same idea?

[singletrack]

Did you leave the parking lights on?
The same happened to my first Monster just after I bought it. It turns out I had thought I had put the steering lock on, in fact I had turned the key too far and left the lights on.

Result - one dead battery which was fine once I had charged it.

We just use a standard Halfords charger which has a switch so that it can be used for a car or a bike. I think you have to be careful not to use a normal car charger, but I don't know why.

[bex]

Nah was just steering locked... hopefully the battery has just run down, then I can get it sorted pretty quickly. Think it might be time to ditch the alarm!

[bex]

Well my battery is reading 4.69 volts, I guess that would be dead then!

[skank]

optimate are pretty good chargers.

[bex]

Funny you say that, ordered one earlier today!

[bex]

Ok so here's the latest, charged a few hours and checked the battery, went from 4.6v to 10.2v so I thought I'd give it a go in the bike. It wouldn't start, but, the neutral light and oil light did actually come on, then after a few more attempts they faded a lot.

Measured battery again after about 45mins of faffing and being deafened by the schizo alarm and it's dropped to 6volts already - I checked all fuses while I was at it and they are all fine.

Is my battery just donald ducked?

How much are batteries and any decent London dealers?

What a fun friday night!

[snakey]

must be at 12 volts to start the bike anything less and you've got no chance,if the voltage dropped that quickly either the battery is knackered or you have a serious short, How old is the battery? mine last about 3-4 years before needing to be replaced. that alarm of yours sounds a bit suspect, I have a data tool 3 on mine and not had the problems that you have, i would suggest getting in touch with datatool and asking about it

Pete.