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A few general battery questions
Written by alfr4d on 6/8/2010 at 05:09 pm

That is a good question. The battery life-span is often very short. It does not
seem to be a real part of the bike in many cases. I would try not to buy a bad
and old one. When I was at the store, MotoPort in the Netherlands, they told me
that placement was included in the price of 69 Euro so I had them to decide
about the quality but also had the battery empty at the time. Is there ever any
choice? The PC does not use electricity unless the ignition switch is at (model
dependent) P - Parking (or quite near, I noticed in my case it may have turned
itself on one night because the key could be removed in P position with the
parking light off) It is wise to remove the parking fuse as seen in my previous
post. The bike does not run well after a jump-start unless it is jump-started
after a ride. Perhaps with the headlight fuse removed. Pushing it to start is
very difficult, even when the engine is warm and certainly not advisable for the
gearbox. So if you have the P, do remove the fuse and keep it ready for when you
want to use parking-lights. You can replace it in half a minute if you know how
to slide the fusebox (under the small left air-duct cover) off its holder to 8 a
clock.

Now, what about the battery. It is more important that is is used in the right
way. Unlike hobby-batteries one should not use them for anything else then
starting the engine. Use of electricity when riding is not a wise thing on a
bike and may also result in expensive repairs of regulator and dynamo - but if
you do, take care to switch everything off short before switching the engine
off. A headlight switch may help with doing that also. It will extend battery
life. Do not charge to quick or the lead material may break and bend. Mechanics
will always try to load as quick as possible, so take care. Batteries can not
take shocks or vibrations (still good English or funny?) The placement is
therefor to be checked for movement and secured and tremblings are also to be
reckoned with while riding the bike. Batteries go bad in the cold or short
after. They should be loaded completely even-though unloading to about 90
percent and reloading seems healthy. A solar charger will do that job at night
when not removed (it may use electricity!) but must also shut off when it
charged the battery enough. Is there sufficient light in winter or the windows
even blocked with ice and snow? Thought about the risk of theft? Besides that,
solar panels do not last very long. It is more a gadget.

I bought a charger that can shut off and has safety-features for 10 euro's
including shipping (buying three and paying with IDeal) at Conrad but have not
received it yet to try it out. Doing so, I save at the costs for batteries and
will even charge only weekly in winter, when I remove the battery and place it
somewhere at home.

Bad batteries can be repaired sometimes by unloading fast to remove sulfite, or
charged only little bits at first when having been empty for quite a while.

I expect it to serve me for a realistic 5 years but they never did on previous
bikes. Who bids more?

--- In ipcrc@yahoogroups.com, "pc800dork" <dokiedo@...> wrote:
>
> Who makes a good dependable battery in the $60 or less range?
>
> What kind of lifespan do you expect from your battery?
>
> For someone who doesn't ride a lot, will a battery cutoff switch extend the
life of the battery?
>
> If I have a 12v cigarette lighter type outlet installed, are the solar
chargers with the male cig-plug worth buying? (I don't have an electrical
outlet where I park the bike)
>