Scooter battery going flat.

tbourner

I bought a 125cc scooter in October, it's been OK except I thought the ignition switch was dodgy as it needed to be pressed gingerly halfway in to start it. I had been kickstarting for a while as well.

Then one day it wouldn't start at all. AA man got there and jumped it and the switch is actually fine - just needed more power, he measured 14.7V, I rode it around, stopped it, started it - fine.

Over the next week I rode it maybe twice to work, following morning I have the same halfway switch again - I didn't even risk riding it as it's clearly draining the battery somewhere.

I thought maybe it's a loose earth shorting, I did try measuring the current coming out the +ve but I'm doing it wrong or something as it read 0Amps (disconnected cable, DVM on 'amps' setting in series between battery and cable end). Maybe I have something loose so it reads 14.7V standing in a car park but not when riding?

marlot

14.7v is a little high as a charging voltage, but you certainly shouldn't have a flat battery from it. Try using your volt meter to measure the battery voltage after the bike has been sitting overnight - will probably be around 12v-12.5v (less than 12v and you've definately got a problem).

A current drain is possible, but unlikely on a bike. And if there was, I'd expect it to be in the tens or hundreds of milliamps rather than in the amps range (bike batteries are quite small).

Its more likely to be a bad connection somewhere in the starter circuit, or it might just be that the battery is knackered and not holding its charge.

tbourner

Ooh, sorry it's also a new battery which I put in fully charged a couple of weeks back.

OK I've got a haynes for it so I'll try to search the loom to find a loose or dodgy connection somewhere I guess.