Electronics » Battery/Charger problem HELP

I bought a new 2021 R1250RS in December, 2020. I now have just over 5,000 fantastic miles on it. I ride it at least once a week, sometimes 2 or 3 for about a 45 mile ride.

Since I took delivery while not riding it has constantly been on a new BMW $200 charger that has worked perfectly hooked into the accessory socket on the side. My last ride was
Thursday 7/7. I immediately hooked the charger up and within about 5 minutes it showed 100% charged at 1.4 A 14.4 volts.

But yesterday I checked on it and it showed only 82% charged. Today I checked the voltage at a pigtail connected directly to the battery for my heated vest while charging and it read 14.4 volts.

I then removed the charger and turned on the ignition. Battery voltage showed 12.6 V.

I tried the charger on one of my cars and it brought the charged right up to 100%. So, it's not a defective charger. The battery is only 19 months old with 5,000 miles of use. Is it failing ???
Or do i have a discharge to ground somewhere ?

By comparison, my 2017 Suzuki Burgman bought in April 2017 is now 5 years old with 11,000 miles on it. It's always been on a battery tender charger when not in use. After a 36 mile ride on it today and then hooked to the Tender, it showed a full charge in about 5 minutes. When ignition is turned on with headlights on initially shows 11.6 on accessory voltmeter in the lighter jack.

Hopefully one of you will have a good diagnosis for me.
Thanks

I just checked the temperature of the BMW charger case with a digital infrared thermometer :138 F

I took the battery external cover off. The battery felt warm. A reading on top at the Neg. terminal was about 120 F. Hot to the touch. Is it failing or internally shorting?
The 3 year warranty does not EXCLUDE the battery. It just mentions :
"Battery performance and durability are temperature-dependent....Extreme highs or low temps may impact the battery service life."
I live in mid. New Jersey and the motorcycle is always kept inside my non heated and not always on air conditioning garage. So that's not a factor IMHO. It's not like I live in Alaska or in a desert climate.

The computer in the cycle does use power when not running and it does run the battery down. No alarm or tracker from factory or installed by me.
I did disconnect it a few hrs. ago and will leave it off overnight. Afraid of the battery burning up or having a 'meltdown' so to speak.

When I put the BMW charger direct to one of my cars it went to 100 % and then to maintenance mode so it's not a defective charger. It has always gone on maint/sleep mode
for the past 19 months. Yesterday was the first sign of a problem.

Thanks much for your reply !!!!

Another PS:
Will call the dealer tomorrow and see what they think is going on. I may pull the battery and run a 'battery tester' on it.

Did or didn't the bike start?

I have not started it today. With a battery that hot I did not want to fool around with it in that condition.

Will see what the dealer says Monday morning.

I am guessing I am getting a new battery under the terms of the warranty considering it has not sustained any extreme environmental conditions in the last 19 months.

What Wessie says. Absolutely unnecessary to have a battery on a tender if the bike is in regular use as yours is and in mild weather conditions. You are possibly just killing the battery with kindness.

This was the first NEW bike I’ve owned. The battery seemed to have issues staying above 12v if not run often. I’d power on (but not start) and in a couple of minutes the battery level would drop quite a bit. Never did I have this issue. Every bike I’ve owned got 5-7 years on the brand of battery I used (Big Crank). So, cheap or poorly made batteries tend to be weak or fail early.

I still have the OEM battery (use it for 12v bench testing). It passed the load test when I brought it in to test, but the new battery doesn’t have the same issue.

If it's the original battery it is likely the 'small capacity' anyway - "just good enough" for specification and saves bmw a few pence on each bike.

If you still have a black one inch packing piece under the base with part no 8 522 878 you have the OE battery.

Not sure you can even buy the OE item that size, all 'full size' batteries require the packing piece removal.

Even now, my 2017 RS without the alarm in use, will update the charging every few days on my one year old exide battery.

I guess the key fob/keyless/alarm circuit (plus clock etc on board computer) are looking for a request and are 'live' draining power, even when bike is switched off.

I did have the 'flat battery/non-start 4 weeks ago - somehow the bmw tender, plug connection, left it unable to start.

I have the travel jump starter (Ultimate start from Aldi) and one press on starter was all it took so gald I bought it

It seems the charger went to sleep and never mainatined the battery but 70 miles later all seemed ok.

I also think, despite bmw advice, that direct connection to battery is better for a winter/longer non-use of bike.

Zitat von Tigervette im Beitrag #7

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I have not started it today. With a battery that hot I did not want to fool around with it in that condition.

Will see what the dealer says Monday morning.

I am guessing I am getting a new battery under the terms of the warranty considering it has not sustained any extreme environmental conditions in the last 19 months.

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Before starting it this morning with charger off since yesterday afternoon, voltage at pigtail on battery was 12.8 V. Ignition on with headlight on was 12.3 V. Running voltage was 14.4 V. Will call dealer shortly. It did seem to crank a little slower on starting.

Just spoke with my selling dealer. Service is off today. Spoke to parts guy. Said bring it in for a load test with a special motorcycle only load tester. Std testers are too powerful for small cycle batteries I have read yesterday.
We agreed that the battery may be failing and resisting a full charge for some reason. It then is becoming like a toaster creating high resistance to incoming energy like a toaster heats up due to resistance to electricity flow.
He advised NOT to ride it now since the battery resisting a charge will put a strain on the alternator that's not good for the charging system. I agree with this logic. Also, he advised Yuasa does NOT make an aftermarket battery for the 2021 R1250RS model. Dealer only stocks a BMW label battery for $207.50. Most likely will bring it in tomorrow with service closed today. Thanks for all your postings and advice !!!

https://www.bmwestore.com/p/BMW_2021_R12...1218394179.html

According to the BMW parts website, the replacement battery for the 2021 R1250RS is the same as all prior year watercooled RSs.

If your current battery looks like this.........the Yuasa R1200RS replacement will probably work.

Mini Battery.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)