Dead Battery = Parking Light On?

[skidoo_03]

So I went to start the bike today and nothing. Figured the battery was dead. so I jumped it with my car and it started up. First question, is it ok to jump a motorcycle battery with a car? it wont overload or anything will it?

I let it charge up for a bit and the bike started. so that is my problem. I am just wondering how the battery drained. I just realized (sorry, im still a Kat noob) that there is a parking light when you turn the key to lock and then a little more. i am thinking this is what happened. so what is the point of a parking light that stays on when you take your key out??! is that not suppose to happen? do you think i have other battery draining problems. I just bought the bike about a month ago, haven't had a battery problem yet. and the guy said he put a new one in beginning of this year. any advice?

[JayBell]

moving the key past lock into PARK turns the front parking light and the tail light on... this is useful if parking on teh side of the road with a breakdown situation, so you dotn run the headlight the whole time.

to prevent this from happening in the future, DON'T put it in park and walk away from it

[skidoo_03]

haha. thanks for the advice. I did end up finding a thread on the parking lights. I just have to get in the habit of looking back at the bike now. anyone replace with LEDs and test if they last longer? I left it on since Sunday afternoon (48 hours) and it was completely dead. Just wondering if a LED would last that long?

[steves]

an LED will eventually kill the battery too. It's only a matter of time.

[JayBell]

haha. thanks for the advice. I did end up finding a thread on the parking lights. I just have to get in the habit of looking back at the bike now. anyone replace with LEDs and test if they last longer? I left it on since Sunday afternoon (48 hours) and it was completely dead. Just wondering if a LED would last that long?

as Steve says, any drain will eventually kill the battery, so just remember to make sure the bike and all accessories are totally off.

I've converted my entire bike to LED lighting aside from the actual headlights, and i know they'll drain the batt... if just a little slower than incandescent lights. Remember, the 3rd eye in the front and the tail light will engage in park mode, so yeah, they'll still kill the batt.

of course, where i park, i dont lock the forks, and in a place where i DO feel the need to lock it, i use disc locks to prevent movement

[skidoo_03]

I jumped it with my car. it isn't taking a charge very well. I rode it around for about 15 mins too hoping that would charge it up. no dice. I was about to give up and go buy a battery charger, so i jumped it, drove back into the garage, turned it off, decided to give it one last try and it started. haha so will have to see if it keeps that surface charge until tomorrow.

if not, how hard is it to take the battery out?

[Slofuze]

Rule #1: make sure your vehicle (car...truck) isn't running at the time....bad news.
Rule #2. Get a battery tender..... $20 well spent for when the bike sits for a few days. (Good preventative medicine.)
Rule #3 Once a battery is discharged, I wouldn't stake my life on it stuck out somewhere. Get a new one after this season ends.

[stonefry]

Your bike is not meant to charge a battery after being drained like a car can. I learned the hard way. If you have a bike, you really need to get a charger. Mine was about $20 at Wal Mart. Leave it charging all day and you're good to go.

[skidoo_03]

Bought a $30 charger from Sears and let it charge over night and it is good to go. Just hope it keeps a charge now.

[JayBell]

Bought a $30 charger from Sears and let it charge over night and it is good to go. Just hope it keeps a charge now.

as long as you dont leave the lights on again, it should