Ignition/Battery Question

[GordG]

I had my radio quit on me ..... again, so I disconnected the battery for the perscribed 20 minutes and viola I have my radio back. However, in doing so I noticed that when I removed the bolt for the battery connection there was little or no sparks present. When I reconnected the terminal I had plenty of sparks and sizzle. I'm used to seeing a little activity in this area as vehicles now a days usually have something drawing on them with the ignition off, but this was a bit much. To follow up on this, when I put my ignition to the "R" position the radio comes on. In my riders manual it states that the ignition is off but does not mention the effect it has on the radio.
I bought the 02 a couple of years ago and have since noticed that the previous owner had played with some of the wiring. My question to you tinkerers out there is, from what I've discribed. What's normal and what's not?

[jzeiler]

Perfectly normal. The spark you saw was to "charge" the capacitors in the electronics. These are storage devices that smooth out voltage variances and they self discharge over time when disconnected. The in-rush current can be quite high but is very short lived.

[GordG]

Thanks for the response. What you say makes total sense considering the high voltage ignition system in these bikes.

[mrwad]

I had my radio quit on me ..... again, so I disconnected the battery for the perscribed 20 minutes and viola I have my radio back. However, in doing so I noticed that when I removed the bolt for the battery connection there was little or no sparks present. When I reconnected the terminal I had plenty of sparks and sizzle. I'm used to seeing a little activity in this area as vehicles now a days usually have something drawing on them with the ignition off, but this was a bit much. To follow up on this, when I put my ignition to the "R" position the radio comes on. In my riders manual it states that the ignition is off but does not mention the effect it has on the radio.
I bought the 02 a couple of years ago and have since noticed that the previous owner had played with some of the wiring. My question to you tinkerers out there is, from what I've discribed. What's normal and what's not?
The "R' on the ignition stands for radio. The ignition is disabled and you cannot crank in this position, you can also remove the key at this time. I have read several posts where people have done so and "critters" have gotten on their bikes and stepped on the radio button turning on the radio and draining the battery.

My dealer informed me of this feature and warned me against using it, as you can leave the radio on, muted, and walk away and forget about it. Next day, dead battery. It is a cool option though for listening to tunes while you are detailing your bike, and you can move the steering around as well during cleaning.

[Dick]

The "R' on the ignition stands for radio. The ignition is disabled and you cannot crank in this position, you can also remove the key at this time. I have read several posts where people have done so and "critters" have gotten on their bikes and stepped on the radio button turning on the radio and draining the battery.

My dealer informed me of this feature and warned me against using it, as you can leave the radio on, muted, and walk away and forget about it. Next day, dead battery. It is a cool option though for listening to tunes while you are detailing your bike, and you can move the steering around as well during cleaning.
On ole Toad, the radio playing, with the key in 'R', would last for about two hours, and then shut ifself off. Toad is a '99 model year.