Battery Chargers

[wan3417]

Could anyone recommend a battery charger for my GS1100EZ.

[DaveDanger]

Pardon the length of this post. Almost any 12 volt battery charger will work satisfactorily as long as you monitor it closely, but take into consideration the relative size of the battery that you're working with. Most chargers are designed with automobiles in mind. They have a fairly large battery bulk with lots of plates to soak up the heat generated by a charge cycle. I personally prefer a charger of much smaller capacity (designed for smaller batteries) to use on a bike. 20 years ago I jumped around the problem of what type/size charger with a system of my own design. (and I'm sure they're probably available now specifically for motorcycles). I went to the local Radio Shack? and purchased a 110VAC to 12 VDC wall transformer/adapter for an electronic game with some specific parameters in mind. I wanted 12 to 14 volts output at a very low amperage for trickle charge... something in the range of 1/2 amp. (500 milliamps). I took a good medium gauge copper wire pair and crimped on a set of ring terminals and permanently installed those on the battery terminal bolts, leaving a pigtail (Ty-rapped in place) to a polarized female plug that hung under one of my side covers. I then mounted the male half of the polarized plug and crimped it onto the output wires of the 12 VDC transformer/adapter. I connected a light gauge 20' extension cord to the 110 VDC plug and made it permanent. It stayed in the corner of the shop where my bike was parked. When I felt the need for a trickle charge or the weather was going to be severely cold, I'd simply pop the side cover, connect the polarized plugs together and oila! Instant 1/2 amp maintenance charge. Sufficient for stretching a battery that's beginning to reach its last legs, or to keep the electrolyte warm enough to keep from freezing on those bitterly cold Georgia nights... (50 degrees is bitterly cold ain't it?). Point being, I didn't have to remove the seat, or deal with alligator clips, or worry about overcharging, or anything else. Up until I obtained this last bike, all of my previous rides have been daily transportation with no other vehicle in ownership. I didn't have to worry much about a battery growing weak from lack of use, but I'd not have hesitated to leave that trickle charger connected and trickling for days on end if I were away.

[Tarbash 27]

I USE A BATTERY TENDER JUNIOR, I KEEP IT ON WHENEVER IM NOT RIDING MY BIKE. IT STORES THE BATTERY AT A FULL CHARGE.

[SqDancerLynn1]

I have a 1 amp KMart special charger that I use switchable for 6V/12V batteries I'm guessing I'v had it for 25+years

[tfb]

And Mike uses a small 1200mA charger which flicks over to a super-low 'maintenance' mode when the battery is fully charged.

As DaveDanger says, use a charger of smaller capacity, because motorcycle batteries are much smaller than car batteries and it's easy to give them too much juice with an auto charger.

Mike.

[jimcor]

Got a Schumacher (made in Chicago!) 1 amp motorcycle charger close to 20 years ago. Picked it up at one of the discount auto parts stores for about $20-$25.

[Pete Logan]

I have a Battery Tender and 2 Optimates. Both bikes are rigged with a harness for the Optimates, and I just plug them in when I get home as routine. I use the Battery Tender for car batteries mostly, or if I pull a bike battery out.

I don't know if the Optimate is available in the US as there is another company of that name, but here's a UK website that describes it. Principal advantage over a Battery Tender is that it has additional recovery capabilities for deep discharged and lightly sulphated batteries, though it cannot raise the dead

Both these models cycle the battery rather than just charging it up and switching off, so the battery is fooled into believing it is being used normally.

They're good for all-winter storage on or off the bike.

http://www.accumate.co.uk/it010003.html

Pete

[ptm]

The beauty of the Battery Tender is that it charges the battery only until it is fully charged, then it stops. It monitors the battery and when the state of charge drops to a certain point, it starts charging again. It is the best of both worlds. Whether you leave it on for a few hours or months, it will keep it charged without over-charging. The 'Junior' model is 0.75Amp and costs only $30.00. Money well spent and you'll get it back in a stronger, longer lasting battery .

My $.02

[Pete Logan]

That's right. The Optimate does the same thing.

Pete

[GregM.]

Another one that does the same thing - at least that's what they say - Is the "Bell" brand m/c battery charger they call "The Juicer". I got it Wal Mart, just under $20.

The owner's manual says it works this way... plus I called their customer service dept. for more info... and it all sounded good. It comes with connectors that you can leave on the terminals for easy hook-up when ever you want.

So far, so good for me... and, Bell used to be a very good name for m/c stuff 25 years ago.

Anyone else seen this one, maybe it's a new product..............

[LW_Icarus]

I use and like the battery tender,750 mah version, Ive had a few over the years and as long as they have the automatic charge feature and are less that 2 amps all is good. think Ive had a schumacher before and had no problems, had some cheap import charger that worked okay, but I always worried that it would malfunction and burn the garage down, so it got replaced.

[wan3417]

battery chargers

Thanks for all the imput,guys.
Currently I'm using a 12 volt / 1 amp battery tender to maintain it when the bike's not in use for long spells.I however warm-up and leave the bike running for 15 minutes if I don't use it more than 3 days.This regime has helped to sustain it's life to about 2 1/2 years average.
What's the average life-span of your batteries?

[kalessin]

I like my Battery Tender Plus a lot. Well built, paid $55 or something for it, it has good sensing modes for bad batteries, etc. When I had my bike in a friend's garage, i put the ring-terminated wires on so I could just plug the bike in, and in my apartment I use the clamp-terminated wires.