Battery dead

[Crane]

I have an '07 XL1200C .Recently my battery is draining while its setting.I found some corrosion in the fuses,especially the starter relay and relay fuse.Apparently water sat in there and corroded the terminals after getting caught in a downpour last week.Could this be the problem ? I leaned the terminals and applied electrical grease to the connections.I had a loose battery terminal upon further inspection.I am adding a couple of star washers to help eliminate that problem.The battery is charging ,will have to see if I found the problem but wonder if anyone else had the problem and what did you do to fix it ? Thank you in advanceIvan

[Monk]

Old batteries just wear out too, eventually.

I've got an '07 1200C and my batt will struggle for a beat or two in the morning. Most often when I've moved it without my keyfob nearby and the flashers go nuts for awhile.
I just attribute it to the age.

The corrosion no doubt contributes to the problem, but it not may be all that's goin' on.

[dale0812]

You could disconnect the negative lead in stick it in series with a 12 volt test light with the ignition off, if the light comes on you have something drawing off the battery, if is does not come on I would load test the battery.

[SCHMIDTYS]

On post 04 Sportys the neg. connect at the batt. tends to loosen up and the batt. tends to not charge . The way to tighten the neg. post is to disconnect the neg. cable at the engine ground and pull the battery out then tighten the post connect then fish the cable back through and down to the engine ground .

[Crane]

Thanks for the responses.I will have the battery load tested today.

[Crane]

I charged the battery and I also bought 2 new relay switches sine the old ones were corroded.I brushed the fuse box down and applied a dielectrical grease heavily to fill the concaved area on the relay switch terminal side as a moisture barrier.The bike starts right up.I noticed once I hit the kill switch,there is no noise coming from the bike like there was.I think the contacts in the relays corroded causing the problem ? Anyway it might be something to keep an eye on.I would apply the dielectrical grease as a preventive maintainence if it was already done.the relay switches were identical.They ran $12.99 each,the part # 31601-04.It says it fits '06-'09 sportsters.

This bike has been a learning curve.I changed the oil and plugs in it when I bought it and the plugs showed it to be running lean.I went to the dealer and asked if it was remapped properly for the Rinehart pipes.The mechanic came out and she told me she worked on the bike since it was purchased new.I said that it looked to be running lean and she said it probably was set a little lean to meet the EPA standards.When Igot back home I took the the end cap to look at the baffle and immediately seen light shining through down in the pipe.I traced it to the fitting so I loosened up the clamp and bracket bolts and tapped it together.I re-adjusted both pipes and checked that everything was tighten down.Now the bike sneezes at idle like its running too rich ? Ivan