Battery

[scouse645]

Hi, my battery is connected to the trickle charger when not in use, yesterday i had a job to start the bike, looked at the charger today and it's maintaining it at 12.6 volts, does that sound right? i could have sworn it was higher than that before.

[Virt]

Is 12.6v with the engine on/off?

I'm not an expert but I think that does sound a bit low

EDIT: Done some searching, should be about 14.8v on idle. So yes, that is low.

Source : http://vtr1000.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php ... ry#p305374

[scouse645]

yes that's with the engine off. as soon as the cold weather comes it usually shows up a knackered battery.

[Virt]

Sounds a bit knackered, you can pick up batteries fairly cheap though. I can't remember what type of battery it is, but I replaced mine a couple months ago. £30 and it starts first time every time, don't know how long it will last though

[scouse645]

Sounds a bit knackered, you can pick up batteries fairly cheap though. I can't remember what type of battery it is, but I replaced mine a couple months ago. £30 and it starts first time every time, don't know how long it will last though

Thanks for that, i was having a look at the motobatt ones, they are a bit pricey though.

[scouse645]

anyone got any thoughts about getting the larger motobatt battery? for which i think you have to take the cover off.

[7moore7]

Get a battery with LiFePo4 cells and never have to worry about trickle charging again and save yourself about 6 lbs... or half a kilo or .07 stones or whatever you guys use (ducks maybe?)

[scouse645]

Get a battery with LiFePo4 cells and never have to worry about trickle charging again and save yourself about 6 lbs... or half a kilo or .07 stones or whatever you guys use (ducks maybe?)

Thanks, never heard of those, i will have a look.

[turbo_billy]

Get a battery with LiFePo4 cells and never have to worry about trickle charging again and save yourself about 6 lbs... or half a kilo or .07 stones or whatever you guys use (ducks maybe?)

Thanks, never heard of those, i will have a look.

And you thought Motobatt batteries were expensive........

What battery is on the bike at the moment, wet cell (acid filled) or AGM? Speaking from personal experience I am convinced that if you leave a sealed gel type battery on an optimiser all the time you should have no problems but with a lead acid battery you will eventually "boil" off the acid. I used to keep all the bikes hooked up all the time but after killing 3 wet cells only the sealed ones stay hooked up. If yours is a wet cell, I would suggest taking it out and checking the acid level.

[scouse645]

Thanks, not sure about that, i would have gone and had a look but it's peeing down here at the moment, and the bikes under cover, i will check it tomorrow.

[mattycoops43]

I got a heavy duty deep cycle one from wemoto (its yellow) the bike has sat for 3 months in all this weather outside because it is sorned and it started up today after a lot of turning over. Well impressed with the battery because it was trying to start but took ages to catch properly and it cranked it over cold for a good few minutes and still wasn't flat.

Don't see the need for a bigger one that doesn't fit properly with performance like that.

http://www.wemoto.com/bikes/honda/vtr_1 ... gh_torque/

[7moore7]

They're pretty awesome products... Lithium batteries tend to be avoided b/c of the cost and aversion to some formulas tending to burn or explode, but:

LiFePo4 (Lithium Phosphate) are:
>Lighter than lead acid
>Discharge faster than lead acid, and are able to discharge a much higher percentage of their Amp-Hours (So where you need much less AH to turn over the motor effectively)
>Safer (this particular lithium formula is very safe)
>Has a ridiculously long shelf life (no trickle charger needed- actually trickle chargers are very hard on these and shouldn't be used)
>Charge faster than lead acid.

The only downsides are:
>Much more expensive per AH
>Less AH than lead acid per volume (this is only really an issue with electronics who depend on battery such as computers. Anything with a stator/alternator generally needs enough juice to start the motor, then the charging system takes over)

[scouse645]

Thanks all for the advice, i did some diagnosis tests today, which i got from a previous post, it didn't come up to scratch on those tests so i have sent for the motobatt battery, keeping the cost quiet from er indoors she would have a fit if she knew what i' have spent this year.

[Ckennedy]

I'm in need of a new battery so its been good to read

My missus knows what iv spent on the bike this year and hasn't said anything yet only around 800 quid and counting and that's only the road bike, not including the track bike

[lloydie]

Anyone got a link to the bigger amp 4 terminal motobatt battery ?

My 2 year old standard one ain't holding charge :-(

I've spent £700 in the last 3 months on the two vtr's and that ain't the normal £500 I spend every winter !
If she found out if be out :shock: