Battery recommendations

[Neil W]

Oh bugger , went to move the 1150 today ,pressed the button and got the old dagga dagga dagga thunk noise of a flat battery and the clock reset itself .
All my bikes are kept on an Optimate and the bikes battery is a 21 month old Exide AGM ( a make I have always found reliable ).
Stuck it on my BMW charger for 3 hours and it was up to 12.9v at 100% charged, tried to start it again whilst doing a voltage drop test..........no start, it wouldn't spin the motor and showing 6.2v when cranking so battery is toast.
Wondered if the Optimate 4 bank charger was having issues and had not been charging but the ktm ,ccm and katana all started straight away so it seems okay.
Put jump leads onto an old Odyssey battery that is at least 17 years old but is kept on an Optimate and the bike started immediately, so It might be getting fitted to the bike (it came off my first 1150 that I sold in 2011)

 

[Steve B]

I just use Exide 19aH batteries on my 1150's and have doe for the last 30 years, always been fine

I need a new battery myself and looked at these after your suggestion. It's a gel battery isn't it? Is this is ok for the GS? I have the 'non-gel' Exide on the bike at the mo and was looking at something a tad more 'robust'.

 

[Paul Young]

I need a new battery myself and looked at these after your suggestion. It's a gel battery isn't it? Is this is ok for the GS? I have the 'non-gel' Exide on the bike at the mo and was looking at something a tad more 'robust'.

I’ve also had exide batteries fitted for many years and the last one was an AGM (gel) 12-19 which got replaced today after almost 10yrs on the bike. Bizarrely, Eurocarparts had one In stock locally for less than Tayna online.

 

[wessie]

I need a new battery myself and looked at these after your suggestion. It's a gel battery isn't it? Is this is ok for the GS? I have the 'non-gel' Exide on the bike at the mo and was looking at something a tad more 'robust'.

Exide have 2 batteries for a R1150, both are lead acid, sealed for life VRLA types
One is gel, the 12-19
One is AGM, absorbed glass mat
The chemistry is the same, the difference is the medium holding the acid so that it is not a "wet" battery

https://www.tayna.co.uk/motorcycle-batteries/types/51913/ lists them at the bottom
Note the AGM has more CCA - cold cranking amps. It is also half the price. I fitted Exide AGM batteries on my 2016 R1200RS and 2016 S1000XR when the OE batteries were kaput after 5 years and 4 years respectively. I sold the XR when the battery was 3 years old and the RS battery is fine after 4 years. The bike is parked outside and I have topped up the battery for 24 hours once since December due to lack of use for 3 months. I am very happy to recommend the Exide AGM as they last well considering the price.

 

[Steve B]

Thanks for the clarification chaps. I saw Motorworks did one (which I bought) but then noticed Tayna had the same unit for 10 quid less and free postage Oh well, at least the bike will now fire up when it's fitted.

 

[Littledumptruck]

I gave up on motobatt after repeated failures, but have been well surprised with Taynas own brand enduroline batteries. Got them on both my old R850GS amd my 1300Pan. Both lasting longer than the budget price suggested they should.

 

[Paul Young]

Exide have 2 batteries for a R1150, both are lead acid, sealed for life VRLA types
One is gel, the 12-19
One is AGM, absorbed glass mat
The chemistry is the same, the difference is the medium holding the acid so that it is not a "wet" battery

https://www.tayna.co.uk/motorcycle-batteries/types/51913/ lists them at the bottom
Note the AGM has more CCA - cold cranking amps. It is also half the price. I fitted Exide AGM batteries on my 2016 R1200RS and 2016 S1000XR when the OE batteries were kaput after 5 years and 4 years respectively. I sold the XR when the battery was 3 years old and the RS battery is fine after 4 years. The bike is parked outside and I have topped up the battery for 24 hours once since December due to lack of use for 3 months. I am very happy to recommend the Exide AGM as they last well considering the price.

Great explanation, Wessie. Thanks.
I believe the 12-18 was the higher CCA rating, but they seem to be out of stock with most suppliers (certainly with Tayna). Like you said, it is about half the price, but that’s no good if you can’t get hold of one…

 

[Steve B]

I forgot to ask, what trickle charger you'd need for the Exide gel battery? Do I need a specialist charger? Thanks in anticipation.

 

[wessie]

Great explanation, Wessie. Thanks.
I believe the 12-18 was the higher CCA rating, but they seem to be out of stock with most suppliers (certainly with Tayna). Like you said, it is about half the price, but that’s no good if you can’t get hold of one…

If they come back into stock then I imagine the price will be increased as the differential seems a bit much. The AGM variety is out of stock across the range as the 12Ah batteries are not available either.

https://web.archive.org/web/20181022232736/https://www.exide.com/en/locations?type=291 says they have a factory in Belarus, probably on the naughty step due to close ties to Russia, so maybe that was the source and they have not tooled up elsewhere if they can punt out the gel alternative as an equivalent.

 

[GedJack]

I’ve also had exide batteries fitted for many years and the last one was an AGM (gel) 12-19 which got replaced today after almost 10yrs on the bike. Bizarrely, Eurocarparts had one In stock locally for less than Tayna online.

Not like you to get a good deal

 

[Steve B]

Does anyone know if I need a battery-specific charger for the Exide gel battery? I've seen an Oxford Oximiser 900 on offer and wondered if this was too basic. Cheers

 

[wessie]

Does anyone know if I need a battery-specific charger for the Exide gel battery? I've seen an Oxford Oximiser 900 on offer and wondered if this was too basic. Cheers

Halfords description says it is suitable for all lead acid batteries including maintenance free and AGM so yes it will be fine. However, if buying a new charger I would future proof by getting a lithium compatible one like https://www.halfords.com/motoring/b...oco-genius1-1-amp-battery-charger-230262.html

 

[er-minio]

Yep Gel and AGM same charging profile.

Apart from the solar chargers, for the bikes I also have a Ctek M5.0 and the Noco that Wessie linked above (I mess with a lot of batteries between cars, bikes and solar ) in case I have to bring batteries back home to give them a proper top up/refresh.

That Noco is incredibly good and costs little.
My only small advice is, if you also buy it to charge larger capacity batteries, go for the 5A version as this one will take time (days) to recharge a larger capacity battery like car ones (=>80Ah).
If you only plan to use it for bike batteries, it's perfect, no need to spend more.

If going for solar trickle chargers (I've been using them for years on my bikes now), Optimate makes a model that is lithium compatible too.

 

[Pukmeister]

I went for the NOCO Genius10 as it has many more modes/functionality than the less expensive models. It can recover deep-discharged batteries as low as 1 volt, desulphate etc etc. It can charge all types of batteries including Lithium up to a 10 Amp charging rate.

For example, I used it last night in power supply mode to feed 12V power into my wifes Peugeot 3008 to keep all the ECU's data alive whilst I wrestled by headtorch to replace her Bosch 760CCA stop/start battery that was goosed after eight years service (57% capacity remaining when measured with my TOPDON battery drop tester). I could have just wired a 12v battery in parallel with jump leads instead, but the NOCO made it easier.

Thanks to Tayna for speedy next day delivery as always.

 

[Steve B]

Thank you for all the detailed replies chaps. I'm afraid electrickery is a bit of a mystery to me so I tend to go down the basic route. I've had 2 Aldi/Lidl trickle chargers on my bikes for a few years now without issue, but having been off the bike following a hand op, (neither bikes have been used since October), the Honda fired 1st time but the GS struggled until the dreaded click-click. Maybe that charger was goosed. I was just after the Collective's knowledge of compatible chargers for the Exide gel battery. Thanks again all.

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Thank you for all the detailed replies chaps. I'm afraid electrickery is a bit of a mystery to me so I tend to go down the basic route. I've had 2 Aldi/Lidl trickle chargers on my bikes for a few years now without issue, but having been off the bike following a hand op, (neither bikes have been used since October), the Honda fired 1st time but the GS struggled until the dreaded click-click. Maybe that charger was goosed. I was just after the Collective's knowledge of compatible chargers for the Exide gel battery. Thanks again all.

I just use a CTEK smart charger with my 1150’s Exide AGM Gel battery
Just put it on, once a month for 24-36 hours at a time
I had the same last year on my 1150
Battery (Odyssey) was end of life
Put a new Exide 19aH on and it was the starter that was pulling it down, so fitted a new Valeo starter
All ok now

 

[Rev Chuck]

Wessie, thank you for the use of your human memory on this subject and sharing it with us. For I have come, somewhat belatedly to this party of needing a new battery, not for my 1150GSA, but for my 2013 1200GSA, last of before they LC's come online.
Looking at the Tayna website today and they have this on offer for £41.09 inc VAT - EXIDE ETZ14-BS 12V AGM MOTORCYCLE BATTERY
It says it is YTZ14S compatible, however, it does seem a bit smaller in height than my current battery. Any thoughts?
Now I may have to find out if my Halfords trickle charger is compatible www.halfords.com/motoring/battery-maintenance/battery-chargers/halfords-advanced-4a--smart-charger-190963.html?

 

[wessie]

Wessie, thank you for the use of your human memory on this subject and sharing it with us. For I have come, somewhat belatedly to this party of needing a new battery, not for my 1150GSA, but for my 2013 1200GSA, last of before they LC's come online.
Looking at the Tayna website today and they have this on offer for £41.09 inc VAT - EXIDE ETZ14-BS 12V AGM MOTORCYCLE BATTERY
It says it is YTZ14S compatible, however, it does seem a bit smaller in height than my current battery. Any thoughts?
Now I may have to find out if my Halfords trickle charger is compatible www.halfords.com/motoring/battery-maintenance/battery-chargers/halfords-advanced-4a--smart-charger-190963.html?

the description for the charger states it is Lithium and all lead acid (AGM, gel & wet) compatible

as for the battery, looking at https://www.tayna.co.uk/motorcycle-batteries/types/ytz14s/ the Exide seem 3mm wider than the others and the Yuasa one listed at https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/content_prod/549067

I doubt 3mm in width will make any difference to fitment.

If your current battery is more than 110mm tall then is it actually a YTZ14S? Looking online, it seems some have fitted one of these that gives 16Ah https://www.motorcycleproducts.co.u...958-04a-65958-04b-6595804c/1/004753?bike=3292 and is 145mm tall. I have done this on bikes, as the factory often fits a polystyrene spacer to get away with fitting a smaller and cheaper battery. Remove the spacer and fit a battery with more amps. If you are going to use the 110mm tall battery, then you might find you need to add a spacer.

If you need a battery that is the same height as that Motobatt one, then Tayna has these https://www.tayna.co.uk/motorcycle-batteries/types/ytx14-bs/ - they used to stock the Motobatt one but a lot of retailers have dropped that brand as mentioned above and I can't find another 16A battery in that size. The Exide one in this size is out of stock as well. This YTX14BS does not have any major performance advantage over the YTZ14S so I would make a 35mm spacer if you need one for the leads to reach.

 

[Rev Chuck]

Again, Wessie, thank you for your insight into this, glad you have spent days and hours pondering this stuff.
Attached is a picture of the battery I took out of my 1200
On the Tanya website when I type into the reg box my number it tells me I need a YTZ14S, so you are correct my battery is not a YTZ14S - but it should be. I’ve had the bike a couple of years now and not had an issue. Now, it’s not even putting lights in the dashboard, never mind turning the starter motor over.

The BTX14 is on the Sportsbikeshop website as being suitable for. 2012-13 1200GS. https://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/content_prod/468806

 

[wessie]

Again, Wessie, thank you for your insight into this, glad you have spent days and hours pondering this stuff.

my father was a sales rep for a Varta distributor when I was in school, so I was fluent in battery speak even before I got my BTeC in electrical engineering in 1990