695 won't start!

[Ken Masters]

Hi All,

So I'm almost a year into my monster adventures and yesterday night my bike failed to start for the first time and continued in the same vein this morning.
In terms of my level of expertise, the most in depth thing I've done is change the belts last year.

Symptoms as follows:
Turn key, neutral light comes on along with red oil light next to it,  dials sweep from left to right, can hear the whine of the fuel pump, press the starter button and hear an audible click and then nothing. Yellow check engine light under neutral and oil lights illuminates.
Bike won't turn over/crank at all.

This first happened last night after spray painting my exhaust cans and wanting to go for a ride after refitting them.
I rode the bike around 9 days ago and no problems.

I've checked the kill switch.
The yellow immobiliser light goes off after putting the key in so don't think it is this.
The battery voltage seems ok according to the trickle charger but yet to test with voltmeter, thinking of changing the battery as I have no idea as to when it was last changed or how old it is.

To do:
Going to check the two black fuses next to the air filter box.
Going to check for grounding using a voltmeter

The only other thing I can think off is that on last ride I was having trouble engaging the side stand as kept hitting my foot on the peg so I may have messed with something around the area of the side stand, will have a look around there.
Maybe I jarred something loose when removing / refitting cans?

Also currently going through the search function for similar stories currently.

Finally a noob question - are the starter solenoid and starter relay the same thing??

Any help or ideas appreciated!

[ducpainter]

Starter solenoid, and relay, are the same thing.

It sounds like a bad battery, but you need to have it tested.

Trickle chargers don't always fully charge batteries.

[Howie]

Probably battery time?  Got a voltmeter?  If not, fully charge the battery and have it load tested.  Either way,fully charge the battery and have it load tested before going forward.

The click you hear is probably the solenoid, also called the (technically incorrect) starter relay.

This video saves me a lot of typing:


 

[Ken Masters]

Thanks Duc and Howie, I will have a look tonight.
 

[Ken Masters]

So charged the battery for a short while last night then put it back on the bike - hey presto the bike started straight up! What a sweet sound..

I have a couple of questions:
1. I charged the battery overnight, it went from 12.6 to 12.9V only. I would have thought it would have charged more than this. I'm leaving it for the day and going to test the charge when I get home from work - what is a reasonable amount of charge for a standing good battery to lose in a day?
2. I'm pretty sure the battery is done given the above, are there any cheaper good alternatives to the yuasa battery in the manual?
3. The battery goes in on its side, do we need to store batteries on their side for a day before installing?
4. Finally the battery is in a tight fitting rubber case with a hole in the bottom attached to a tube which discharges at the bottom of the bike - is this in case of rain??

Duc and Howie you were spot on in your prognosis, they should call this sub forum "the knowledge!!"  My thanks to you..

[ducpainter]

Battery self discharge is usually measured by % loss in months, not hours.

I wouldn't expect a good battery to lose any appreciable amount in a day.

Edit... 12.8/12.9 volts is fully charged for an AGM battery. 12.6 is about 75%

[Howie]

To be sure you want to load test the battery, or, at least a shade tree load test.  Open cell voltage just tells you state of charge.  Then again, just buying a new battery if it is over four years old is not a bad idea.  Fuel injected Ducatis need good batteries to start. Self discharge on an AGM is about .3V the first day and .3 volts a month after that.  There is also some normal drain when in the bike due to the immobilizer.  I never measured it, but it would be less than 6 milliamps.

The battery doesn't care what position it is stored in.

Yes there are cheaper batteries, but I would stick with the Yuasa.  They come dry, you add the acid (pre-measured, easy to do) so it's service life starts the day you put in service.  7 years in my old Monster.

A good deal from one of our sponsors:
https://monsterparts.com/products/yuasa-maintenance-free-agm-battery

[ducpainter]

If you do replace the battery, make sure to fully charge it before you put it in service.

[Ken Masters]

Thanks Guys for the quick responses.

Before buying a new battery, I'm going to test the battery over the next day or two to see how much its holding its charge without being on the bike. Sounds like it shouldn't really be dropping too much so I'm thinking that is one way to know if it needs replacing. My concern is that even with the immobiliser on, it shouldn't have gone below starting power needed in 9 days, please correct me I'm wrong.

Additionally I can't work out its age although I did find a stamp on it which I'm currently trying to decipher "6L13E"

If its not holding the charge will get a new Yuasa - I'm in the UK we get a good deal at £60 for the direct replacement.
I'm told there has been a recent law change here so batteries now come filled, sealed and charged ready to fit.
I think this is a response to the spate of acid attacks we've had in the last couple or years..

[ducpainter]

Self discharge is not the only measure of whether a battery is still good. A load test is still recommended. I do agree that your battery should not have dropped that much in 9 days.

I'd still check the voltage of a new battery, and charge as necessary before installing.

I don't think that number is a date code... https://www.hardwarexpress.co.uk/yuasa-date-codes-41-w.asp

[Ken Masters]

Thanks Duc will do.
Meanwhile I found this on another forum and not sure how reliable it is for 5 digit stamps but looks like the battery is 2007 according to this:

"The second digit from the left is the year that the battery was shipped from the factory i.e.
E-2000, F=2001, G=2002, H=2003, I=2004, J=2005=, K=2006, L=2007, M=2008, N=2009, O=2010, P=2011, Q=2012, R=2013, S=2014, T=2015 etc."

Proof is in the testing I guess