battery drain on my 2005 r1200rt

have trouble keeping battery charged over two days!! have tried different things to find the drain. disconnecting all connectors that I could find doesn't seem to stop the problem.
guessing that the cve has a internal problem. can buy a used cve from the same series but not positive that is the problem and will it plug and play if the used one is installed?

I am sorry, but I haven't got a clue what a "cve" is.
I have the same bike/same year.
If the battery has a partial internal short, then re-charge it, leave it for a couple of days and check it's voltage.
That will proof if that is the issue.
Otherwise, charge it and take it to an auto electrician who can load test it for you.

Mine can be parked for 3~4 weeks and still start and that was even with the original gell cell battery.

My 2005 GS will run down the battery over time, but not THAT fast.

One thing I found out by running a meter on things is some accessories draw a ton of power even when turned off, as strange as that sounds. So be sure to disconnect all accessories when you park it.

Beyond that, a battery tender is a good thing, but you'll need to wire it up to the battery because the canbus will shut off the OEM socket. I leave my 2005 plugged to a battery tender when not riding.

Battery tender

Zoie, I have the same bike and year model for quite some time. Went through a couple of batteries before I realized I just need a battery tender. Haven't had a problem since. R1200rt's seem to draw a lot of power off of a dry cell. Short trips in cold weather really sock it to it. If you have a GPS make sure you disconnect before plugging in the trickle charger. Highly recommend the OEM charger as this has the proprietary BMW electrical socket. Turn on the key let it perform all bit checks then plug in tender let it perform bit get charging light then turn bike off. Haven't had a problem in three years now, prior to the trickle charger I was going through a battery a year. I hope this helps.

Is the battery old?

If the battery is near the end of its service life it will have difficulty holding a charge. Is it over 3 years old?

Short of your having something installed on the bike wired directly to the battery there is nothing else on the bike that should be causing the drain. Check the battery off the bike, charge and load test. I have an 06 RT with the original battery and I have never used a trickle charger and never will. I store my bike most of the winter and if I think the battery needs it I will charge it with a 2 amp charger just like I use on my vehicles. I leave my GPS on the bike most of the time as well but I have it wired to the 12V plug in outlet so it turns off automatically via the canbus system.

I have the same problem on my 07 GSA. Leave it 24 hrs it will start, 48 hours,its too low to start have put a new battery and tested it on the bench it was perfect, put it back on the bike and its done in 2 days nothing connected. I do keep it on the BM charger but would have to boost it if away from home and power for more than a day. I see it is called a "parasitic drain". I have lived with it for over a year now as I live so far from a dealer but one day I will get it in and hope their diagnostic tool can isolate the cause.

Gps

I chased a similar problem and discovered that it was the battery on my GPS that was old and draining my motorcycle battery. I bought a new GPS battery and the problem went away. My GPS was wired directly to the battery. Do you have anything direct wired?

There is no need to guess. An amp meter in series with the battery (either +12v side or ground side) will disclose the amount of current flowing out of the battery in the key off position. Many inexpensive VOM have an "up to 10 amp" capacity for the amp meter function. You should see only a very few milliamps flowing key off. If you discover current in excess of that you need to systematically find out where it is going.

2006 RT still on original battery. Seven years and only a Battery Tender plugged directly to battery when parked.

Serious R12 drain on 2 new batteries

It takes 2 days and my battery is completely drained; originally thought it was new battery installed at BMW of Western OR, so replaced it with another - but problem started after regular servicing. Have a Garmin wired directly to battery terminals, but always disconnect it when parked. Need to do ammeter test, but have checked all obvious spots like heated seats & grips, which shouldn't draw with key in off position anyway. May be a problem with ignition switch/key position but no 'parking' lights are so - so baffled. Slow charge with battery tender works fine, but discharge is within a day or two when taken off charger.







Bruce Salvog
MOA # 39656
Palm Desert CA

Just for information and sorry a little off topic but not the first ..

I can plug in my BMW charger without the ignition switch ritual and it goes through all its lights working its way to green. One time I removed the key to open seat and this sent lights to red. Bottom line = the charger is connected. You'd think if the ignition switch cycling requirement were real it would be specified in the manual.

My BMW charger which came with my new to me bike a couple weeks ago requires no special rituals. Key can be on, off, or removed. Sometimes it takes a little while for the charger circuitry to settle down and start charging, but it does.

If there is draw, why not remove the negative cable from the battery and place a VOM amp meter in series and see just how many amps are being drawn with everything off.

As for 2006 motorcycles still on the original battery, I'm impressed but I know I've encountered batteries that will happily take a charge but not HOLD a charge, and I wonder whether you're being lulled into a false sense of security that your battery will be there for you if you end up stopping for a visit or break and then don't have the cranking amps available to get home. You can buy a brand new Odyssey from Amazon or elsewhere for just over $100 and have a better battery and not push your luck.

Definitely, batteries like to be kept on a float charger.