Do I need a new battery already?

notoriusb.e.n

notoriusb.e.n

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So I've only had 2010 GS a month, came to start this morning and wouldn't start. Didn't have time to diagnose or faff about as had to get off to work sharpish. I'm not daft I know the cold kills batteries, I normally take them off at this time of year and bung them on the optimate till the sun gets up before I do, but as I only bought the bike last month and was told it was a new battery I figured it might survive a couple weeks of cold snap. Guess not. I'll whip it out and stick it on the Optimate (Garage is not powered I've got no realistic way to get power to it so can't leave it on optimate all winter) see if it can be coaxed back into working.

I'm half tempted to get in touch with the dealers that their new battery only lasted four weeks, but I'm not sure if I've got much of an argument being as it is cold as at the moment and I seem to remember my previous Boxers needing pretty sturdy high crank batteries to get them going, and being pretty unforgiving when it comes to the cold or failed starting attempts. I also seem to remember the starter motors not being so great.

Is Motobatt still the recommended go-to choice for replacement batteries and are these still considered minus temps winter proof? If so might see if this one comes back to life and if not get one ordered in the new year. Be nice if they did black ones though but I suppose a little yellow brick tucked away under the seat is better than a big red brick on wheels not going anywhere.
 
notoriusb.e.n said:
So I've only had 2010 GS a month, came to start this morning and wouldn't start. Didn't have time to diagnose or faff about as had to get off to work sharpish. I'm not daft I know the cold kills batteries, I normally take them off at this time of year and bung them on the optimate till the sun gets up before I do, but as I only bought the bike last month and was told it was a new battery I figured it might survive a couple weeks of cold snap. Guess not. I'll whip it out and stick it on the Optimate (Garage is not powered I've got no realistic way to get power to it so can't leave it on optimate all winter) see if it can be coaxed back into working.

I'm half tempted to get in touch with the dealers that their new battery only lasted four weeks, but I'm not sure if I've got much of an argument being as it is cold as at the moment and I seem to remember my previous Boxers needing pretty sturdy high crank batteries to get them going, and being pretty unforgiving when it comes to the cold or failed starting attempts. I also seem to remember the starter motors not being so great.

Is Motobatt still the recommended go-to choice for replacement batteries and are these still considered minus temps winter proof? If so might see if this one comes back to life and if not get one ordered in the new year. Be nice if they did black ones though but I suppose a little yellow brick tucked away under the seat is better than a big red brick on wheels not going anywhere.
Click to expand...
Ask at the dealers, you never know.
 
I would try to give the battery a good charge first as the bike is new to you and may not have had a full charge for a while.
Motobatt MBYZ16 HD the HD is the Harley variant black with orange writing.
I don`t consider motobatt to be any more cold proof than any other lead acid battery.
 
I think they do black units - its the HD item as in Harley

If your not a winter user, have you considerd a lithium unit?

Beaten to it by Mistacat (HD)
 
Have you tried Tayna batteries i ve just paid £80 delivered (next day) for a yellow motobatt
 
notoriusb.e.n said:
found a black one on motorworks: https://www.motorworks.co.uk/battery-ela05650b-1.html

£80 should have known better I have been bitten before by winter and dead batteries, just thought "well its new" so figured I might get away with it for a week or two between rides at this point.
Click to expand...
May be wisest to Diagnose the fault before diving in

Get the battery checked by a local battery / auto factors

Connections may not be tight ? Something accessory wise my be drawing power

Alternator may not be giving optimal charge

Is it even the right capacity for your bike ?
 
There can be quite a large parasitic drain on these batteries depending on the accessories fitted. ( The ECU`s have a permanent live feed which is not disconnected by switching off the ignition so a small current drain)
I have to top my TC battery up every few days as the internal battery in the tracker is way pas its best, ( I will replace it when I strip the bike this winter to replace the clutch ).
 
Too many unknowns to say. You don't say how fully your battery was charged two weeks ago, you don't say if there is a date code on the battery.
Because of the way batteries charge, anything less than 20 minutes of charging and it won't be fully charged, lots of 10 minute journeys and it will be quite discharged, two weeks on a maintainer and it would be 100% for sure.
Then there's anything draining the battery, any faults or any accessories.
How you diagnose is going to depend on how you expect to be using the bike in the near future, e.g. could you charge the battery, leave it disconnected for two weeks, then see if it starts the bike?
 
Battery is a BTX-14BS from "BS batteries" never heard of them. I can see the Yuasa YTX14-BS listed as a recommended battery but it's still a lead acid not a AGM Gel battery.

I've taken it off and stuck it on the optimate let it have the day and see if it tests green.

Chances are dealers fitted a battery, not left it charging long enough before handing it over and then me not using it for the last two weeks where it's consistently dropped below freezing hasn't helped matters.
 
notoriusb.e.n said:
Battery is a BTX-14BS from "BS batteries" never heard of them. I can see the Yuasa YTX14-BS listed as a recommended battery but it's still a lead acid not a AGM Gel battery.

I've taken it off and stuck it on the optimate let it have the day and see if it tests green.

Chances are dealers fitted a battery, not left it charging long enough before handing it over and then me not using it for the last two weeks where it's consistently dropped below freezing hasn't helped matters.
Click to expand...

Now that you have started charging the battery let it charge completely now

There is an old trick where you hook a headlamp bulb to the battery and let it drain down to flat and then hook up a conventional charger and charge it up

I recall doing this a few times with old batteries to revive them and it did work

usually at least twice with the flat to fully charged

i never did it with an Optimate though so I do not know
 
notoriusb.e.n said:
Battery is a BTX-14BS from "BS batteries" never heard of them. I can see the Yuasa YTX14-BS listed as a recommended battery but it's still a lead acid not a AGM Gel battery.
Click to expand...

AGM & Gel batteries are lead acid, just that the electrolyte is held in a medium rather than sloshing about like an older style "wet" battery. A battery is either AGM or gel, not both.

That Yuasa battery is an AGM battery as detailed here https://www.tayna.co.uk/motorcycle-batteries/yuasa/ytx14-bs/

Alternative gel & AGM batteries listed here https://www.tayna.co.uk/motorcycle-batteries/types/ytx14-bs/
 
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If the battery sat enough in discharged state it sulfated and it might be toast or lost "capacity".
Bring it home, do a couple reconditioning charging and let it slow charge.

AGM batteries might be slightly more resilient at times.

If your garage is not powered, I suggest (there are quite a few thread) an optimate solar charger if have that possibility.
I have a few and they've been keeping my bike's batteries alive for a few years now, even not touching them for months at a time.
 
Had three or four Motobatt Batteries fail after a relatively short time (usually just out of warranty ) , wouldn't fit or recommend them any more
 
Cold does not kill batteries.

However, cold does slow the chemistry that produces the volts. And a cold engine is more difficult to start (because of oil drag and less efficient fuel vaporisation) than a warm engine.
 
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Ok it's had the day on charge and recovered back to green on the optimate tester. So it should be ok now, I'll just leave it on the optimate for a few days let it sit through a few charge tests and then pop it on when it's a bit more clement for riding. Should have done this when it first got cold really.
 
I never put my bikes on trickle chargers. Leave them for weeks or months at a time and don't have a problem with the battery draining. In the winter I may just charge the BMW battery once towards the end of January to give it a boost. Not really needed. My odyssey lasted 13 years and my current 16ah motobatt is fine after nearly 4 years.
I do have a factory alarm but I don't have it self arming so it doesn't put a drain on the battery.
 
Bought 2 Yuasa batteries recently from Sportsbikeshop - TC and LC. SBS was the cheapest I found.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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