Unexplained drained battery - anyone else? Any help/ideas?

[ChinaDoll]

Hi everyone! I am a new rider. I have a 2021 F3 Limited with a new battery (put in at a dealership). I started riding my Spyder in April. At that time, I kept it at my parent's house. I rode with them maybe once every 2 weeks or so and I never had any battery issues. Now that I've brought my Spyder home, I'm having battery problems. I'm trying to get more familiar with riding by myself, so I ride it to run errands and I ride it to work. These are short trips of less than 5 minutes. In the last week, I've gotten off work twice and had a dead battery requiring a jump-start. I don't have any added accessories that could drain the battery. Has anyone ever experienced this problem or have any suggestions for me? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[BajaRon]

The Spyder is notorious for parasitic battery drain. Short trips, weeks between riding, it all adds up to a dead battery. You'll need to get a decent battery tender and keep it hooked up when the bike is not in use or you will continue to have this same issue. And eventually, you'll need a new battery because taking a battery down that far greatly shortens its life.

If you are not accustomed to removing the battery tender when you ride, it's a good idea to leave the front trunk open, drape the cable over the seat, or some other definite reminder so that you don't ride off still hooked up.

 

[ChinaDoll]

Thank you for your reply. The battery I have is new and still under warranty, so I will contact the dealer about getting it replaced. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something I was doing that was causing the problem. Can you suggest a good battery tender?

 

[BajaRon]

Thank you for your reply. The battery I have is new and still under warranty, so I will contact the dealer about getting it replaced. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't something I was doing that was causing the problem. Can you suggest a good battery tender?

If it is a Yuasa 350 cca battery, it is doubtful that you need a new one. The one you have should be returned to full charge with the correct charger and then placed on a battery tender. You can get units that will do both a full charge and then a maintenence float charge once reaching 100% if you don't want to go with 2 separate systems. This would be a more cost effective approach.

 

[Peter Aawen]

Many of the 'new batteries' coming from BRP/their dealers these days are sub-par 'cheapies' that don't have the same capacity as the 350 CCA 21 A/Hr Yuasa's that were supplied up until COVID caused all sorts of supply chain issues and which most found lasted well, even if left sitting for a week or so without being on a tender.

So @ChinaDoll, if your 'new battery' is one of those cheapies with less capacity than that mentioned above, you might be better off with a replacement - and in that case, those specs above should be the MINIMUM capacity you'd accept!

Just Sayin'

 

[mecsw500]

The Spyder is notorious for parasitic battery drain. Short trips, weeks between riding, it all adds up to a dead battery. You'll need to get a decent battery tender and keep it hooked up when the bike is not in use or you will continue to have this same issue. And eventually, you'll need a new battery because taking a battery down that far greatly shortens its life.

If you are not accustomed to removing the battery tender when you ride, it's a good idea to leave the front trunk open, drape the cable over the seat, or some other definite reminder so that you don't ride off still hooked up.

I drape the cable over the throttle. The maintainer is mounted close enough to the Spyder to have enough length to do that. The connector is in the rear of the frunk.

I've been using battery maintainers for many years and I still have to rely on a visual cue to ensure I'm not doing anything stupid.

 

[Mrmikey]

I'd say you're not driving it enough to fully charge the battery between starts, I don't think 5 minutes will do it.
If you want to check for a parasitic draw, disconnect either the positive or negative cable from the battery and hook up an ammeter in series with the disconnected battery and the disconnected cable.
Don't try and start it tho as you'll blow the fuse in the ammeter, give it 1/2 hour or so to make sure all the circuits are shut down. Anything over 30ma± is cause for concern.

 

[Cobranut]

Welcome to the site ChinaDoll. Lots of help on this Spyderlovers.

Your short trips are likely not long enough to keep the battery fully charged.
I highly recommend the Battery Minder, as it both keeps the battery charged, and provides a desulphating function that prevents, and can even repair a sulphated battery.
I have literally dozens of these, and have been using them for decades. I often get 8-10 years from batteries in my power equipment, race car, and collector cars that I keep on BatteryMinders when not using them.

They're on sale right now at NorthernTool.com

https://www.northerntool.com/products/batteryminder-plus-battery-charger-trickle-charger-desulfator-12-volt-1-amp-model-12117tc-167981

They also offer a quick-connect pigtail that can stay on your battery. I have mine routed to the grille on the left side of my F3S.

 

[Little Blue]

I agree with "Cobranut" post #8 above.
I have that Maintainer and use it for my Spyder. Yes, it is on sale now. (7-04-2026)

Definitely need a 'better quality battery' if your current battery is marginal.

Usually need to Ryde your Spyder for 20 to 30 minutes to get back the energy you used to start it.
Just wanted you to know a little bit more about battery life.

 

[greer]

Welcome to the forum, ChinaDoll! Here's a video that might help if you need to install a battery tender lead:

But you may find the lead is already on your battery, mine was. Sometimes the dealership install them so they can use battery tenders on the bikes in the showroom. Good luck, please post back and let us know how it goes.

Sarah

 

[JayBros]

In both cases with replacement batteries I installed Yuasa YTX24HL batteries in which my multimeter said did not need charging but I still put them on the battery tender for 24 hours before starting the roadster and got better than 5 and 6 1/2 years, respectively out of them.

 

[Mikey]

There has been a load of good suggestions here on this post, but one thing has not been brought up and that is when you get to your battery make sure your connections to the battery are CLEAN and TIGHT, and if you have some star washers put them on! Good luck, let us know what battery your dealer put in there, I am betting it's not a Yuasa!! That would be my choice of battery!!!

 

[NHDad]

Good morning!
And Happy 4th of July! I just bought my new to me 2023 F3-T about 3 weeks and 1000 miles ago. On my test drives it was starting hard and throwing the VSS code. They replaced the battery for me before I would sign. I'll have to check what kind of battery it is, but I watched them adding fluid and charging it before installing. The fluid seemed weird cuz every motorcycle battery I've ever installed came sealed. It's been fine but I wonder if I have to do the occasional add water like old car batteries? Good luck with yours chinadoll!

 

[Peter Aawen]

@NHDad, if they gave your 'new battery' anything much less than 8 hours of charging on a proper charger, it hasn't been charged properly and is extremely likely to fail earlier than it should, maybe even within weeks, or if you're lucky, months!!

From what you describe above, I'd say they've done a quick'n dirty on an 'Bottle fill' AGM battery, and the 'fluid' they added was meant to permeate the gel medium by topping it up and letting it stand for a couple of hours or so after adding, so that it properly permeates & settles in around the plates, activating them, and then it should take that 8 hours minimum of charging at about 2 amps to properly charge it - anything less than that WILL shorten the potential life of the battery!

There's a whole bunch of info already on the Forum about it, so I won't repeat any more of it, but I'd seriously be checking that battery for at least the minimum capacities mentioned earlier, and then giving it a good solid charge just in cases! Good Luck!