r1200 gsa battery issues

[simplysounds]

got an 06 r1200 gsa (3 yrs old) with the standard bmw sealed battery. it has an immobiliser fitted and no alarm. an autocom pro duo 200 intercom powered from the aux socket.

the problem is that if i leave the bike for 3-4 days without riding it the battery doesn't have the starting power.

i have put an optimate charger on and after an overnight session it reports the battery is ok. is it just getting old like me? do i put a pc535 battery in (and live with fitting hassles and cost)? or should i just leave it on charge while it's tucked up in the garage.

i know it's not the autocom as this happened also before i fitted it.

any deep technical advise will be welcome.

 

[Wapping]

Is the battery simply shagged, so that it cannot hold the charge the Optimate puts in?

Are the terminals clean?

What are your riding habits? Short hop runs will not charge a battery properly.

Try a new battery, they are not a fortune. Keep it on the Optimate, it won't blow up, I promise.

Oddity batteries seem a popular alternative but a shagged battery is simply that, a shagged battery.

 

[John Armstrong]

From the horror stories of bikes catching fire when they've had Oddysee batteries fitted, I'd go for a replacement BM battery.

And, just because the charger thinks a battery is ok, it doesn't mean that it is.

 

[Wapping]

From the number of non-horror stories of Oddity batteries not catching fire, it may be safe.

There again, my original '06 GSA battery (OEM, on an Optimate 24/7/365 and garaged) has never failed, despite the horror stories and predictions of disaster, fried electrics and rising sea water levels.

I may well swap it, necessary or not, some time in 2010 as five years may well be enough for the poor thing anyway.

 

[John Armstrong]

From the number of non-horror stories of Oddity batteries not catching fire, it may be safe.

How many OEM batteries have tried to set the bike alight?

How many non-OEM batteries have tried to set the bike alight?

I guess one way of looking at it is that the non-OEM batteries can set the bike alight, as they have the electrical capacity and keep a charge longer than the OEM ones, if you're unlucky!

 

[Wapping]

How many OEM batteries have tried to set the bike alight?

How many non-OEM batteries have tried to set the bike alight?

I guess one way of looking at it is that the non-OEM batteries can set the bike alight, as they have the electrical capacity and keep a charge longer than the OEM ones, if you're unlucky!

Don't know and don't probabaly care. Quite why the handful of bikes really caught fire is a matter for the bods' insurers (if they are interested) and maybe the local fire chief and / or BuMW, but I doubt it.

Vis-a-vis your tongue-in-cheek observation, the OEM battery - at least in my little world (so maybe not an accurate representative sample for statistaical purposes) - seems to hold its charge very well and has definitely not caught fire. It seems to fit (unlike the Oddity) into the space thoughtfuly provided by BumW and its terminals seem suitable too, without any fiddling around or sawing through seat supports. There again I do not have masses of leads running off it, like an explosion in a spaghetti factory.

Gets my vote!

 

[cookie]

i must have been dozing when the bikes were burning. how common is it?

 

[SMB]

Battery US?

Is the battery simply shagged, so that it cannot hold the charge the Optimate puts in.

Had a Honda (only 3 months old) and the Optimate showed the battery as OK, the main dealer tested the battery - OK.
However after leaving the bike for 2 or 3 days it would not start. I replaced the battery (at my own expense) no problems from then on. - So don’t always believe the Optimate.
SMB

 

[John Armstrong]

i must have been dozing when the bikes were burning. how common is it?

Not very it would seem, but if it happens to you I guess it's once too often.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=197405

 

[claw]

How many OEM batteries have tried to set the bike alight?

Mine for one, it was the only thing the insurance engineer could put it down to. I don't think it was though, I still think it was caused by the mice i found since the fire in the garage. Moved in and chewed through some wiring they shoudn't have.

 

[Wapping]

i must have been dozing when the bikes were burning. how common is it?

Very rare, I can only assume.... and quite why they smoulder and then burst gloriously into flame is of course unknown... It must of course be the Oddity batteries, as everyone says it must be....

No suggestion of course that matey had a short due to his excellent homemade wiring looms or spaghetti tangle....or a fuel leak (see several threads)....

I know of two Volvo lorries that have definitely caught fire. One fire lead to the death of over 25 people and the closure of the Mont Blanc tunnel for several years.... Fire is all around us, day and night, it's a real worry I must say, but it pays my wages... so I can't complain....

 

[Wapping]

Had a Honda (only 3 months old) and the Optimate showed the battery as OK, the main dealer tested the battery - OK.
- So don’t always believe the Optimate.
SMB

....or the dealer, it seems

 

[John Armstrong]

I know of two Volvo lorries that have definitely caught fire. One fire lead to the death of over 25 people and the closure of the Mont Blanc tunnel for several years.

Did they have Odddysee batteries fitted as well? If they did, I'd not want to use any tunnels again!

 

[Wapping]

Did they have Odddysee batteries fitted as well? If they did, I'd not want to use any tunnels again!

... not sure, I'll check... If they did it doesn't matter... broken oil feed seems to have been the cause of the main fire but no prosecution in the criminal trial for Volvo Trucks, so all is well....

The tunnel operators though? They got a real pasting... or rather their insurers did

 

[The Bede]

No suggestion of course that matey had a short due to his excellent homemade wiring looms or spaghetti tangle....or a fuel leak (see several threads)....

... I have indeed experienced a devastating short in my linguini ala underseat wiring

... The fuse blew

... So that was alright then


... If the OP has a three year old battery, all sorts of combinations of age, chilly conditions, short runs, excessive draining etc, etc, etc will very possibly now mean it's shagged. Lest we forget bike batteries are lower capacity than car batteries, use lower output alternators and consequently have a shorter life-span.

... Just replace it with a correctly sized, properly installed, battery of your choice (ie so it can't 'short') and make sure any accesories are properly fused. Can't go wrong and Mr Wapping's workload will drop in inverse proportion to his profitability

 

[Wapping]

... I have indeed experienced a devastating short in my linguini ala underseat wiring

... The fuse blew

... So that was alright then


... If the OP has a three year old battery, all sorts of combinations of age, chilly conditions, short runs, excessive draining etc, etc, etc will very possibly now mean it's shagged. Lest we forget bike batteries are lower capacity than car batteries, use lower output alternators and consequently have a shorter life-span.

... Just replace it with a correctly sized, properly installed, battery of your choice (ie so it can't 'short') and make sure any accesories are properly fused. Can't go wrong and Mr Wapping's workload will drop in inverse proportion to his profitability

I saw the famous Blowzorn's (special uncle Alan) unseat spaghetti.... and him leaping around like St Vitus, with feedback through his helmet... eek:

The balance of your post is of a similar high quality... spot on, old boy

 

[cookie]

Not very it would seem, but if it happens to you I guess it's once too often.

http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=197405

yes, i did entirely miss your linked thread.

i think i will be going the shortened mounting bar route to gain space at least

 

[GSmonkey]

Once you've deep discharged an automotive battery they tend to be fairly shagged and you need a new one. You may coax it back to life, but a bit of cold weather and it'll fail again. Best to replace.

I keep mine on the optimate all the time when the bikes in the garage.

 

[tonkatoy]

Optimate

FWIW I have a 1998 Blackbird which has been on an Optimate since new (when in the garage anyway) and it's still on the original Yuasa battery. From recollection lead/acid batteries like to be kept pretty fully charged and an Optimate performs that function fairly well as far as I can tell. The GSA gets the same treatment and so far has never failed to start. Both go on charge as the last thing I do after putting them away. I also check the lights on the Optimates if I'm in the garage doing anything else. Just once or twice the Optimate seems to have gone on holiday, but a reset has always cured it for another few years.

So for Optimate and other similar devices.

Incidentally I've also got an Oxford Maximiser, the bonus for which is that it tells you what the current battery voltage is and what charge current (if any) is flowing. It has been suggested to me that it's not good to permanently trickle charge a battery as it causes it to produce too much gas (not a good thing when the gas is inflammable/explosive and near sources of ignition - eg light switches etc). The Maximiser (and AFAIK Optimate) charge to full and then switch off and monitor the battery voltage until it reaches a level which requires charging to restart.

It works for me

 

[motorbaker]

i have put an optimate charger on and after an overnight session it reports the battery is ok.

Had the same problem - see this thread: http://www.ukgser.com/forums/showthread.php?t=205464

Ended up replacing the battery and have had no trouble since.

MB