Battery Options

[GateKeeper]

I have a couple of these





use it with one of these



Connected together all winter, well at minimum 4-5 months

No issues.....

and this is in an unheated garage, left in the bike, all I did was hook up the connector so I just plug it in and walk away....

I check on the unit every once in a while to make sure it's on, only due to a power failure if one should happen

[eil]

So I need a new battery for my 81 GS750 (YB14L-A2) and as I live in Northern Michigan, we have pretty harsh winters up here. I wanted to buy a battery but I'm worried about it getting toasted or at least using up some if its live span over a period I wont even ride it. I just finished my rebuild and am waiting on coils in the mail before it will run but my old battery wont take any charge. I know battery tenders will keep them healthy but I'm thinking about waiting to buy new. If I remove the battery and store it inside off of a trickle charge (disconnected entirely) will that likely take away from some if its life? Is trickle charge the only way to go about it?

As noted earlier in the thread, there's a difference between battery chargers and battery maintainers. Never keep a battery on a battery charger (even a trickle charger) once it's fully charged. The battery will get overcharged and thus destroyed. A battery maintainer (like the Battery Tender brand), sure. A maintainer shuts off power to the battery once it's fully charged and only tops it off when the charge drops below a certain level.

A standard flooded plate battery doesn't need to be connected to a charger if your charging system is good and you ride at least once a month. If you put the bike up for the winter and don't ride it for a few months, disconnect the negative cable from the battery and either put a battery maintainer on it or top it off with a standard charger once a month. (Do NOT overcharge it.) It's better to store it in the cold garage than in the warm house. Lower temperatures slow the chemical reactions that cause self-discharge, prolonging the life of the battery. (They also slow the chemical reactions that make a battery work, which is why batteries perform worse in the cold.)

An AGM battery has a much lower self-discharge rate and can go months without needing to be topped off, so that's really the best way to go.

[Gorminrider]

What do you guys think about Yuasa batteries...? (SYB14L-42)

Any other good value batteries to consider. I don't keep the battery on a trickle-charger! I have it on a CTek battery conditioner (shared with a couple of other bikes, so I rotate it through...)

Still, the last new generic name battery (Cycle Tron) lasted 3 years in the bike and never let me down once until now! Should I expect more? Can't see paying double for something "better" that ends up lasting the same amount of time anyway!

Thoughts?

Yuasa might give you the extra crank, the extra recovery. If you are commuting to work, go for it.
otherwise I think you are doing ok. 3 years on a cheapie -you got your $ worth.
I think, If nothing ever goes wrong on the bike-running it dead,or severe cold snaps when you ran it dead, if nobody knocks your bike over in a parking lot, or steals it, or the multitude of other stuff that wrecks any battery, then go for the $ shot.

I'm in the "give it an occassional charge up" wet-cell camp, in winter, because I'm a gloomy kind of fatalist when it comes to batteries. See above.
I have an old 6 amp unit to charge everything. These mostly are voltage controlled in a rugged way and drop to a trickle-it has a funky ol swing needle gauge on the front of it. Usually shows 2 amp for a minute or two and drops off to trickle pretty quick. Battery voltage does not rise beyond 14+ I have it on a timer so I don't have to remember to take it off. ...My 3 wet cell motorcycle batteries are 1,2 and 4 years old. So far so good.

[cowboyup3371]

The only thing I can offer is that storing off a tender helps NONE. I had mine unhooked for about 4 months. Battery was only 3 months old, AGM. Now it's kaput.

Something else was wrong with it then. You only need a tender for an hour or twoevery few weeks with an AGM battery especially if the tender is not working well (I killed a brand new AGM last year while sitting on my maintainer for two weeks).

[suzukizone]

Will offer my opinion. Willing to take heat if someone wants to jump on me but I really am trying to play nice, not question anyone else's integrity or intelligence.

It would be good to refer to the name brand product "Battery Tender" as a specific brand & not use the word "tender" for sundry items. I worked for some years at a cycle shop(not a mechanic) & a lot of batteries needed replacement. I tried to learn about BATTERY TENDER brand charger/maintainers as there were cheaper products out there. I spent a good bit of time on the phone with that company so i could offer their products with confidence. (Granted this info was from that company & therefore a form of self-interested propaganda)
I was told that the BATTERY TENDER line does not just turn on & off as needed but it first puts out its max output (Usually 3/4 amp on the "Jr." model or 1.5 amp on the larger units)until the battery reaches its fullest charge. The TENDER then drops down to a trickle to maintain. I was told that this "trickle" is somewhat variable as the BT is actually monitoring the charge of the battery & effectively juggling the floating charge level. The maintenance cycle is continuously variable therefore. This based on the concept that the closer to always being at the ideal full charge for the longest continuous period of time, the longer the battery will last. Up & down charge levels are contributing to the shortening of the battery life. They were emphatic that the best way to use the BATTERY TENDER device is to have it on the bike 24/7 UNLESS you are riding. I began to tell customers that as they lifted their leg around the seat to dismount, they should be reaching for the lead wire of the BT & plug it into the bike.

I was turned onto the BT by a customer who had the original battery on his DL1000 Suzuki after 12(Yup TWELVE) years. We tested his battery & it read as good as a brand new installed & fully charged battery.
I got 8+ years from a basic YUASA Yumicron old fashioned lead acid battery. The first year or two I had not yet gotten to be a BT user so it likely would have lasted a lot longer. It was NOT dead when I replaced it, worked fine as long as I rode & kept it on the BT. But I could tell it was not the fresh young battery it used to be & had a few camping trips coming up & just wanted to have a new strong battery onboard. My current battery, on the BT since new, is over 5 years old & strong like bull.

None of this meant to dispute anyone else's experiences. These are mine. Info from Battery Tender company is just what it is. Can't prove the science or conclusions but have yet to see anyone I sold a BT to back then ever have anything but great joy & a full charge.

There are other name brand trickle/maintenance chargers from Yuasa, Optimate, etc. They might be better, worse or the same. For me it is an open & shut case for BATTERY TENDER, don't need to experiment. I use the Battery Tender Jr. though I have the 1.5 amp unit I put on the lawn mower. I always keep it plugged in unless I'm riding and stress, if you have an old fashioned wet lead acid like the Yumicron, CHECK THE ELECTROLYTE LEVEL AT LEAST ONCE A MONTH. Constant hook up will cause the water of the electrolyte to evaporate faster than usual.

OK nuff from me. Just wanted to offer that it wasn't clear if I was reading the word "tender" if the writer was referring to a BATTERY TENDER or another device.

Be safe & happy,....simultaneously.

DH

[posplayr]

Because of the potentially unknown behavior of any particular charger, I tend to have a volt meter attached to the battery so I can see what it is doing. Also my "charger" has an amp meter built in to give me rate of charge. And even though it is a 60 amp capable charger, it does shut off once charged (for lead acid at least).

As stated before, a "trickle charger" is just a tender and generally does not have the amperage capacity of a "charger" to really increase the state of charge of a battery. If the voltage of a lead acid battery does not increase above your free standing voltage by more than a few tenths of a volt (at least 0.5V) then it is not really charging.
A tender might be expected to keep the battery 13.2V (13.2-12.7=0.5V increase) where as a charger will push the voltage to closer to +1.0-1.5 (12.8==> 13.8-14.3V). This of course depends on the battery state of charge and if is still capable of holding a charge.

So you should always watch what the voltage does when you put on your charger or tender or what ever you may have in between.

[crankshaft]

I too use voltage instead of amperage. I can tell how strong my (non AGM) battery is by how quickly it charges up to 14 volts. After it hits 14 volts on my digital volt meter, I let it charge for 15 minutes. I read somewhere that the battery has to charge at 14 volts in order to move electrons or sulfur or something off the lead plates.

[OldVet66]

An AGM will get you through a SW Ohio winter without a tender, but you may need a little help on the first start in the spring. Put it on a trickle charge a bit in advance of the first ride and you should be golden.

If your charge is up, you are correct. If not you can loose an AGM battery just like any other battery if the charge is down and it freezes. I lost two batteries that way when we moved and I had more important things on my mind. One was a Motobat AGM and the other an interstate 1000 CCA battery in my RX8. Battery Tenders are a lot cheaper than batteries.