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[SwampNut]

I don't get it.  This happens on the bike I own (2023 SR/S) and on a bike I rented (2020 SR/S).  I wish they'd stay on all the time, and have no idea why it seems random.  Example:  I rode for a while to a destination, parked, turned it off.  Plugged in my helmet to charge.  It was charging, with the bike off.  I needed to move the bike, and did, about 100 feet away.  Turn off the bike...the damn USB ports turn off!  WTF!  Same happened when I rented one, the phone kept charging one time, so I thought, that's very cool and useful.  And then at another stop I look, and the phone is not charging.

Anyone know what's going on?

Also the 12v outlet at the front ALWAYS turns off immediately.  I have not tested the underseat outlet at all.

[remmie]

When the bike is off, every 2-3 hours the Remote connect module is powered (along with the USB ports) to update the position of the bike. The main display will not turn on during this. It takes a few minutes to connect to the cellphone network, update the position to the server and disconnect. So for a few minutes the USB ports will be powered.

[SwampNut]

Interesting, though in both of these cases they simply stayed on right after parking the bike.  Maybe the module stays on for a while?  But then it didn't stay on after moving the bike.  Oh, maybe it's staying on to update position after a trip?

[SwampNut]

Also, it's super annoying to have a massive battery pack but can't use it to charge your helmet...sheesh...

[Specter]

or your suit or phone or jacket etc.

I know this is a zero issue but it hits other bikes as well.

I wish they'd give you a choice to leave it on all the time, or keyed on / off, I mean come on
A 7kw, a 12kw  a 21.5  kw battery pack is NOT going to get drained by a cellphone that is probably 1/1000th the capacity of the battery.

Aaron

[TheRan]

I mean, if you've got stuff plugged in and charging you're probably going to want to stay by the bike anyway so just keep it keyed on. That is unless you lock stuff in the tank while charging. It's a roundabout solution, costs money, and isn't as efficient but you could keep a battery bank in there and charge that while riding, then charge stuff from that while the bike is parked up.

I don't know if this would work or if anyone has already tried it but I wonder if you could make a dummy plug to go in the accessory charging port (only for the gen 2 bikes of course) that would trigger the charge enable line and keep the contactor closed, and thus the DC-DC convertor activated and any USB ports powered.

[SwampNut]

I leave my gear on the bike all the time.  I rarely worry about it, I'm mostly in extremely low crime areas that also have a fear of "bikers" and just won't touch bikes.  In 30-some years here, I once had a tank bag stolen, and that was in a high crime place I knew about, and still left the bag on the bike every day for months at a time.

BUT...I also have this, which is a very neat way to have extra peace of mind when in a sketchy area.

[Specter]

TheRan, I see your point but that depends on where you are at also.  Your situation.
If I am out in town or somewhere I am new at, No HELL no, I am not leaving the bike on, stuff charging etc, it's ALL locked up
But if I am out at places I know, inside eating a burger or something and my bike is right outside the other side of the window where I am sitting, then yah, I got no issues leaving the phone charge a bit, the cardo, or whatever.  If I am at the American Legion hall where I know it's decent people, then I have absolutely NO problem leaving shit on the bike, unlocked, charging, or whatever I need.  Just would be nice to be able to just charge the phone w/ o the lights, the dash and everything else being lit up.  How hard I wonder to make a software user serviceable where you can decide if you want it or not.  Many cars have this, in the fusebox it's got the fuse or relay for your auxiliaries, ie the cigarette lighter and/or AC plug if you have one, and by moving the relay  from slots AB  to slots BC you can change it from being a keyed power on to an always on.  This is something that should not really be that hard on a bike either.  The 12 volt bus for aux stuff, have 3 fuse slots, where you plug it across determines if it's keyed or not.

Just an idea.
Aaron

[TheRan]

Well with the gen 2 bikes it's not that simple, they need the DC-DC convertor on to get 12V and that's hard wired to the key switch and charge circuitry. Gen 3 bikes with their separate 12V battery sure, although that has the risk of the battery being run down and as has been reported on here if that happens it causes issues with the bike operating.

[SwampNut]

Zero makes a huge deal about never connecting anything to the 12v battery, so I haven't.  But I do wonder why, and how bad could it be.  It's LiFeP04 which is very robust.

[Specter]

They are probably worried about you sucking the voltage down to like 6 volts or so.  That chem is very touchy and will avalanche very fast once you get it down to say under 11 volts.  Now your battery is sitting at 4 volts, and many chargers will not turn on if they don't see like at least 8 or 9 volts on the 12 volt bus, so there's that.  Plus their electronics in the bike, with a dying power supply that does the slow swirl down the drain rather than just pop and it's gone, that can really eat the shit out of electronics and pop CMOS like you never seen before.... so there is that.

The battery being just an auxiliary battery, probably a 5 ah or so? is NOT really meant for huge currents, being LiPhos, so when you go and plug in your 300 wattt heated hand grips, which want 25 amps, thats going to tear things up pretty fast on that battery.

Your bike SUCKS!!!!  I installed my 1000 watt stereo system and it killed my amp because YOUR battery died !!!  Saying no to everything, avoids those people.

Aaron

[SwampNut]

Oh yeah, totally agree, it's probably just self-protection.  Because dummies cannot understand "never exceed X milliamps" only just "never do it!"  I do wonder if that battery has internal self protection like the aftermarket motorcycle versions, or is just a dumb one.

[Specter]

If you putting something on it, voids the warranty now if your bike burns to the ground it's YOUR fault, and an elaborate BMS costs extra money, I can't see them putting anything really sophisticated on it if they do not have to.  There's probably some minimal UL protection they need, ie crowbar protection but otherwise, probably not.

Oh BTW, clear nail polish, and other 'tricks' can give away very easily if you fucked with the battery or not.  Why is this soft PhBro screw tore up on the edges?  WHY are there extra scratches on this washer?  I didn't hear the faint snap when I broke the bolt loose holding the wires to the terminal, that tells me that something broke the factory seal put on that terminal when it was first assembled.  Honest sir, I have NO idea why that post is melted off and there are burn marks about the size of an uninsulated crescent wrench on the chassis. 

We used to make a joke when one of the sparky's would cut a live wire and blow a perfect hole in their dykes,  Oh look!  Rick has a custom made perfect fit 12 gauge wire stripper !!!

Aaron

[TheRan]

The whole "warranty void if seal is broken" thing doesn't hold up legally, they have to prove that you did something and that that thing caused whatever issue you're trying to claim should be covered by the warranty. Obviously if you left burn marks from shorting the battery that would be a pretty clear sign, but say you wired something else to the battery and then it ended up dying because it was actually defective they couldn't then claim that you broke it. As long as you removed whatever the addition was then you could claim you just removed the screw and then replaced it, although if you left the thing attached then they'll have better grounds for claiming that caused the failure (operating the battery outside of specification perhaps).

You could in theory disassemble the entire bike into its individual components and reassemble it exactly and as long as it's all torqued to spec and shows no sign of being incorrectly and forcefully assembled (say hammer marks on the front sprocket and you're making a warranty claim on a dead motor) they'd have to honour the warranty. Well, I'm no lawyer and this varies by country, but this is my understanding of how it works in Europe and America.