My 2 cents ........if you fork out good cash on a good battery get a good
tender/charger/conditioner...........I use an Optimate 3 for precisely this
purpose. The auto recondition / desulphate function sold me as it prolongs
optimal battery funtionality.

 

excellent info. also, pull the battery and place in a cool dry area for the winter. don't let them freeze. A battery tender or periodic charging is also a good idea.

 

my f4i battery has lasted 6 years,but this year it must be replaced it is now DEAD,always used battery tender jr to keep it well charged.

 

My CBR250rr munches batteries, I have killed 3 batteries in 2 years.. I cant understand why though. When i first get them i trickle charge them to full voltage and then install them into the bike. after the first 2 months i have to trickle charge the battery every 3 weeks or the bike gets to a point where it wont even start. I'm averaging about 500km/week on the thing and i have had the alternator checked and aparently there is nothing wrong w/ it.

I am at a loss to what is wrong with it any ideas would be muchly appreciated

 

City driving where you sit at red lights, then hop to the next one, will slowly kill your battery. The charging system of most motorcycles is not capable of charging a battery and keep the bike running at idle or low rpms, for the simple fact that they are small in size. The laws of physics can't be wished away, and energy output can't be increased without first developing more energy. This is done either by making the charging system bigger, or spinning it faster. Bigger isn't and option for our motorcycles, so faster spinning it is, and that usually means higher than 2500 rpm for sport bikes, and 1500 rpm on touring/roadsters with bigger engines and a little more space. On some touring bikes the charging system is large and high powered to accommodate all the accessories such as radios and hand warmers. But we crotch rocket riders have to contend with small and light weight charging systems, so no hand warmers for us.

This is important, don't "trickle charge" a new battery for its first charge, that sets it up for early failure. Hook it up to a standard "regulated" 10 amp car battery charger for a few hours, till the charger is happy and gives you a green light that its charged. THEN hook it up to a low current (1.5 ah) trickle charger overnight. Additionally, if you find that your driving in stop and go traffic a lot, do yourself a favor and once a week put that trickle charger on the battery overnight to keep it topped up.

Finally, when buying your battery, PLEASE make sure it is a "motorcycle" battery, and not a simple utility battery of the same size. A motorcycle battery is designed to withstand the shock and vibration associated with with its intended work environment. A utility battery is not and will fail within a year.

Hope this helps..

P.

 

I put mine on a trickle charger whenever I'm finished riding for the day. I got the idea from a buddy who does the same thing and claims he gets 5 years out of his motorcycle batteries.

 

Thanks for the info, my battery charger is so old im not sure how many amp hours its putting out so I should probably invest in a new one

I dont do a lot of city driving as im 50km from the city and when I am riding it its usually above 10krpm as powerband is between 8k and 16k rpm. i buy my batterys from a motocycle retailer so it better not be a utility battery :P

 

I would Say that also if I was trying to sell $125.00 battery chargers

 

Say what also? Use the quote feature. A quality motorcycle trickle charger can be found online for around $25.

 

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