Ref Battery

[gsxbarmy]

How to maintain a Motorcycle battery (a bit different from car batteries)

https://motorbikewriter.com/maintain-bike-battery-properly/

[KiwiCol]

How's it different?   He's talking a 2 - 3 year lifespan, but properly maintained, that can be much longer. He also says hot is worse for a battery than cold.
I can see how a smaller (bike) battery left on a freezing floor (northern climate) for a winter, can have adverse effects on it, as your winters are much colder than ours & a bike battery being smaller would 'chill' more than say a car size one, although, eventually they'd end up the same temp.

An interesting thing I've noted on any of the battery sites is that hot & vibration is worse for the longevity of the battery than cold. Now where is it again the batteries are mounted in cars??   Right next to the engine mostly.  How's that work??  Dunno, but it does.

[grog]

Batteries, part of my everyday job. i know most answers. too much to write on here. my advice, always keep on charger when not in use. heat, vibration, cold are all battery killers. longest life batt ive ever seen, 26 yrs in the boot of a 1988 mercedes. battery best friend is a modern day smart charger, lots of diff. brands.most fit the bill.

[froudy]

Sound advice Grog.
Mine is hooked up to an Optimate when not being ridden for a few days. My Bandit Yuasa battery lasted 13 years!
The first year I moved over to Wales and had no power in the shed through the Winter.. The battery died because it wasn't hooked up.

[T 24]

Batteries, part of my everyday job. i know most answers. too much to write on here. my advice, always keep on charger when not in use. heat, vibration, cold are all battery killers. longest life batt ive ever seen, 26 yrs in the boot of a 1988 mercedes. battery best friend is a modern day smart charger, lots of diff. brands.most fit the bill.

Don't forget deep discharging when talking about battery killers.

[grog]

T24, spot on. it wrecks them. voids wrty on mine.

[Mick_J]

I think the battery on my 2000 speed triple is on it's way out, wouldn't start the bike yesterday.  Put it on charge and got 2 green lights so I will leave it a couple of days and try it again.  If it fails to start the bike I've a good mind writing to Triumph about it 

[gsxbarmy]

I think the battery on my 2000 speed triple is on it's way out, wouldn't start the bike yesterday.  Put it on charge and got 2 green lights so I will leave it a couple of days and try it again.  If it fails to start the bike I've a good mind writing to Triumph about it 

There's a section for Funnies on here 

[rekib]

Ive had the same battery on the 14 since new in 03 and only put a new one on in 2016, only once did I take it off for one winter with no problems when refitted,the rest of the years it has been on Optimate continuously until started to use the 14 regularly. The battery is still in good nick and used in the garage for things like topping up tyre pressures, small portable drill etc.

[taximan]

Gentlemen, thanks for all the info.

I have removed the battery, put it in a cardboard box and insulated it with some rags. I will store in a aired/warm carpeted room and charge it every couple of weeks.

[Kiwifruit]

Does the missus mind it being in the airing cupboard ?

[Speedy1959]

I dont wish to start a war nor annoy anyone but...
My last 9 bikes have all lived outside under a cover on my patio..
None of them have ever had a battery mate as I cannot get power to my bike (except via a long extension lead).
And yet not once have I ever had an issue starting my bike.
Both this GSX and a previous Honda CB1300 were left for almost a month without starting due to crappy weather..
Yet both started instantly at the touch of the starter button.

The common denominator as confirmed by 2 guys I know in the RAC and the AA is the fact I refuse to fit an after market alarm system and so my battery drain is near enough zilch!!

Anyone living in the UK will know we have had some pretty cold weather over the past 3 weeks or so...
And yet my bike starts instantly as though it was running a few hours ago..

So for me there is no mystery about battery reliability..
The mystery to me is why bother to complicate your bike with an alarm system..

On the subject of the 2 guys in the RAC and the AA.. They both confirmed that third party alarms cause them more brake down call outs on bikes than anything else.

[Doc_Rossi46]

Ok guys some extremely interesting facts and knowledge on batteries. So To add another dimension to the "fact finding mission" on batteries. I was thinking about getting a lithium battery. After doing the proverbial internet search on the pros and cons ... not too many cons it seems. Does anyone use them or know of anyone that use them. Will be interested in what you guys think. 

[Andre]

Lithium battery - Suzuki dealership guy said he wouldn't use them unless I wanted to save weight. Recommended I loose a few pounds.

Alarm system -  Something drawing power off your bike's battery  - don't be surprised when it runs empty. Each additional electrical device adds complexity and potential failures. I have a couple disc locks, one with alarm (which has its own battery).

Motorcycle generators are usually not designed with much extra capacity. Don't know about the 14 but doubt it has much reserve capacity. I like to have my bike running as smooth as it can. No added devices for me (not keen of them anyway).

Battery life span is not much of an issue to me. But the EFI needs a fully charged battery to run optimally. And that is the point where I am pro intelligent charger (even though I could buy a couple of batteries for the price of a such a charger).

[Mick_J]

Ok guys some extremely interesting facts and knowledge on batteries. So To add another dimension to the "fact finding mission" on batteries. I was thinking about getting a lithium battery. After doing the proverbial internet search on the pros and cons ... not too many cons it seems. Does anyone use them or know of anyone that use them. Will be interested in what you guys think. 

They don't like the cold.