Battery Options GS550E

[salty_monk]

My friend that took the 550E I put back on the road rides not so often & has no access to power in his parking garage for a battery tender.....

Battery is a cheapy Z1 wet type.

He's having probs keeping a charge in it (I know, I already told him to ride it more...)

Would a Dry Yuasa style battery or something help his cause? He's not adverse to spending some $$ but only if it's going to work.

Dan

[rphillips]

Have you checked for a drain on the batt?? Have you checked the charging system?? How long between rides?? My opinion, most of the time, a good glassmatt sealed battery will hold a charge longer than the wet wal-mart battery. But no guarantees. Shouldn't be a big deal to push start.

[marz]

glad you brought this up..


i got an interstate from a friend of mine..
i love it its over a year old.. and has more power than any battery i have ever had before..
it sat through winter tempratue flux of -10 to normal .. never charged it.. started twice during the 6 mths i had it sitting.. it is an amazing battery.. it just seems to go better than anything ive ever had before.. has more staying power.yasua i had before would die in about ten mins .if i left it on(key w/light).or if i had problems starting. it would die about five to ten times.. .not this one.. damn im so happy about it..
as with all new batterys make sure you get it charged properly the first time.. the biggest(charger) most constant current you can find..
good luck .. shall i go on?

[Nessism]

Hey Dan,
AGM batteries claim to hold their power longer when not in use. If your bud has the money, that's the way to go.

[GQROD]

Install a battery cut off switch ( $3.00-$10.00 ) so that it's not draining until you can find out if it holds a charge and wether or not there is a circuit draining the battery.

He could also install a cheap solar charger so that the lights in the garage are giving the battery SOME charge albeit less than a battery tender.

[550ERAT]

How did you wire the pc fan and relay?

[focus frenzy]

run a extension cord, if he lets it sit long enough for the battery to self drain the carbs are not going to do any better. the small solar charger is a good idea but it screams "steal me" and has to have good sun light to do any good or the garage lights need to be bright.
he could always remove the battery and put in on charger in his apartment/town home/ condo.

[salty_monk]

I should have put up some more info....

1. No chance of running an extension cord, it's about 150 yards from his front door to where the bike is. I guess he could park it in the street & do that for an hour or so but it would be right on the st with the cable across the sidewalk.

2. There is no drain on the battery (or not one that is measurable with a meter anyway)

3. It's draining because he's been leaving it weeks between rides & only using it for short rides when he does ride it. Charging system checks out fine with a meter. (Getting the right Volts at right RPM etc)

4. I connected up a spare battery last night (it was too big but I could get it connected up - Thanks Ed, that battery came in useful!). Bike started straight up after priming the carbs so that was good considering the last time it was started was December

5. The garage is secure underground (with a gate) it's lit but pretty dim, I suspect a solar charger wouldn't really offer any charge to the battery at all.

PC Fan & Relay? There is nothing like that on this bike.... I have the coil relay mod on one of my other bikes though with no issues of discharging if that helps.

Dan

[uudfourty]

"A better battery" gets my vote.

Everyone replaces batteries sooner or later. His time has come.

[salty_monk]

This one is brand new... it's not due for replacement if he could keep it on a tender or was riding every day!

[duaneage]

I think he needs to remove it and keep it charged somewhere in the house. If he only rides it every few weeks it is not that much trouble to install the battery beforehand.

He really has no options