Battery tricklers

[Muybig]

Do you all use a battery trickler between rides ?

Following my recent post about my bike being hard to start I started using my tickler between rides, I only ride on weekends (1-2 days depending on weather at what my wife has planned for me).

Joking aside following my ride yesterday I just went to connect my bike onto my trickler I noticed that the my optimate read less than 50% charge. Since im at nearly 18 K KM I've decided to change my plugs and air filter while its at the garage looks like the battery is shot so I will probably be installing a new one. I will ask the mechanic to check the charging system I hope this issue is not more than a shot battery that doesn't keep its charge ?

 

[WJBertrand]

I used to use one before I fitted a lithium battery. With the Li battery I can leave the bike for weeks (I was off the bike for 2+ months last year after knee replacement surgery) without connecting a charger and it’ll fire right up.

 

[Sierra1]

I have an Optimate 3+ on my Tenere. I have a Battery Tender brand on my wife's TW and riding mower. I have noticed that if I connect the Optimate to my bike as soon as I get home, it goes into "desulfate mode". If I let the bike/battery sit 'till sundown before connecting, it indicates 80% charge and quickly goes to 100%. I don't know if the heat causes a malfunction or causes sulfation.

But yes, in between rides, she stays hooked up.

 

[bimota]

mostly yes, if i ride every weekend then no, but if the bikes been in the garage 2 weeks without a ride i,ll connect it up for a few days

rob

 

[Jlq1969]

I have an Optimate 3+ on my Tenere. I have a Battery Tender brand on my wife's TW and riding mower. I have noticed that if I connect the Optimate to my bike as soon as I get home, it goes into "desulfate mode". If I let the bike/battery sit 'till sundown before connecting, it indicates 80% charge and quickly goes to 100%. I don't know if the heat causes a malfunction or causes sulfation.

But yes, in between rides, she stays hooked up.

I think the alternator always charges around 14/14.5, but the battery acid ratio "cannot hold that charge for long, as soon as you stop the bike, the battery will show that voltage, but it will decrease rapidly, until it reaches the voltage for the one that its acid ratio allows it to have (12.4/12.5)…..
My charger charges until the battery reaches 14.5 volts. From there it goes into maintenance mode (13.6 volts)..and there it stays (as long as it is plugged into the charger/maintainer).
And to know the capacity of the battery, when the charger reaches 14.5, it cuts off the charge and waits. The voltage begins to drop, if in one minute it did not drop below 13 volts, the charger indicates that the battery is optimal... and puts it in maintenance mode at 13.6 volts

 

[MFP]

I use a NOCO GENIUS2 pretty much the same way Bimota uses his trickle charger.

 

[RCinNC]

For most of the year, I almost never put mine on my battery tender unless I know ahead of time that it's going to be sitting for a while. It's rare that I don't ride the bike at least three times in a week, since the bike is the main way I get around. When the colder months hit and I might not be riding as often, between December and the end of February, I leave the tender on.

I use a Battery Tender Junior.

I'm on my third battery for my 2014 Super Ten.

The OEM Yuasa lasted from 08/26/14 to 02/02/18 (41 months, 7 days) and 43,828 miles.

The replacement for the Yuasa was an O'Reilly Auto Super Start Platinum YTZ14S, which lasted from 02/02/18 to 06/28/22 (52 months, 26 days) and 46,172 miles.

The replacement for the Super Start was an O'Reilly Auto Super Start ETZ14S, which was installed on 06/28/22 and is currently in the bike. So far it's lasted for 13 months, 24 days, and 10,256 miles.

I included the battery info to give an idea of how long my batteries last using my particular routine for using the tender. Whether it's a good routine or not would probably depend on how long all you other guys' lead acid batteries last using a different method. My OEM lasted for just shy of four years and 43,828 miles, and my second battery lasted just shy of four and a half years and 46,172 miles.

 

[Sierra1]

I almost went back to the OE Yuasa because it lasted 6 1/2 years. I killed it twice and didn't get to use the 'Tender Jr. until it was 3 yrs old. I'm pretty sure daily use of the 'Tender is what allowed it to last that long. Well, that and with our riding season it was driven every month. I plug it up every day, 'cuz, well, you never know what tomorrow is gonna bring.

I only have about 25% of RC's mileage. I went with a Batteries Plus Xtreme 14s for about half the price of the Yuasa. Figured that if I don't kill it a couple of times, and keep it plugged in, it should last as long as the Yuasa.

 

[Muybig]

RC/Sierra I have been doing some research on battery life and here's what I found (I believe from Yuasa) typical battery life 2-4 years, the life of the battery will be dependent on how its used !

My current issues stem from my recent trip: I ran my GPS all day my cell was on charge all day I have 4 Denali D3's that I run all the time and on about 8 days out of twelve I sued the heated grips. FYI charging your cell and a GPS on charge consume a lot on the battery !

Take aways: 1) I have removed the phone charging set up - will make sure that the cell is charged over night on every outing. I will plug my battery on trickler all the time (or otherwise if my mechanic says so) I will have my battery tested before any future trips and finally changing all the bulbs up front to LED for a slightly lower consumption.

I forgot - will be installing the OEM battery

 

[Sierra1]

. . . . I used the heated grips. FYI charging your cell and a GPS on charge consume a lot on the battery ! . . . .

I my opinion, it's not the cell or GPS that's hard on the battery. Back in the day when I rode is stupid cold weather, it was the heated grips that put the hurt on the battery. The Beemer RT I rode had a deep cycle aux battery for additional equipment, but the grips were powered by the main battery. By the end of the day, I could hear the starter dragging from the heated grips being used. The ST1300/Pan, was even worse. I think it was due to the Honda grips being stronger than the Beemer's. You might want to get you one of those lithium jump packs for the cell and GPS. The one I have is primarily for jump starting vehicles but has USB ports too. That would kill two birds with one stone. 1) no worry about a weak battery and 2) keeps your cell charged.

 

[RCinNC]

I'd recommend that you install a voltmeter along with your new battery. If you feel like all that equipment is the root cause of your battery drain, then having a voltmeter on the bike will help you to tell if your accessories are pulling more of a load than system can provide. If you're riding down the road and your voltmeter is showing below (I think) 12.6 volts, then the battery isn't recharging as fast as it's being depleted. You'll have some early warning to unplug or turn something off before you start running into problems.

 

[Jlq1969]

I think there is a confusion between the energy provided by a yuasa YTZ14/12 battery... and the energy required by a cell phone (stored in its battery). the motorcycle battery can provide 11.8 amps/hour...for 20 hours...the battery of a mid/high range smartphone can accumulate between 3000 and 6000 “”milliamps”” (that is, nothing compared to a motorcycle battery) ….

 

[Sierra1]

I think there is a confusion between the energy provided by a yuasa YTZ14/12 battery... and the energy required by a cell phone (stored in its battery). the motorcycle battery can provide 11.8 amps/hour...for 20 hours...the battery of a mid/high range smartphone can accumulate between 3000 and 6000 “”milliamps”” (that is, nothing compared to a motorcycle battery) ….
View attachment 104807View attachment 104808

I agree. That's why I said that it was more likely the grip heaters.

 

[RCinNC]

I think most cell phone chargers use anywhere from 1 to 3 amps when charging a phone. If you split the difference and say 2 amps, then the charger is using 24 watts per hour of use. Not like running a microwave or anything, but I imagine that could make a difference in conjunction with other loads on the system. What is the "spare" electrical capacity of the Super Tenere, after you take into consideration the demands of the bike's electrical system? When I had my 2012 V-Strom, running heated grips and extra lights could cause a deficit to the system. Some guys even installed a headlight cutout switch so you could shut one of the headlights off to save power for something else.

I'm no expert on bike electrics (not do I play one on TV), so it's entirely possible I'm full of crap on this.

 

[AusTexS10]

If you'd ever had a Brit bike from back in the 60s with Lucas electrics, you'd never complain about today's motorcyle electric gremlins. And I'm just talking about basics like lights, horn and ignition back then. My 66 Triumph T100SC that I rode in 1967 didn't even have a battery and all electrical ran off of the magneto. A great bike, and reportedly one of Steve McQueen's favorites. Note, stock photo below, mine was never that clean

 

[Jlq1969]

More than a voltmeter, which would indicate the voltage generated by the alternator, what should be placed is an "amperimeter", which would measure the amps that are being consumed while driving. I don't know how many amps the engine consumes, per hour, just to work (ignition, injection, fuel pump, fan)….but we do know how many “maximum” amps the alternator can generate (42.9amps/hour)….but, at 5000rpm, below that rpm, who knows how much it generates…..

 

[Jlq1969]

This is what an Oxford heated grip consumes "at most", per hour…..

 

[RCinNC]

More than a voltmeter, which would indicate the voltage generated by the alternator, what should be placed is an "amperimeter", which would measure the amps that are being consumed while driving. I don't know how many amps the engine consumes, per hour, just to work (ignition, injection, fuel pump, fan)….but we do know how many “maximum” amps the alternator can generate (42.9amps/hour)….but, at 5000rpm, below that rpm, who knows how much it generates…..
View attachment 104810

I'm not familiar with an amperimeter, but I do know what an ammeter is. I'm guessing they do the same thing; measure current in a circuit. I think they would be handy if you were trying to determine ahead of time what sort of load each of your accessories created, so you could tell in advance what accessories (or combination of accessories) would exceed the available power produced by the electrical system, or if you were using them in your shop to troubleshoot a problem. I don't think they're necessary for the issue described by Muybig.

If you're riding along at 3000 rpm and you notice that the voltmeter says "12 volts", then you're experiencing either a charging system issue or else the charging system is fine and you're just drawing power faster from the battery than you're able to replace it (or the battery is going bad). It's an early warning that something is wrong. The first thing I'd do if I saw that on my bike would be to shut off whatever accessories I had plugged in and see if the battery began to recover. Hopefully that would solve the problem; if not, then I'd know I probably had a more complicated problem that would make me want to stop and get checked out, rather than being stranded somewhere remote.

That, at least, was my understanding of the use of a voltmeter back in my V-Strom days, when a slightly anemic electrical system (along with some stator issues) created more of a need for one.

 

[Sierra1]

….but, at 5000rpm, below that rpm, who knows how much it generates…..

And there's the rub. Going down a highway, the battery is fine with the grips on high, big screen tv, and an air fryer. But start riding down a trail or around town, rpms drop and so does the charge going to the battery. Nothing to be concerned about unless you add a bunch of aux lighting or additional electronic gear, with the rpm staying low for most of the day.

 

[WJBertrand]

I don’t think the heated grips, phone charger, GPS or lights caused the battery to die. I’ve run all of that plus a heated jacket simultaneously and system voltage stays in the high 13s the whole time, according the voltage gauge I installed on my ‘15.

A voltage gauge is an indirect measure of charging. An ammeter is a direct measure but must be installed in series with the main battery lead whereas a volt meter can be connected in parallel without interrupting the main battery connections.


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