10/12/2026
Our shop always has an interesting story about weird issues on motorcycles. Here is a 2013 Triumph Daytona 675R that was brought to us for a new set of chain and sprockets, as well as determining whether the bike had a draw, causing the battery to die. The chain and sprockets was the easy part. The battery issue was a bit odd, however. The customer had a gps locator installed on his bike as a theft preventative. Over time, the battery lost power due to the small draw from the gps. Once the new battery was installed and the gps was hooked up, it was test drive time. No issues arose on that first drive. The next time the attempt was made to start the bike, it powered up, but would not respond when the starter button was depressed. The interference caused by the gps being hooked up kept the motorcycle from cranking. Once it was disconnected, the bike cranked over and started every time it was attempted. (The alarm icon was on when the gps was hooked up and disappeared when disconnected.) A bit of an unexpected resolution, but a welcome one for our customer. It explained some of the issues he had with the battery and the bike. His friend picked up the motorcycle and now it’s headed up to New Jersey, where my customer is now temporarily staying…..