Battery

pitrat101

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Hi guys, got a 2012gs, still got original battery on it and now I seem to be getting a fair few heated grip failures and lethargic starting. New battery time! My question is should I stay with stock battery or go for another type? Not sure what's out there for bikes and couldn't find much in search bar either. Not wanting to be rude but I don't need a thread of 'failed after 12 months' posts, parts fail! so just after best type!

Thanks in advance!

Steve
 
I’ve had my 07 GS from new. I replaced the original battery in 2010 with a Yuasa and just replaced it again as starting is getting lazy. The bike is used daily all year round. I’ve never had any bother with the standard batteries and would expect a 12 year old bike to have a couple of new ones in its life. Personal choice I suppose.
 
I've gone on to Motobatt batteries. Have had them on my last two bikes. Good batteries and no issues.
 
I bought my 06 gsa in 2008, it had 6,000 miles on it at the time, it had an odyssey battery fitted at the time, nearly 11 years and 90,000 miles later and its still on my bike, its never been on a trickle charger and left for 3-4 months every winter, I just give it a quick charge in the spring before taking it out for the first time,
I have a motobatt on one of my TLS's which has 4 terminals which is handy for accessories.
 
Another one for Motobatt..

I paid the price for cheap lead acid ones .. twice lol
 
You could look at lithium batteries... Just posted a thread with questions about these. Have also just purchased one. So committed!



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Going for a motobatt. Seems to be the most used. Just Got to find the right size.
 
Stock batteries last 6 to 7 years then magically just die, I put in the 110 quid oversized Odyssey one that squeezes in (Motorworks sell with the extended bracket to suit the 20mm increase in height...) but rather disappointingly mine attempted to die at 5 years... however like proper batteries it has removable covers on the 6 cells and just like another AGM its come back good as new after adding a small amount of distilled water to each cell (its a secret top tip on any AGM - after a few years the matting dries up).

On the motobatt front there's a monster moto guzzi battery that's possibly 2 mm too wide to get in between the battery rails but goes from the limp 12 A/Hr std joke, to a proper 20 A/Hr battery and its only 80 quid for anyone brave enough to try
 
botus said:
Stock batteries last 6 to 7 years then magically just die, I put in the 110 quid oversized Odyssey one that squeezes in (Motorworks sell with the extended bracket to suit the 20mm increase in height...) but rather disappointingly mine attempted to die at 5 years... however like proper batteries it has removable covers on the 6 cells and just like another AGM its come back good as new after adding a small amount of distilled water to each cell (its a secret top tip on any AGM - after a few years the matting dries up).
Click to expand...

Interesting info about topping up an AGM battery...

The original BMW battery on my '05 GS failed within 18 months but was replaced under warranty. Its replacement lasted about three years before getting very reluctant to start the bike in cold weather... at that point I switched to an Odyssey battery from Motorworks. This December - 7.5 years later - it also failed to start the bike. Motorworks reckoned it should probably be replaced. I'd been using a BMW charger plugged into to the CANbus aux power socket whilst the bike wasn't being used, but discovered recently that it seems to switch off after delivering a charge - it doesn't appear to continue to trickle charge.

Anyway, I decided to invest in a CTEK MXS 3.8 instead to see if it would help re-condition the battery. I wired the eyelet connect lead directly to the battery, avoiding the CANbus, and so far it has worked a treat. Will definitely try to see if I can add some distilled water to the Odyssey cells.
 
….sounds just like mine. Put a charger on it says charged, but no grunt to turn the bike over..

the top of the odyssey unclips, then there's 6 small rubber cups over the 6mm or so holes. I had previously got a big car AGM to come back to life by adding just 40ml to each cell till the bare plates disappeared as the matting swelled up and shrunk back adding over the course of an hour till the plates were out of sight permanently. That one's still going 4 years on.

The odyssey took shed loads, you can't see in, so I used a small syringe expecting to get maybe 20 to 30 ml per cell, till it was just damp (not slopping about in a puddle). Yet some took over 120ml and still wanted more a few hours later, no wonder it wasn't doing much. It then takes a few days on charge to settle back to normal. The car one actually seemed to improve with time and it sits abused as feed for an old halogen worklamp for working on my bike. Last charged mid summer, after more than 10 hours use feeding a 50w bulb, (when writing up the odyssey experience on a different forum) 2 weeks later in the middle of this winder having been around 0C for a week I went to measure, it was still happy at 12.9v

The odyssey it currently at 12.8v saying "strong" on my oxford charger
 
there some odd sizes listed - I thought stock was 140mm high or so and the big odyssey 20mm higher (hence needing a new bracket - and the seat bar almost touching the clamp when back on the bike)

here it has a motobatt at L 183mm x W 80mm x H 170mm and the big odyssey at L 170 x W 99 x H 155

so something doesn't give,
 
Just received my new lithium battery. It's shockingly light! Charger should arrive tomorrow so I'll fit it over the weekend.

Regarding size compared with the OEM. Not sure yet, but I'll document it on here when I do the switch. It is immediately apparent though that it's summer than the OEM.

More soon


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I got access to the Odyssey battery and added some distilled water using a syringe as suggested, but I'm finding it really difficult to see how much is needed... any tips on when to stop adding water?:nenau

Cheers.
 
Greybeard said:
I got access to the Odyssey battery and added some distilled water using a syringe as suggested, but I'm finding it really difficult to see how much is needed... any tips on when to stop adding water?:nenau

Cheers.
Click to expand...
Just to the top. As long as you can close up without it pissing everywhere.

But a thought just occurred to me. All those years riding water cooled bikes I'd always think of anti-freeze needing to be in the coolant. But I never thought about the battery! Does the acid content prevent it freezing in the batteries?


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Yes the acid content stops the battery freezing. Also a fully charged battery is less lightly to freeze. JJH
 
JJH said:
Yes the acid content stops the battery freezing. Also a fully charged battery is less lightly to freeze. JJH
Click to expand...
Thanks for that. Interesting. Neither electrics or chemistry were my best subjects



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Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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