Bad battery or something else?

[turbofiat124]

Initially I used one of those 12aH batteries used on battery powered rides to power the starter on my Peace 110. I had it Zip tied to the rear rack. These batteries came from our fire alarm system at work and we still good but had to be replaced every so many years. So I grabbed them before they went into the recycling bin.

I noticed that after a week or so if the bike had not been riden the battery would go dead.

So I went to Wal-Mart and bought the correct size battery for it.

So far so good but once again, a week later that battery went dead. Brand new battery! I thought maybe my daughter had turned the key on and left it on like she did my Trabant a few years ago.

Normally this bike get's ridden almost every day when I'm off. We went to the beach a few weeks ago for a week and when I got home, my daughter wanted me to take her for a ride and the battery was dead.

I'm wondering if something is draining the battery. The guy who gave it to me said he couldn't keep batteries on it when he owned it and had to disconnect the wires when not in use.

I know I can hook a mulit-meter between the battery and the small red wire that goes to the ignition switch/alarm system and see if there is any current draw with the key off to see if something is draining the battery.

Providing it's not pulling more than 1 amp. I have smoked multi-meters in the past when I thought a circuit was not pulling more than 1 amp and it was.

If there is a current draw, then what could it be? My guess is the alarm system could be dragging it down. Maybe a bad diode in the magneto?

The battery does not go dead if used. It's when the bike sits for a week not being ridden. So I know the battery is being recharged by the magneto.

I removed the buzzer when I got this thing. Is there anyway to bypass the alarm system and the remote starter system? Or if these module are removed, the bike won't start? Can the harness be jumpered?

I guess the quick fix is to install a toggle switch in the small red fused wire coming off the battery. That should kill everything.

I wouldn't imagine that the thick red wire that goes to the starter would drain the battery.