Battery keeps dying ..

[BilldaCat]

Didn't winterize the bike, mild winter.  Battery dead nonetheless.

Buy new battery, insert, hook up.  Bike starts.
2 days later, battery is dead.  Realize I didn't screw in one of the terminals down (uh, doh!), so this is obviously what's wrong.
Buy battery tender, hook new battery up to it.  Put back in bike, secure terminals properly.  Bike starts.
2 days later, battery is dead.

Any thoughts?  I am not mechanically inclined *at all*, but my guess is a bad alternator or the battery couldn't hold the charge after I drained it the first time?  Dunno. 

[spc]

sounds like the voltage regulator or coils are goin goin gone......thats just my opinion though.  neither should be super expenxive.   :)I lknow theres someone on here who can tell which one it is!!  ( speak up ya'll)  both of em are fairly easy changes too.  Draining a battery once or twice shouldn't kill it if it's new though.

[BilldaCat]

Bike is an 04 GS500F with ~ 15k miles on it if that helps estimate what part may be going due to age, wear/tear, etc.

[spc]

Ohhhh outta my ballpark, they changed all sorts of shaZam! on the f's.   Damn E is so simple.  I hope someone knows a little more than me so you can get back on the road consistantly

[dgyver]

Take the battery and have it checked. I have had new batteries that were bad.

[Trwhouse]

Hi there,

The way to do electrical troubleshooting is to start with a fully charged battery, first of all.
Make sure the battery is charged properly -- no more than 1.2 amps per hour on a proper motorcycle charger, then check it's specific gravity with a battery tester to ensure it is fully charged.
Then run several checks of the charging system to be sure that the charging output is correct.
If the system checks out fine, you could have a circuit that has a drain from a short that is causing the battery to discharge to ground. Look for any open circuits in the lights, switches, etc.
You also should carefully check the regulator/rectifier unit. A rectifier is designed to flow electrical energy in only one direction. Check to be sure that the rectifier is good using the Suzuki manual's testing procedure. If the current flows in both directions then the rectifier is bad and that is what is causing the battery to discharge while the bike is off.
Good luck and let us know what you find.

Best wishes,
Todd

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Ohhhh outta my ballpark, they changed all sorts of shaZam! on the f's.   Damn E is so simple.  I hope someone knows a little more than me so you can get back on the road consistantly

A. Chances are the battery is dead.

B. Not many things changed on the F. Electrical tach, slightly modified carbs. That's it.