Light mod on mk1 is draining battery?

[dakipro]

Hello folks,
I have 1998 model and have installed the light mod. It looks much better, but after a week or so the battery goes flat. I thought battery was problem as it was drained few times last year so I bought a new one, which worked awesome for a week or so, and then it went flat today. I charged it now and measured the fallowing
Battery alone 15min after charging 13.3 V
Battery connected to system, engine off 13.25 V (i have scorpio alarm directly connected to the battery for two years, never problems so far. Alarm charges when engine is running [that is what they say])
engine idling 14.14 V with lights off, 14.25 on 5000rpms with lights off
lights on (with mod) 12.72 idling (and looks like it is going down slowly), 13.42 on 5000rpms

I did drive A LOT this week on very low rpms, more then 200km at idle or around 2000 rpms as I was practicing a on school parking space. I also drove a lot in the slow traffic with low rpms.

I am thinking to disconnect the mod in the weekend in order to test the new battery, just to confirm that it drives nice after f.eks. a month.

Did anyone experienced something similar with the light mod? Or could it be that by driving on low rpms, the battery took the hit?

[dakipro]

Update, I waited for about an hour and some and measured again, pretty similar results

Battery alone ~1h after charging 13.1 V
Battery connected to system, engine off 13.1 V
engine idling 14.20 V with lights off, 14.40 on 5000rpms with lights off
lights on (with mod) 12.6 idling (and looks like it is going down slowly), 14.1 on 5000rpms

[unfazed]

What light mod have you done?

There are a few ways; not all correct.

[dakipro]

I've connected third bulb pin with a wire to the green wire under the tank, I found original pin that was missing and just connected it. I found instructions here, on mk1 it is green wire, it is "hot" only when short beam is on and it is off when I turn off the lights/bike.

[dakipro]

I fallowed instructions from here
http://foc-u.co.uk/?topic=181.0

[unfazed]

The modification you did was correct, it is the long term slow running which is the real issue, even without the modification I doubt if you could hold the charge with the revs that low for that long.

Charging looks normal for the Boxeye, I would put the battery on charge each evening with an intelligent charger like an optimate.

[dakipro]

yes, that makes sense... I was practicing for at least 3-4h in two days. There is 10-15min highway to and from practicing area in high revs, but there is also at least 30min 2km/h to and from work each day.

Would you suggest to leave the mod as is and try to avoid low revs, just to test how it goes?

I can still practice, I just need to turn off the lights. (we will not ride much this year, so I wanted to sharpen the skills in slow speeds, turnings, tight spaces etc)

[unfazed]

Leave the modification in and charging daily is probably the best option as riding with lights would make you less visible to other road users.

The chargers usually come with an option for attaching a plug in system connected to the battery. Then it is just a matter of plugging it in when it is parked over night.
Where are you that you have to ride that slow?

[darrsi]

Hello folks,
I have 1998 model and have installed the light mod. It looks much better, but after a week or so the battery goes flat. I thought battery was problem as it was drained few times last year so I bought a new one, which worked awesome for a week or so, and then it went flat today. I charged it now and measured the fallowing
Battery alone 15min after charging 13.3 V
Battery connected to system, engine off 13.25 V (i have scorpio alarm directly connected to the battery for two years, never problems so far. Alarm charges when engine is running [that is what they say])
engine idling 14.14 V with lights off, 14.25 on 5000rpms with lights off
lights on (with mod) 12.72 idling (and looks like it is going down slowly), 13.42 on 5000rpms

I did drive A LOT this week on very low rpms, more then 200km at idle or around 2000 rpms as I was practicing a on school parking space. I also drove a lot in the slow traffic with low rpms.

I am thinking to disconnect the mod in the weekend in order to test the new battery, just to confirm that it drives nice after f.eks. a month.

Did anyone experienced something similar with the light mod? Or could it be that by driving on low rpms, the battery took the hit?

125 miles at 2000rpm........i presume you have a blue red bike?  :lol

[dakipro]

Hehe, it is red fazer and I live in Bergen, Norway, Usually it is about 5-10min sitting in queue to and back from work (places where I cannot sneak between traffic), rest 15min is motorway or regular way, so it is not that bad in traffic.


What happened is that I was practicing ~3-4 hours on school parking space where they have marked cones, that is driving on idle at the fastest (i was in fact practicing to drive as slow as possible).
Most likely that is what caused battery to go flat in weekend, and then the "regular" traffic was not helping recharging it.

[unfazed]

Buy a bicycle and use the Fazer for weekends  :lol

[dublet]

Use more revs and more clutch.

[Billy:)]

Maybe you have a faulty regulator?