Battery life

[capttwb]

G's post about his battery made me think of this. Our batteries are subjected to much more vibration than most modern 4 cylinder water cooled bikes. Therefore they most likely won't last as long. How long did your battery last, and what did you do in terms of maintenance to increase your battery's life? My father always told me to glue a penny on top of my battery for instance. He said it would protect the terminals from corrosion. Also we all know to keep them fully charged on a battery tender. Any other methods?

[active1951]

Not many folks talk about corrosion on batteries anymore, with the new style terminals in car batterries etc. I always coat the terminall area with terminal spray coating.
Livin in the South I start my stuff on a regular basis in the winter. If I do leave anything sit for more that 2 weeks I will charge it, before cranking it. In fact, if I had to leave my batteries all winter, I would not leave a tender on them all the time. I would put them on a charger once a week so they would discharge a lil before charging them. And I would not remove the battery.
I have done this when I had to leave batteries for a while without any cranking, etc.
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[bigr]

The only thing that I have done to my battery is put a battery tender on it since the day I brought it home in '05. Every time I bring it home it gets plugged in, even if I am going to use it the next morning. Don't really know if this made a difference or not, but I am still on the original battery almost 8 years later. Probably just jinxed myself now and will have to change it.

[iowawarrior]

i think the new tenders do draw the battery down some and then charge it back up as opposed to just keeping it topped off. i'm pretty sure my 5.00 harbor freight tender at least SAID that's what it does. i do nothing in the summer and put it on the tender in the winter plus start now and again. i can't understand why people say they put it on a tender everytime they get off it. unless maybe they go weeks between rides.

[NJWarrior]

This past season I had to get my first replacement battery, I've got an '06, so the stock lasted me 6 years. I don't do much to the battery during riding season, infact nothing at all. But I take the battery out at the end of the season and put it on charge for a week or two. I don't put it back on charge until a week or two prior to the next riding season. When I put it back into the bike I put some dielectric grease on the terminals. When I take the battery out for the season I bring into the house.

[active1951]

Originally Posted by iowawarrior

i think the new tenders do draw the battery down some and then charge it back up as opposed to just keeping it topped off. i'm pretty sure my 5.00 harbor freight tender at least SAID that's what it does. i do nothing in the summer and put it on the tender in the winter plus start now and again. i can't understand why people say they put it on a tender everytime they get off it. unless maybe they go weeks between rides.

Good point about the new battery tenders. I have an old charger with different modes, but the thing is OLD. Hail I got some wrenches I bought back in the mid 60s. These new wave new age things are amazing, too bad they ain't made in our country nowadays...
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[1256day]

Last year was the 1st battery I had bought in years. I'm a firm believer of starting all my cars, trucks, bikes lawn mowers, even power washers every month and cleaning the terminals every so often.

Actually,,,,THAT was another reason I started to trim the heard last year.

G

G

[jimsnorton]

I just replaced my second battery since I've owned my '02, which I purchased in '05, with 12k on the clock. I replaced my batt. the first time @ ~35k miles in Dec '06 as it was becoming hard to start. At that time it was an "outside bike", covered but parked outside. I just replaced that battery, 6 years & 64555 miles later. For the first three years of the new battery's life it was also parked under wraps, outside with a tender plugged in every day, rain or shine. The next three years that same battery was parked in my garage without a tender. I ride 99% of my commutes & a whole lot more, so the bike rarely sits more than a few days. I don't think my battery was that bad when I just replaced it either. I have an "Accumate" tender. I recall it has special circuitry (charge/discharge/hold) as well, & it has the ability to actually charge a low battery, but not a dead one.

[yamaweezle]

'06, with a battery tender. Still the stock battery...Plug it in when not in use. IMO, it's a big waste of time removing the battery for the winter. Plug the battery in, cover the bike, and forget about it. My R1 is an '04, and I do the same with it. It also has the original battery.

[akitadog]

I'm still on my stock battery just over 7 years. It gets plugged into a tender/charger when sitting in the garage. I found the 1.5 amp tender was not keeping it fully charged so switched to charger that has a tender mode on it. It switches on and charges when the battery gets down to 95% charge and takes it back up to 100% then turns off again.