Should Battery Read > 12v When Running? ABS Issue

[TimTyler]

I left the GPS running for a few days of sitting and it drained the 9-month old Odyssey battery.

I charged the battery via a 10a charger off the bike, and rewired the GPS's USB power supply thing to the correct OEM alarm wire in the relay box under the tank so it won't drain the battery in the future while the bike is OFF. It was previously connect to the alarm's "always 12v" lead, and now it's on the switched lead.

Anyway, now that things are all back together I've got flashing ABS lights that will not reset using the recommended procedure. Took the bike out for about 80 miles today without any problems except the flashing lights.

I tried about 50 times tonight to reset the ABS fault code. I even disconnected the wires from the ABS dashboard switch (thinking the switch might be bad) and  made the connection by hand for the tests.

I put a VOM meter on the ABS diagnostic center pin and found ~10v but no pulsing voltage variations that might identify the specific ABS fault code.

My next attempt will involve removing the GPS's USB power thing from the bike just in case that's drawing power during bike-bootup, which might be messing with the ABS's power needs, but that seems like a long shot.

I pulled the ABS brain and confirmed on the multi-pin connector that it's getting the same exact 12v that the battery shows.

The battery is showing almost exactly 12v when the bike is off and when the bike is idling. Should it be higher?

Anybody got any ideas or suggestions?

[Rick G]

I would expect the volage to be higher. Take the rpm to 1500-2000 and read the voltage there it should be around 13.6v maybe a bit higher.
I have fixed that no reset problem by riding at abour 50mph and without pulling the clutch in turn the key off and count to two and turn it on, if the light resets it was the voltage at fault.
My K75 was playing up because of low volts but after a while it continued to give trouble till I sent it to this guy who fixed  it and now its good again.
http://bmwk10075abs1fix.web.fc2.com/

[TimTyler]

Good news.

Trickle charged overnight, and the charger now reads "Charged" and still just a tad over 12v on the battery, so I guess that's all the battery will do. I do get 13.2v at 2500 rpm though so the alternator is working.

Took a ride around the block and the ABS error was gone. Clymer says it takes 2.5mph for the ABS to turn the flashing lights off so maybe I just hadn't passed the threshold in my driveway yesterday.

All good now.

[frankenduck]

Volts don't give you much information - aside from volts.  You should get the battery load tested to see how good it is.  You can take it into an auto parts store and they'll load test it for free.