2004 v11 cafe sport battery charging

[docc]

3 hours ago, orangem2 said:

2004 v11 Cafe Sport

Oil pressure light ON with key ON, engine OFF

GEI 20A/25A relays

 

just ordered picker PC782-1C-12S-R-X replacement relays

Thanks. Later V11 are wired slightly differently than the early Sports.

On 10/17/2025 at 5:48 PM, orangem2 said:

 

I read ALL of that already and then some LOL... just 2 questions:

is my regulator rectifier borderline?

should my charging light come on when the bike is NOT running, just the ignition switch to ON?

 

 

 

3 hours ago, orangem2 said:

2004 v11 Cafe Sport

Oil pressure light ON with key ON, engine OFF

GEI 20A/25A relays

 

just ordered picker PC782-1C-12S-R-X replacement relays

Look carefully at your warning light display. There are separate right and left turn signal indicators? Then there will be no "battery"/charging light. It was omitted on the later V11.

Good call on the (major) relay upgrade.

[orangem2]

DOH!!!

THNX DOCC LOL

[orangem2]

Also checked the 30A fuse... It was perfect with no degrading whatsoever.

 

I will share results when new battery, and relays are installed

Edited October 19 by orangem2

[gstallons]

nothing exotic.......other than it works when it wants.....

[orangem2]

Like anything mechanical... it will break at the absolute worse moment if not maintained

[Gmc28]

Near to another happy ending!

i agree its only a motorcycle, and a relatively (mercifully) simple one compared to some (though worse than others).  My habit on these vintages of bikes to just redo the wiring like Pressureangle noted.  Whether its the connections or the quality of the wire itself is a question for some, but just replacing the whole mess with good wire & connections , at some time when the bike is apart anyway for work, just removes the issues from the equation.  Grounds, connections, wire quality, relays (1st), reg/rec... just remove those actual or potential challenge areas, at fairly low cost.  Then Lo and behold, the temperamental italians transform into a more reasonably reliable forms of wheeled transport.  

I wonder if in all the info on this topic over the years if there are many, or any, records of folks doing that and then having more or ongoing electrical issues (except where an obvious flaw was found)?  Just curious. 

(ps - love the motobatt plan.  just sayin.)

Edited October 21 by Gmc28

[orangem2]

So the Motobatt battery worked nicely but is a half inch too tall... hits the seat.

Bike started very easily and when warmed up at 1000 rpm 12.6V, at 2000-3000 rpm 13.7V.

Turned the idle up a little to 1100 and now 13.3V at idle, 13.7V at 2000-3000 rpm.

So now i am getting a PC545 that i know will fit and I found some 4 terminal bus bars that i will try and make work to clean up the ridiculous amount oF connections for each battery.

Also at the recommendation of DOCC, i replaced all six relays with Picker 30A relays... I have the sixth relay for startus interuptus. 

My voltages, to me, look spot on for a healthy REGULATED charging system.

I will report the voltages with the PC545.

[docc]

3 hours ago, orangem2 said:

So the Motobatt battery worked nicely but is a half inch too tall... hits the seat.

Bike started very easily and when warmed up at 1000 rpm 12.6V, at 2000-3000 rpm 13.7V.

Turned the idle up a little to 1100 and now 13.3V at idle, 13.7V at 2000-3000 rpm.

So now i am getting a PC545 that i know will fit and I found some 4 terminal bus bars that i will try and make work to clean up the ridiculous amount oF connections for each battery.

Also at the recommendation of DOCC, i replaced all six relays with Picker 30A relays... I have the sixth relay for startus interuptus. 

My voltages, to me, look spot on for a healthy REGULATED charging system.

I will report the voltages with the PC545.

Progress!

Just a reminder to check the voltage on the new PC545. If it's below the 12.65v charging threshold, give it a proper "Conditioning" before installation. Your V11 charging system will thank you!

As for the seat resting on our batteries . . .

 

[Pressureangle]

4 hours ago, orangem2 said:

So the Motobatt battery worked nicely but is a half inch too tall... hits the seat.

Bike started very easily and when warmed up at 1000 rpm 12.6V, at 2000-3000 rpm 13.7V.

Turned the idle up a little to 1100 and now 13.3V at idle, 13.7V at 2000-3000 rpm.

My voltages, to me, look spot on for a healthy REGULATED charging system.

I will report the voltages with the PC545.

I'll defer to the audience for V11 voltages because the regulators are different from my '97 Sport- but I *never* had over 13.7v, for a couple years, until I addressed the stator connector wires- then got 12.9v at 1000rpm, 13.2v at 1200 and 14.3-ish while running. After all of this grief, I would absolutely DeOxit those bullets. 

[LaGrasta]

I've been sharing this tip with others exploring the charging needs of the V11. After I recently replaced far too many components, I ran a direct wire from the battery to the Reg/Rec, and all is well. This additional positive lead was all it needed to behave as intended. I've since put a few thousand miles on the bike, some fairly lengthy rides, not a problem!

Best to you, @orangem2

[Lucky Phil]

On 10/31/2025 at 3:43 AM, LaGrasta said:

I've been sharing this tip with others exploring the charging needs of the V11. After I recently replaced far too many components, I ran a direct wire from the battery to the Reg/Rec, and all is well. This additional positive lead was all it needed to behave as intended. I've since put a few thousand miles on the bike, some fairly lengthy rides, not a problem!

Best to you, @orangem2

Only down side to this is battery drain when the bike isn't running. Combine this with the drain from the ecu when parked and it's quite a drain so the battery tender is required.

Phil

[docc]

13 minutes ago, Lucky Phil said:

Only down side to this is battery drain when the bike isn't running. Combine this with the drain from the ecu when parked and it's quite a drain so the battery tender is required.

Phil

and, then: "Catch 22" - if the low amperage "tender/trickle" charger does not output adequate voltage for your specific battery (Hawker Odyssey PC545 in the case of our V11 OEM battery), then the battery life is shortened.

[LaGrasta]

"battery drain"?

I've not experienced this, not even when I was gone on vacation for a month. I run a lithium, so maybe that has something to do with it. Regardless of a direct line to battery positive, what would be drawing down while not running?

[Lucky Phil]

23 hours ago, LaGrasta said:

"battery drain"?

I've not experienced this, not even when I was gone on vacation for a month. I run a lithium, so maybe that has something to do with it. Regardless of a direct line to battery positive, what would be drawing down while not running?

The ECU is a direct current draw all the time as is a regulator when connected to the battery unswitched. Both are live when the reg is directly connected to the battery and any electronic device live is a current draw. It's enough to bring your battery voltage down to 60% or so of fully charged in the time you mentioned. It's not an insignificant drain. The std battery seems to still start the bike ok even when quite low in charge, probably because of a very low starter gear ratio and modest v11 compression. Also probably the reason you've never noticed starting issues after inactivity for a month. LIPO batteries have a naturally very low unloaded loss compared to a AGM and wet cell but a parasitic draw is a parasitic draw for any of them.

In the modern car world with the multitude of ECU's controlling everything when you turn the ignition off it takes around 45 minutes for all of them to eventually power down. If any of them fail to do so owners have trouble with flat batteries when left for weeks at a time, sometimes shorter periods. Pretty common.

Phil    

Edited Thursday at 10:14 PM by Lucky Phil

[docc]

2 hours ago, Lucky Phil said:

The ECU is a direct current draw all the time as is a regulator when connected to the battery unswitched. Both are live when the reg is directly connected to the battery and any electronic device live is a current draw. It's enough to bring your battery voltage down to 60% or so of fully charged in the time you mentioned. It's not an insignificant drain. The std battery seems to still start the bike ok even when quite low in charge, probably because of a very low starter gear ratio and modest v11 compression. Also probably the reason you've never noticed starting issues after inactivity for a month. LIPO batteries have a naturally very low unloaded loss compared to a AGM and wet cell but a parasitic draw is a parasitic draw for any of them.

In the modern car world with the multitude of ECU's controlling everything when you turn the ignition off it takes around 45 minutes for all of them to eventually power down. If any of them fail to do so owners have trouble with flat batteries when left for weeks at a time, sometimes shorter periods. Pretty common.

Phil    

Well said.

Brought to mind a couple things. First, that Odyssey declares the PC545, common to our V11, should be > charged < (not trickled or tendered or floated, but > charged<) when it drops to 85% (12.65v).  Any lower and our charging system is excessively taxed, IMO.

Also, regarding the sustained electronic activity in modern cars, I learned that keeping the "fob" too close (or inside) the vehicle will not allow the "sleep" mode and will drain the battery.  The "fob"/ "access key" has to be separated from the vehicle a proper distance to allow the systems to go into "sleep" mode.