azlife4me Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 My bike is a '04 RT with original gel battery. When the bike is not in use it is always on the (BMW) charger. The indicator lights show storage, which is a full charge. After returning from a 100+ mile ride I plug it back into the charger and the charger light is flashing which indidcate the charge is above 80% but not a full charge. It charges for a couple hours before reaching the storage level again. Is it normal for a fully charged battery to discharge while riding the bike? It would seem at some point the battery could go dead at this rate. I am just wondering if it is time to replace. Thanks. Tom Link to comment
Mr. Frank Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Mine is exactly the same, even after a 500 mile day. It seems that the alternator does not top off that last few percent. The gel battery charger does. Recently I put a meter to the battery after returning from an all day ride. It measured 13 volts. Your battery is not discharging while you are riding. Link to comment
glwestcott Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Your battery may well read fully charged as to volts and be basically shot also. I recently was experiencing difficulties again with setting the ABS when I started the bike. I checked voltage 13.something. Put it on the charger overnight anyway and all green lights ready to go according to the charger by the morning. Had same problem when I started with ABS not setting. Got out my voltmeter and hooked to the power take off on the dash and watched while I started the bike. Voltage dropped to 6.2 volts as I started the bike. That is a sign of a battery that can't handle the load. Went to American Battery where I live and had them order a gel cell for me. $50.00 later and I am experiencing 9+ volts when I start the bike and the ABS sets perfectly. Also runs smoother at idle. Seems I was likely getting weak spark at low rpms. By the way the other battery was a year and a half old BMW gell cell. Go figure! Anyway, the moral is to take a volt meter and check what the voltage reads when you start the bike. It shouldn't go below 8 to 9 volts. You can easily check by using the voltage take off at the dash. Link to comment
azlife4me Posted October 20, 2006 Author Share Posted October 20, 2006 Thanks for your help. Tom Link to comment
NoHeat Posted October 21, 2006 Share Posted October 21, 2006 When the bike is not in use it is always on the (BMW) charger. If it's ever hot in your garage, I wouldn't do this. That's because a battery's lifetime can be cut in half if trickle-charged 24/7 at temperatures well above room temperature. Thought I'd mention this since you're in AZ. Link to comment
Geoff_J Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 Even a weak battery will show 12 volts. A better measure of cranking capacity is amps. If you use a smart charger like a Battery Tender, the ambient temperature in a garage doesn't matter. I've used a Battery Tender in my garage at temps ranging from sub zero to 95 degrees with no problem. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.