Electrical gremlin draining battery

[phoenixfire]

Installed a brand new battery, fires up, volt meter I installed shows 13.1 while at idle.  Let the bike sit for 2 weeks and battery went completely dead - would not even come back to life when hooked up to the trickle charger.  
 

Noticed battery was low during the winter when not riding for a few days so I put it on the charger thinking it was the cold that was giving it a hard time but it seems like something is slowly zapping it and if it sits too long it kills the bat.
 

Can someone point me in the right direction for a troubleshooting guide?

[Mohawk]

The clock has a very high drain for what it is. But normally takes 3 month or more to drain a standard lead battery. I disconnect the battery & bring it in to the warmth during the winter after giving it a full charge off the bike. I use LifePo4 they don't like being flattened ! 
 

You can add a multi meter inline into one of the battery feeds, see how much juice is being drawn with the ignition off. Then pull fuses to see which kills the drain. Then look at whatever that fuse supplies. 
 

Happy hunting 

[jefferson]

I would disconnect the ground and use a vom and use the 10 amp setting and hook the leads between the negative battery terminal and cable to see how much draw you have with the ignition off. Ton of videos on the tube having to do with parasitic draw. A way to narrow down where the draw is coming from is to remove each fuse until you find the one that makes the draw go away.

[Terry]

I recall a Youtube video where parasitic drain was traced specifically to a failing regulator/rectifier. 

[jefferson]

On my van I had a parasitic draw that removing all the fuses did nothing. I started disconnecting things and of course the last thing I disconnected was the starter which was the problem. 

[Lorne]

On 9/9/2025 at 6:54 AM, phoenixfire said:

Let the bike sit for 2 weeks and battery went completely dead

That is not normal. This never happened to my 5th gens, even sitting idle for a month or two.

A good first step would be to ensure that there are no accessories connected to your VFR - heated grips, power socket, display, etc.

[Terry]

I had this happen with my ST1300; no idea what happened, I am assuming I activated the heated grips while parked and they failed to auto-off as they should. I recharged the battery and all has been well ever since.