OK, I've already had a low battery twice. The dealership warned me that if it was going to sit much to get a trickle charger, it's only sat for four days, went to start it this morning and it was almost dead. Is this normal?

 

I have the same problem. Haven't bought a battery yet, but if I leave it off of the charger for more than a few days, its dead.

 

not normal. I am still on my original battery. allmost three years. it sets for up to four weeks some times. never been dead. check your conections. have your battery tested. and get a automatic charger that you can leave on indefenitly. battery tender is a good automatic charger. they are cheap to.

 

Yep I had the same problem with both my DS's. Heres what I found out...The fluid evaporates or leaves somehow and needs to be topped off from time to time. Depending on what brand, there is a strip that caps off the fill holes. I pry that off and add a little bit of distilled water to keep em fresh. EVERY set of batteries I have "killed" has ended up being low to no fluid!
If you put them on a regular charger on the slow cook mode .. youll doo exactly that... cook it !! Listen too it while its charging and see if you hear it bubbling. If so that your fluid bubbling out too !! Youll need to check it and top it off!
If you put them on a trickle charger youll still need to check the fluid every so often just like it tells you in the instructions!
Ive had people / battery instructions tell me that they are non service batteries and you dont need to do that ...... WHATEVER ! F-them , sorry Ive been down this road too many times and now that I check and top off I have NO PROBLEMS and I havnt bought a battery in years!!
Great little scam the dealers have I might add, they make huge bucks off the batteries down here in AZ......I have one word for ya ....G E L L........ Does anyone know if they make one for the DS???

 

yes they do:

http://www.odysseyfactory.com/

 

I had the same problem with my '04 X. The battery went dead after 3 days of sitting. I read a thread about the water temp sensor being the culprit. Water gets into the sensor and causes a low amperage drain on the system. Mine was still under warranty. I told the dealer about the sensor, he changed it (up until that point they were clueless, This forum is great!!!) and no problems since then. It may be something to look into.
Be careful about pressure washing directly to that sensor. I make sure I turn the pressure way down and have had no problems since then. Sometimes the bike sits for a month and no drain.

 

I did not think the sensors had any power going to them with the key switch in the off position. if this is true. then the sensor could not be the problem unless you also have a bad key switch. I have a hard time beleiving that one.

I would look at the reg/rectifier before anything else. if your battery is good.

 

I didn't think it was possible either but the ignition and fan are supposedly on different circuits. I think the post was by JsDs. He is the one that had the same problem and clued me in to clue the dealer in to the water temp switch. I have had no problems since then.