Battery/Electrical Question...

I'm a technical SPED so take it easy on me :) I just got back from a three day ride. Lots of rain, and on the last day there were VERY high temps and VERY high speeds :) 2004 R1 with appx. 8500 miles. When I got the bike into the driveway after about 300 miles (not straight through...) the fans kicked on as I put the stand down, and then I turned the bike off. I then heard an extremely high pitched whine/tone comming from somewhere under the bike. It was constant and didn't fluctuate at all. I tried recycling the power, but once off, the whine returned. It was fairly loud, and after checking things over and not finding anything, it eventually stopped after a while. The next day, I went to start my bike and... nothing. The only sign of life I saw was the green 'nuetral' light. I removed the battery and took it to the dealer who tried to quick charge it. After about 4 hours, he said that it was reading bad, but that he wanted to keep it over night to do a deep" charge (12 hours) and see what that might do. He was clueless about the sound/whine I heard, but said that its odd for batteries to fail in appx. 1 year and that he was concerened that there might be another issue (reg/rec or stator). If the battery is toast, I can throw a new one in, and he gave me some things to check (I have a meter at home) once I get it installed (new or re-charged). My concern is that it is something more than this, an was wondering if anyone here had any ideas as to what might have caused that whine. Thoughts??? Thanks !!!

I need a little more info than this. When you say whine, do you mean like when a belt on a car alt slips or like a piezo siren? There are only relays and some wire harnesses under the seat so nothing i can think of would make this. Where all did you look? Did you look for any burnt toasty places either black or white?

I think the piezo siren analogy is pretty good - almost like a smoke alarm but not as lound and higher pitched. Definitely an electronic/electric tone, at least to my ears. I took apart everything connected to the battery; I have yet to find anything charred. Note: I put a LOT of wet miles in on Friday and Saturday. Sunday was dry, but HOT and HUMID. There were times when the temp guage was in the mid 220's; maybe higher - we got into some traffic the last two hours of riding and it was miserable.

OK, I think I have a base understanding of what the problem might have been (and may still be for all I know). I got a new battery in this morning and tested the voltage draw across the terminals. Looks strong at 12.5 - 14.5. Under accleration, it peaks up to the 14.5; at idle its 12.5-13.5 solid. I rode the bike to warm it up, and when i got back to the garage, it was hot enough to kick the fans on. There is a harmonic in the fan/fan motor that resonates at the exact same frequency I was hearing (the whine/tone) shortly before my battery failed. You can definitely see the V drop when they spin up (although never below 12.5 or so with the new bat.) It is my belief that the fan(s) never completely kick ed off the night I brought it home from the long. hot ride. The fans themselves weren't spinning, but they were still drawing from the battery for some reason. i.e. the fan motor was still drawing current. Is that even possible??? Note: I was unable to duplicate the noise in testing. Fans kick off completely when bike was turned off with no residual activity.

I had the identical problem last Friday on my 2004 R1 with 5500 mile son it. I had just ridden from Michigan to West Virginia on a 95-degree day and whenever I stopped the bike to refuel I heard this high-pitched squeal. Thinking my ears were just ringing from the ride, I ignored it. But that evening, the bike wouldn't turn over and I had to bump start it. Same thing the next morning. And 200 miles into my ride, the warning lights starting blinking off and on while the tachometer went crazy. As soon as I pulled over, the bike stopped and the electrical system was completely dead. There wasn't even enough juice to illuminate the neutral light. I took off the seat to check the battery and found that it was the source of the noise. After removing the tank to remove it, I realized that the sealed battery was extremely hot and I think it was screaming because it was somehow relieving some internal pressure to avoid exploding. Fortunately, there was a shop nearby that had a replacement battery, which my riding partner retrieved. After installing it, the bike ran perfectly again. Keep in mind that the '04 R1's battery sits just above the catalyst. You know how hot the seat gets on a high-temp day. The battery is even closer to the heat source than the seat is. I suspect that 2004 R1 batteries are not destined for long lives, particularly in warm climates.