Battery Maitenance

Three things that kill batteries.

1) Improper Maitenance

2) Improper Setup

3) Vibration

While there is little one can do to prevent the third and the second is often out of our control number one, maintenance is the one thing we do have some control over.
One of the most common misconceptions is that simply riding your bike will keep the battery in a full state of charge. This is not necessarily true. Keep in mind that the charging system in the bike has a lot of chores to do other than charge the battery. Things like running the ignition system, the lights, the cappuccino maker etc. This often leaves only a little bit left over to actually keep the battery in a state of complete charge.



Above is an Old School or Standard Battery, Rarely seen in bikes today, but it shows the major components.

One of the things that can be observed from the above example is its six cell construction. Each cell, when properly charged will put out between 2.1 and 2.2 volts meaning that your average battery in a state of full charge will actually be sitting at about 13.2 volts. In a related issue the motorcycle charging system will be putting out more than the nominal 12 Volts to compensate.



Above is a more typical, modern motorcycle or Maintenance Free (MF) Battery

Although the above battery, and others like it, are technically maintenance free there still remains the issue of keeping the battery in a full state of charge in order to get maximum life, and therefore your monies worth out of it.

Keeping a battery strong shouldn't be too tough. A new battery should always be charged before use. And, an in-service battery needs to stay charged.

Keep it charged! You should never use a car charger for a motorcycle battery as it provides too much curreent. The proper charging current is approximately one-tenth of its capacity (see battery specifications chart above), or, about 400 to 600 milliamps for a motorcycle battery.

It is, however, possible to jump start a motorcycle from a car and vice-versa but you have to do it correctly.

To jump start a motorcycle from car use the following procedure.

1) Connect the batteries, positive to positive -negative to negative.

2) DO NOT start either vehicle.

3) Go have a smoke (If you don't smoke, start) Calm down, I am just kidding.

4) After about 15 minutes the bike should crank over. (UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES START THE CAR AT ANY POINT DURING THIS PROCESS) If the cars charging kicks in it will start killing components in the bike due the the cars much higher output of Amperage.


It is also possible to do the process in reverse.

1) Hook up both vehicles as outlined above.

2) Start and run the motorcycle, but NOT the car

3) Allow some time for the car battery to pick up some juice.

4) Then, and this is the important part, have someone else crank over the car and the INSTANT it cranks pull one of the cable. Because, as stated above, once the cars more powerful charging system kicks in it will start killing components in the bike.

Use a "floating" charger. Floating chargers shut down when a battery becomes fully charged and re-activate when the charge drops. Battery Tender makes several floating chargers. Many people purchase the Battery Tender Plus, but I recommend the Battery Tender Jr. because it's charging rate (0.75 amps) is much closer to the specified rate for motorcycle batteries.


Don't overcharge! A battery should always be charged, but overcharging beyond the battery's natural absorption rate will cause the electrolyte to break down and boil away. If you've ever left your bike on a trickle charger all winter only to find it dead in the spring then you know about this already. Trickle chargers continue to charge despite the battery's condition. Charging also corrodes the plates and connectors, so constant charging will cause premature failure.

Deep discharging will kill a battery as well. If a battery is discharged completely, some of the material inside drops off and falls to the bottom. This leaves less material behind to conduct the chemical reaction, and eventually it will short out your battery when enought material builds up around the bottom of the plates.



* Yuasa Battery, Inc.
* Exide Technologies (battery manufacturer)
* http://batterytender.com/

Those who know will tell you that a little extra care and feeding of your battery could up to quadruple its lifespan.