[v8eyedoc]

I have been using my 400 almost every day here with no problems at all...and we had a torrential tropical rain storm here yesterday with almost 3" of rain in about 35 minutes. Old Faithful was sitting in the yard uncovered and this afternoon - went to start it and it cranked and then died....!!! Nada, Nothing, zilch, zero... So, I placed the battery on my Schumacher SC-10030A and 2 1/2 hours later the battery was fully charged. BTW - the Schumacher is a great tool to have (computer controlled) as i senses the size and type of battery and sets itself to charge it properly without any damage - also is a battery "tender" as well as a jumper battery.

Anyway - my question is...........Do you think the handlebar controls got so soaked from the rain that there was a significant current leakage...??????

 

[MacDoc]

Series of short trips might have not given the bike enough time to charge sufficiently.
A tender is a good idea if you do that sort of multiple short rides.

 

[Scootereno]

The bar controls have no power to them when the ignition is off so I would think the ignition switch more than handlebar controls. Unless the bar controls were filled with water when starting it and shorting then.
Was the shutter closed on the ignition switch? It does help to keep to water from filling it up as it is a drip cover.
The only things with power when turned off are the battery itself, fuse block, under seat light, and ignition switch I believe.
Or did it by chance get hit by lightening?

 

[cliffyk]

If it had been struck by lightening charging the battery would not have fixed it.

V8eyedoc, did it crank and not start after the first attempt, or just do nothing?

 

[Desert Rat]

If it had been struck by lightening charging the battery would not have fixed it.

If it had been hit by lighting the battery would have had a million volts in it. :laughing8:

 

[v8eyedoc]

If it had been struck by lightening charging the battery would not have fixed it.

V8eyedoc, did it crank and not start after the first attempt, or just do nothing?

cliffyk...........It cranked for about 5 seconds and then I could tell it had no more juice at all..........!! 2-3 hours on my faithful charger fixed it......thanks to all

 

[Chatman128]

First thoughts that come to mind.

The battery appearing discharged after a recent storm - happy coincidence.

If there is a correlation, I'd look closely at the terminals (tightness, corrosion, etc.)

If you still have the original battery installed, you may be approaching end of life on your battery. Every battery I've ever owned, failed by first exhibiting sporadic, seemingly random, dead battery events followed by decreasing intervals of acceptable operation. By the time the failure rate gets down to once every 3-4 weeks, I remember that this is what I've seen many times before.

Then again, I could be full of bad information. Caveat Lector

 

[JohnK]

I would still be curious as to why it happened in the first place. :dontknow:

Parking lights left on.
Under seat light left on.
Weak battery due to age, needing replacement soon.
To many short trips w/o sufficient time to recharge with add on accessories.
(driving lights are the usual culprits)

My 2 cents worth.

 

[TheDarkCutlass]

My 07 400 has never seen a garage, ergo, its always in the rain. Can honestly say I've never had a problem with it. Just the other day it was raining so bad/hard when I was at work watching it through the window, I was afraid the wind was going to knock it over (has yet to happen btw, just always a concern). In 2 hours when it was time for me to go, was no issue whatsoever.

I think it just might just be a coincidence that it happened after it rained.

 

[v8eyedoc]

First thoughts that come to mind.

The battery appearing discharged after a recent storm - happy coincidence.

If there is a correlation, I'd look closely at the terminals (tightness, corrosion, etc.)

If you still have the original battery installed, you may be approaching end of life on your battery. Every battery I've ever owned, failed by first exhibiting sporadic, seemingly random, dead battery events followed by decreasing intervals of acceptable operation. By the time the failure rate gets down to once every 3-4 weeks, I remember that this is what I've seen many times before.

Then again, I could be full of bad information. Caveat Lector

Chatman128 - You hit the nail on the head!!!!!!!!!!!! The battery failure had nothing to do with the rain at all. my battery is just 2 yrs old .....but.it crapped out on me! When I hooked up my Schumacher battery charger - it read out............ B A D ........! So.off to the dealer to get me another.