Unibat Battery
- Thread starter <<Mark_C>>
- Start date
motobiker
Registered user
If buying from Motorworks (which I do) I would rather have the OE Exide gel battery for an extra £17.62.
fit and forget.. it arrives fully charged, no worrying about checking electrolyte levels. no fear of it leaking if the bike goes over.. and better performance in the cold.
makes sense to me.. and so just before Christmas thats exactly what I bought.
fit and forget.. it arrives fully charged, no worrying about checking electrolyte levels. no fear of it leaking if the bike goes over.. and better performance in the cold.
makes sense to me.. and so just before Christmas thats exactly what I bought.
High-Tower
Registered user
Fitted one to my 1150GSA last March and by Christmas if I left the bike unstarted for more than a few days it didn't have enough juice to fire it up.
Struggled on with it and an optimate until last month, but ended up having to jump start it every time. Motorworks were their usual helpful selves, they load tested it, which was easy enough as I live just over the hill from them and pronounced it dead, then offered me an odyssey for the difference in cost. Their opinion is that the battery is a bit on the small side for these bikes and they need the best battery they can get. I know some people don't agree, I'm just passing on what they told me.
I do run quite a few electrical extras on my bike, especially in winter (heated vest & grips and spotlights being the highest load) so I have just accepted it kills batteries quicker than I would like.
My bike has done about 13k miles in the last year.
This might be a better buy than either?
motobiker
Registered user
raginmund
Registered user
Think I posted this on another thread but no-one replied (story of my life 
).
Is it generally accepted that gel batteries cannot be recovered if they drop below a certain level?
I had Varta BMW type fitted today, and I'm happy with the cost (£58) and rationale.
).Is it generally accepted that gel batteries cannot be recovered if they drop below a certain level?
I had Varta BMW type fitted today, and I'm happy with the cost (£58) and rationale.
That's a great find chap.
Agreed - looks like that might be the one.
motobiker
Registered user
I doubt there's any difference. A gel battery only differs from an ordinary lead acid in that the acid has had a 'thickener' added to it.
The main side effect being it can be sealed.. with just a pressure valve in place as a safety measure. Under normal circumstances the gasses are re-absorbed into the 'gel' rather than escaping as with a normal battery.. which results in the levels dropping over time.
but.. all that aside. there isn't anything different or special about a gel battery from the point of view of your question. It will react to a drop in charge in exactly the same way as a normal one.
I ordered the "Lucas" battery from MDS on Sunday and it arrived today. Except it isn't a Lucas. Its a "Numax" Close examination of the web page does refer to the manufacturer being Lucas/Numax.
I called MDS and the guy said they would take it back if I wanted but that they are the same battery from the same factory. It certainly looks identical to the Lucas one in the website picture.
Not sure now whether to send it back and get the Exide from Motorworks or to give it a go. What's in a name anyway?
I called MDS and the guy said they would take it back if I wanted but that they are the same battery from the same factory. It certainly looks identical to the Lucas one in the website picture.
Not sure now whether to send it back and get the Exide from Motorworks or to give it a go. What's in a name anyway?
motobiker
Registered user
Wouldn't bother me in the slightest. If I had known about it at the time you can bet I would've ordered one.
A quick search turns up the fact that they're made by Johnson Controls Inc.. who also make VARTA. and probably a lot of other brands too. Inc Lucas. Seems they make em and stick whoevers name on. which is about normal for so many things these days.
pomm001
Registered user
Almost all batteries come from China these days , different sticker
Just to advise- the above "Lucas / Numax" battery is slightly too big to fit an 1150. Returned mine and got the Exide gel from Motorworks.
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