Hi there,

I know these questions have been asked and I have already gained some top advice which was presented to the garage this morning when I handed in my 08 tenere.

Essentially: has been running fine, got it at 6,000 miles now at 15,000. No problems until this morning. Turned on ignition, clocks did their thing, hit the starter and there is a click and no power, try it again, same lack of response, engine doesn't turn over. 50 mins later after the AA man arrives I do the same and the bike fires and runs beautifully, he confirms with a multimeter that the battery is full and charging. I then ride it for ten minutes to the dealer/garage, bike runs well. But still hand it over with advice taken from this forum about the rectifier connection.

I am slightly hoping it is the rectifier/reg issue as that has been well documented, however considering it has a fair few miles on it I am worried that it is something else, particularly no engine warning light flashed or came on. Could this be the case?

Would have stayed longer to examine more thoroughly, however, I am off to Morocco next Wednesday on it so threw it into the hands of a dealer in an attempt to get it resolved quickly with the correct kit.

Any info greatly received, I have been trawling the forum but it seems every case is slightly different!

Thanks

I'm assuming all he did to test the battery was put a multimeter across the terminals and measured the voltage while the engine was running and it read somewhere around the 14V mark, so he came to the conclusion it was charging, which means that the reg/rec unit is/was working at that point. (Anyway I'd expect to see the engine warning light on if it was the reg/rect.)

I'm not sure though how your AA man worked out the battery was "full" from this, even measuring battery voltage with engine not running? It might (and I stress might!) be that you're battery is goosed (shorting plates, tired electrolyte, intermittent connections between cells from vibration and/or age); you really need to check the voltage at intervals after the engine is switched off and see how fast the voltage drops to check it's condition, or use a hydrometer. It may well show 13+V straight after the engine's stopped running, but it could drop to 11V in a matter of a few hours.

My Ten is a 2008 model and I'm beginning to get the feeling, after nearly four years, that the battery is labouring now and certainly won't make another winter. I guess all us 2008 owners are going to be looking for batteries sometime soon as four years is about par, particularly if they've had a hard life.

Anyway, just my 2p worth, chin up, it doesn't sound too bad...

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just had this with my 2008 xt. i put the battery on charge for about 10 hrs and its been working fine. i hope this hasnt jinxed it. it sounds like battery to me

Thanks for the quick responses, left it with the garage overnight, only to ring them up in the morning to have someone say that the negative wire connecting to the battery wasn't screwed in properly after I'd just fitted an auxiliary circuit doh! Feel like a class A muppet.

Am getting it back tomorrow, probably with some ridiculous labour charge alongside it, so will have it for a few days. But , as you say, will test the battery at intervals to see how the charge is holding up. Otherwise, back to Morocco!
Thanks
T

I have actually seen this on another Ten before. Only relised what the problem was in the dark and saw a small spark at the terminal.

For peace of mind why not fit one of the Gammatronix LED's. I have one and it gives peace of mind as you can always see what the power output is coming from the battery. Mine goes orange when I have my heated jacket and grips on at tickover, a quick blip will make it go green. Well worth a punt if you ask me.

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If I'm not working, I'll be

well we all do silly things. i remember putting my battery back in my Fazer the wrong way round...i realised when i heard a fuse pop!

never seen those Gammatronix before...looks good. Easy too install? do they only come on when the bike is running?

Depends how you wire it up.

See this thread... http://www.xt660.com/showthread.php?t=14737

Buy here...

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Gammatronix...ctronics-Store

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I have a bank of fuses which are activated by a relay which in turn is only 'live' when the ignition is on. The relay is activated by the rear light circuit and has four fuses, one for my heated jacket, one for the heated grips, one for the cigarette socket up front and the other for the Gammatronix LED.
GPS is from the supply under the cowling beneath the console.

All works very well and I can charge phone etc and use a small compressor for tyres or blowing up my air bed.
I put a switch before the Gammatronix unit as I didn't know if it would annoy me in the dark, but as it is I leave it on all of the time.
It shows the OUTPUT from the battery and will even show an overcharge!
For a Tenner it's well worth it for peace of mind.

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If I'm not working, I'll be

Mine's usualy wired to an Optimate when sitting still for long periods, but I agree that 4 years could well be the end of an OEM battery.

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But surely never as stupid as what a friend of mine did? (And "friend of mine" really ISN'T me). His Garmin car charger wasn't working so he cut off the cigarette lighter fitting and wired on a mains 3 pin plug to charge it. Guess what happened when he put it in the wall socket!