Negative Reading

I've been having issues keeping my battery charged.  If I put it on a trickle charger every two to three days it is fine (I commute daily ~80 miles round trip).  I started checking the system and the first suggested test is the leak test.   I disconnected the negative cable and checked voltage from the negative of the battery to the negative cable.  11.85 volt reading.  So this seems like it's likely the main issue but why does the battery drain so slowly? I had 12.20 Thursday night and just read 12.16.  I would imagine this is because when the bike sits there is nothing really drawing down the battery (clock...etc)?  

A Top shelf excellent  agm battery  will read 13 volt freshly charged and hold that weeks later . you may have other issue, but a 12,2 battery in a rested state is not good.

Your test is invalid. With ignition off use the same connection, negative terminal to cable, using ammeter mode. Start the setting at 20A, then move to 10A, moving down until you get a reading. This is to avoid damaging the multimeter. It should read 3mA or .003A maximum. The clock and cabling use a couple of milliamps. Anything higher is a short and should be investigated.

Unless you wrote volts instead of amps, but 11 amps being used while off would be an extreme power loss.

I did the Ammeter and got .47  Also, below is the description of the leak test. Both the Clymer and the Honda shop manual describe this test.  Am I missing somethiing?

[image: 20160312_195503_zpssnpg85pt.jpg]

What scale was the DVOM set on for the .47 reading?

That manual page doesn't seem right. You want to measure current, not voltage.

To measure current you put the meter in series with the wire you want to measure and set it to "amps".

I apologize, that old bike must run a little different than the newer bikes. That test can be valid if, when turned off, there should be zero current. In the newer bikes there is always a small current. So I just learned something about the older bikes.

If the multimeter scale you were on was "2" or "1" or a single digit, then that number should be the exact current. If the scale ends with a zero, (I think) you would multiple the reading by 10 to get actual.

Next steps: You may pull fuses and re-test. You will pull a fuse and that leakage current or voltage will drop to zero. Then note the fuse and compare it to the electrical diagram for the bike, and trace down that circuit. From your previous information you may already know the circuit but need to figure out how to physically access the wiring. 

When you are not working on the bike you will want to leave it disconnected. It is just killing the battery while connected. It could also cause high heat or additional melting in the circuit.

I guess, on this bike, internal battery resistance is the ONLY load that should be present.

So 470mA is way to high ...

On the amp reading. I followed the suggested instructions here.  I started with 200ma, 20ma,, then 2ma.  At 200 nothing, 20 .047 and 2 .47.  Great suggestion on the fuses. I was blindly checking wires so it makes much more sense to know where to start.  I'll try to get back on that this afternoon.  The good thing is that my seat is off at the upholsterers so I have a week to calmly find this issue.  Also, my new Shorai battery just showed up so I have that to look forward to when I fix this problem.

Thanks for all the advice. 

So I pulled every fuse on the main fuse block and no changes in readings.  Then I pulled the main fuse and both amps and volts went to 0.  Anybody have any ideas before I continue?  Is there some common failure between the main fuse and the fuse block? 

Thanks