The 12V XT battery is six 2.1V cells in series. Any one of those cells being weak will compromise the battery. Even a new battery can be bad or weak. I always use Yuasa batteries and have never had any problems with them. Watch the Chinese knockoff products. They can be hit or miss. The "loaded" test Jerry mentioned above should sort out a bad battery. OC terminal voltage doesn't mean much. Good luck.

Gents,
Thanks again for all the info, very much appreciated!

Paul,
No electrical accessories other than a battery tender (took the wires off early on to try & figure out what's happening).

Jerry,
12.11 on the meter, 24 hours later 11.48, key out of the ignition (2nd new battery, other-one the same reading + -).
Volt meter started @ 11.48, 3 minutes later read 9.75 (didn't try to start it, just turned the ignition on).

Have a good evening.

Yep, you definitely have something drawing power, especially if you are seeing this with a new battery.

When you say "volt meter started" you mean with the key on, engine off, it dropped to 9.75? Doesn't suprise me that much with all the incandescent lamps on the bike on for 3 minutes. The battery is only a 7amp-hour battery, and the headlight alone pulls about 4.5 amps. Add another 1-2 amps for the turn signal "parking" lamps up front and the tail lamp, plus the stator coil's electric field, all drawing power from the battery without any charge coming in, it'll pull that battery down pretty quick.

Still, with key off it should not sag almost a full volt, and 12.11vdc is a bit low for charge to start with. I'm wondering if you have a weak stator that's not keeping the battery charged up while running, and if its also draining the battery slightly overnight.

With key on, engine off, notate voltage, then start bike and see, at idle, what voltage is, and finally with engine slightly revved up, notate that voltage too. This will determine if the stator is charging the battery properly.

Next one I'd test is to let the battery sit without anything connected to it at all. 24 hours should show no major change in voltage. If it does, you probably have sulfation in the battery and it needs to be de-sulfated with a good conditioning charger.

After that, if battery is good, I'd run the multimeter in amperage mode, and WITHOUT the key being on, connect it between positive terminal on battery and positive wire on bike. See what its showing, it should be zero. If it isn't, start disconnecting connectors one at a time, starting with the main fuse. Keep going, one at a time, to see which one(s) drawing power.

Note, you'll need a decent multimeter that has amperage function, although a cheapo one from Harbor Freight should be able to do it if it has DC amps function. This one has DC A all the way up to 20A unfused, but I'd throw a 10A fuse between the positive terminals just to be safe!

https://www.harborfreight.com/11-function-digital-multimeter-with-audible-continuity-61593.html

23 bucks ain't bad for this meter and it covers most functions.

Awesome flyinhawaiian968!
I'll try the things you noted (starting with a new stator, it's not charging as is!).

When you say "volt meter started" you mean with the key on, engine off, it dropped to 9.75? - YES.

Thanks again.

The most common problem with the stator assembly is the magneto coil given it's fine wire. The 15 charger coils are fairly durable. Both the stators went in our bikes at around 10k miles. In both cases the magneto coil went bad. That means no spark and a dead engine. Check the obvious stuff first like connectors, wiring, connections, rectifiers, etc. The stator produces 3 phase AC. The biggest hassle with that job was removing the gasket and cleaning the surfaces of the engine case and cover. I used Permatex form a gasket as the sealer. I didn't have any oil leaks after the repair. I bought OEM stators some years back now about $260/ea.

Yeah, Scott, they are not cheap if you buy oem, and I dunno if I'd do that job with one of the chinese knockoffs, that's a lot of work to find it only lasts a year or three!

Definitely trying to have him try the easiest stuff first, then head into harder items (like the wiring up front by the headlight), but mainly trying to see if we can pinpoint where the issue is before tearing into it. The whole first, next and third steps I noted should be easy to do without any real tools or disassembling much, other than the battery's positive terminal. If he gets to that third part where he has to start disconnecting those connectors one at a time, hopefully its one that's close to the battery!

As an old car audio/alarm installer, I'm not afraid of wiring one bit, but I know it freaks most people out to be disconnecting stuff like this! Let's hope he finds something simple and right under the seat or next to the battery!!! So long as the magic smoke isn't released, he'll be fine!!!

Don't worry, Cory! Take pics with your phone if you feel its getting a bit crazy with disconnecting stuff! I'm sure any one of us can talk you through getting it all back together and running right.

I always use OEM parts with a couple of exceptions. Aftermarket parts can be a hero or zero. I replaced my MAF sensor in the XTerra with an O'Reilly lifetime warranty part. The part looked fine. I installed it and the check engine light came on (after clearing the codes) and so did the ABS warning light. Go figure. The OEM sensor is $260 from our online store which has good prices. I usually get about 75k miles out of them given dust. CRC makes a cleaner which extends the life a bit.

For the deeper repairs, OEM saves time, hassles and money in the long run. Such have been my experiences. Rubber twist grips are an exception, however. I always used something other than OEM for these. The aftermarket grips are better. Same for fork boots. The DoubleTake mirrors are tons better than OEM ones. So exceptions do exist but need to be chosen wisely. As for a stator, I would never use anything other than an OEM part.

Guys, just saw you latest posts.
10-4, I'll start with "easiest stuff first, then head into harder items"!!
As always, thanks so much for the help!!