Let me first apologize for the long drawn out post but I wanted share the whole history with you guys so you can understand what's been happening. I thank anyone who takes the time to read this 
With that said, I went to look at an '06 busa last November. The bike had been sitting for a long period and wouldn't start. We jumped it and I took a quick ride before I decided to go ahead with the purchase as it only had 3,200 miles. I loaded it on a trailer and made the trip back home. I live in MA and riding season was over so I parked it in the garage and left it alone for a few weeks. My plans were to start the bike once a week and let it run for a few minutes in the garage but I couldn't get the battery to take a charge. The previous owner said he only rode it a handful of times the prior year and nothing last year (2012). He didn't keep it on a tender so I figured the battery was shot and decided I would just purchase a new one. After a little research I opted for a lithium ion battery and purchased the Shorai LFX18A1-BS12. Right off the bat I was having issues starting the bike and the battery would not hold a charge. I ended up getting a replacement from Shorai and experienced the same issues. Fully charged one day, but if it was disconnected from the charger I couldn't start the bike the next day. At the time, I still had my R6 and would swap that battery into the busa and it would fire right up with no problem. I sold the R6 in March so the only battery in my possession was the Shorai. And I injured my shoulder around the same time so I was a bit lax about the problem because I couldn't ride anyway. Fast forward to a couple of days ago where I left the battery charging overnight and it read fully charged when I woke up. I disconnected the charger and left for work but when I got home it would start. Same issues as before. Headlight would come on and the needle gauges would flip all the way right and back to zero. I tried starting the bike and it sounded like a dead battery. Put the charger back on waited an hour or so before trying again and was able to start it after a few attempts. I decided to take it out figuring it would continue to charge while riding. I was out for a half hour before I needed to get some fuel. Shut off the bike, filled the tank, and crossed my fingers while I hit the starter. Absolutely nothing. WTF? Only off for 2-3 minutes!!!! I called my buddy who I sold the R6 and asked him to bring the battery. It fired right up so I gave him my battery and raced on home. That was Thursday night. Friday he called to say he was able to start the R6 with my battery. I stopped by his house after work, swapped batteries and came home to try again. As you may have guessed, it didn't work. Only difference this time was I heard a "popping" sound when I hit the starter so I immediately turned off the ignition and disconnected everything from the battery.
I have been leaning towards the battery as the culprit all along but back to back lemons seems like a stretch. And the fact it started the R6 is raising some doubt in my mind. One other thing to note. I made one "electrical" mod to the bike and installed a set of LED lights. The lights were working fine for over a month and then I suddenly lost some of the colors. I called the vendor and was told I had loose or crossed wires. I did splice some of the cables to avoid having to run so many wires back to the control unit but I thought I did a good job of heat shrinking everything so it didn't make sense. So when I couldn't start the bike yesterday, I figured I would connect only the LED's and try to sort out that issue first. Much to my surprise the lights worked as they had been all along. All of the colors were back.
So I'm scratching my head at this point and don't know where to start. Is it possible I have a loose wire somewhere or a wire that is making contact with metal or something else it shouldn't be? My buddy mentioned checking the stator. If it was bad, could it drain the battery even while the bike is off? Is there something else I should be checking?
With that said, I went to look at an '06 busa last November. The bike had been sitting for a long period and wouldn't start. We jumped it and I took a quick ride before I decided to go ahead with the purchase as it only had 3,200 miles. I loaded it on a trailer and made the trip back home. I live in MA and riding season was over so I parked it in the garage and left it alone for a few weeks. My plans were to start the bike once a week and let it run for a few minutes in the garage but I couldn't get the battery to take a charge. The previous owner said he only rode it a handful of times the prior year and nothing last year (2012). He didn't keep it on a tender so I figured the battery was shot and decided I would just purchase a new one. After a little research I opted for a lithium ion battery and purchased the Shorai LFX18A1-BS12. Right off the bat I was having issues starting the bike and the battery would not hold a charge. I ended up getting a replacement from Shorai and experienced the same issues. Fully charged one day, but if it was disconnected from the charger I couldn't start the bike the next day. At the time, I still had my R6 and would swap that battery into the busa and it would fire right up with no problem. I sold the R6 in March so the only battery in my possession was the Shorai. And I injured my shoulder around the same time so I was a bit lax about the problem because I couldn't ride anyway. Fast forward to a couple of days ago where I left the battery charging overnight and it read fully charged when I woke up. I disconnected the charger and left for work but when I got home it would start. Same issues as before. Headlight would come on and the needle gauges would flip all the way right and back to zero. I tried starting the bike and it sounded like a dead battery. Put the charger back on waited an hour or so before trying again and was able to start it after a few attempts. I decided to take it out figuring it would continue to charge while riding. I was out for a half hour before I needed to get some fuel. Shut off the bike, filled the tank, and crossed my fingers while I hit the starter. Absolutely nothing. WTF? Only off for 2-3 minutes!!!! I called my buddy who I sold the R6 and asked him to bring the battery. It fired right up so I gave him my battery and raced on home. That was Thursday night. Friday he called to say he was able to start the R6 with my battery. I stopped by his house after work, swapped batteries and came home to try again. As you may have guessed, it didn't work. Only difference this time was I heard a "popping" sound when I hit the starter so I immediately turned off the ignition and disconnected everything from the battery.
I have been leaning towards the battery as the culprit all along but back to back lemons seems like a stretch. And the fact it started the R6 is raising some doubt in my mind. One other thing to note. I made one "electrical" mod to the bike and installed a set of LED lights. The lights were working fine for over a month and then I suddenly lost some of the colors. I called the vendor and was told I had loose or crossed wires. I did splice some of the cables to avoid having to run so many wires back to the control unit but I thought I did a good job of heat shrinking everything so it didn't make sense. So when I couldn't start the bike yesterday, I figured I would connect only the LED's and try to sort out that issue first. Much to my surprise the lights worked as they had been all along. All of the colors were back.
So I'm scratching my head at this point and don't know where to start. Is it possible I have a loose wire somewhere or a wire that is making contact with metal or something else it shouldn't be? My buddy mentioned checking the stator. If it was bad, could it drain the battery even while the bike is off? Is there something else I should be checking?
