Several weeks ago I installed a USB port on my bike. I really like it and want to keep it. However, I'm beginning to see the effects of it draining my battery when not in use. After I installed it I noticed it generated a slight amount of heat, nothing alarming but enough to tell me it was draining the battery. I spoke to the manufacturer who claims it would take about 1,000 hours of sitting to drain the battery. Well last week I went to fire up the bike after sitting for 3 days and it wouldn't turn over. Then yesterday it happened again but I rode the bike only the day before. So obviously my concern is about it rapidly draining my battery or my bike's inability to recharge the battery.

I ride my bike primarily to and from work, which is less than 3 miles away and takes only about 7-8 minutes of travel time. Should that be sufficient riding time to recharge the battery? I emailed the manufacturer yesterday and this is what he had to say.

It looks like your KLX250s comes with a Yuasa 36B20L battery with a nominal Ah rating of 25. Converting to mAh results in 25000 mAh rating. This should give you about 3000 hours to full battery drain due to the TAPP draw. Of course, starting requires some charge on the battery (usually about 50% is enough to start the bike). Working from that information, it should take about 1500 hours or about 60 days before the battery won't start the bike due solely to the drain of the TAPP.

Your very short commute is the most likely reason the battery is struggling to start your bike. With only 5-10 minutes of riding, your battery is likely not getting a full charge while riding. So every time you start the bike, the battery is taking a heavy hit; but your short ride is only adding a minimum charge back. The fact that it is getting worse supports this idea.

I have three suggestions for you:

The first is to take a longer ride of about an hour or so every few days (any excuse to ride is a good excuse!). How often you take the long ride depends on the state of the battery. If the bike starts hard, plan on a longer ride that same day.

The second is to keep the bike on the charger overnight when possible. You should probably put it on the charger right away and get the battery up to full charge. A low battery can develop long-term charging issues if it is often being used with low charge. This can be a bit of a hassle if you have to remove the seat to get to the battery, but it is the ultimate solution that will guarantee a good start every morning even if you only use the bike for the short commute.

The third suggestion is to add a switch to the TAPP. This may improve your starting issues, but likely will not solve it long term due to the short commutes. The switch we suggest is available from Highway Dirtbikes: 12v 10amp On/Off Pushbutton, Black Boot. This is a low-cost, compact design with a weatherproof boot over the switch itself. They also sell mounting brackets if you need one.

Personally, I ride my bike for an hour so I don’t have starting issues, even when I am using to run errands or other short rides. If I am going to not ride it for any length of time, I put it on the Battery Tender. We do offer a kit to make charging your bike a simple plug-and-go operation. It is a Baryl Socket kit with an SAE 2-pin adaptor than plugs into the Battery Tender and the Baryl Socket. I have attached a picture of this unit in use on my bike. The red circle in the picture indicates where I mounted the Panel Mount Baryl Socket. You can see the adapter is plugged into the SAE 2-pin connector on my Battery Tender. This kit sells for either $32.95 for the universal mount (comes with a Baryl Rack similar to the TAPP mounting bracket, PN 160-0024-01) or $37.95 for the Panel Mount version (as I have on my bike, PN 160-0029-01). If you are interested, let me know. Because this item is not on our website, we will have to do a PayPal Invoice to place the order. I can walk you through this very simple process. Again, this is only if you are interested in the product.

Since my commute isn't going to change and I don't always have time to ride for an hour to recharge my battery I'm considering a cut-off switch. The one he suggested looks fine and cheap but I don't want to pay $15 in shipping. Does anyone have a suggestion on a cut-off switch I can use that's worked for you? I think the switch is the best way to go. But I'm open to suggestions.

 

you can cut the power wire and attach a switch somewhere...or, splice into a switched power wire that only goes hot when key is on position...don't do blinkers or headlight...blew the fuse when i switched on my blinkers...i think the instrument panel still draws power for clock and such...probably a switch on it's own would work....

 

I have a small "smart charger" that can be used on car or bike batteries. I haven't added a pigtail to connect to the battery so that I don't have to remove plastic to get to the battery but intend to do so. Arizona heat can take a toll on batteries. Got the charger at Wally World for about $25. Putting a switch in will help but until you top off the charge you're just going to shorten the life of the battery. IMO. Good luck.

 

I have a cigarette lighter outlet on my bike, with a USB adapter that goes into it... I think it draws far less power than the straight USB port from the battery.

It also has a nice weather proof cover.

When I want to charge my phone off of it, I just plug in the USB adapter and USB cable.

 

The one thing EVERY person that owns a motorcycle with electric start should have. A battery maintainer or tender. And lead acid batteries have a ratcheting effect, what i mean is if you drain the battery to the point it wont start the bike(dead battery) and charge it up, it is now a less powerful battery then before. Kill the battery twice and its harmed a little bit more. Do it enough and the battery is ruined.
At my auto electric shop I work at, I have seen countless car batteries drained down by parasitic draws(mostly aftermarket "crap"), accept a full charge, only to be dead again in a few days. Due to chemical degradation of the electrolyte in the battery.
I cant say for sure if the same goes true for our little dirt bike batteries, but since lead acid is lead acid is lead acid, I assume this holds true for our batteries as well.

I now have a bikemaster tru-gel battery that I leave on the tender 24/7. and with the battery tender plug that sticks out, you can plug in a heated suit if need be or run some sort of aftermarket toy with it. I was going to add a little subharness I could run from the tender plug up to a 12volt cigarette lighter socket by the handle bars for GPS. But I ended buying a different GPS that lasts 35 hours on two double A batteries.

The battery tender I have is rated at 750mah output-----if your bike is drawing around 025mah then the battery tender/maintainer would solve the draining problem(if the battery isnt already ruined)

If you start each morning or each time that bike has sat at home any length of time, with a fully charged battery, then the charging system can "keep up" with bikes electrical demand. But if you use the charging system to charge a low battery, then the charging system will be overworking and creating heat, which will ruin the rectifier eventually or even cook the stator windings.

 

3 miles to work: ride a bicycle or walk. That short a run day after day will age your moto real quick. It needs to be run long enough to thoroughly warm everything up. Your exhaust is going to take a hit, the moisture needs to be cooked out. It's just starting to get warm, then you're at work and it's off and cooling again.

 

With a short commute, you were bound to get stranded sooner or later. The KLX250S alternator is rated for 15A @ 7000RPM matched to a 7ah battery. If you pull 10% out of it when you start it, then you'll need 3 minutes at 7000 RPM to put it back. If you don't get it recharged, then you'll slowly discharge the battery every time you start it. A battery likes to be fully charged all the time. It likes to be recharged ASAP after a discharge. Keeping a battery in a partially discharge state for an extended amount of time will cause sulfation to occur. Your battery may already be past the point of no return. I'd throw it on a charger and see if will hold. A fully charged battery will read 12.7V four hours after being pulled off a charger. If it drops below 10V when you crank the starter, it's shot. A fully charged battery can sit for 6 months as long as there is no parasitic draws on it. Most maintainer can only "maintain" a charged battery or a slightly discharged battery. You may need a full sized charger to save your battery and a tender to keep it alive.

 

I rode my KLX to work, about a 4 minute ride each way... from August-December, and February-April... never had an issue.

But I also went for long rides on weekends or after work.

 

Pretty much any 12v switch should do. A waterproof one would be best. Don't you have an electronics or car auto shop near where you live?

 

Ok, I gotta ask: if you are riding the bike 7-8 minutes why do you need a USB port??