Gel Battery Life

[kinchy]

The battery in the RT is getting close to 4 years old. I power a Valentine, GPS and PIAA lights. The trickle charger is always connected when parked/stored. I haven't noticed any problems but..should I consider replacing the battery when the RT goes in for the 18,000 service in September?

[David]

Yep. It's a cheap way to prevent being stranded, and I would have replaced it before four years had elapsed.

[moshe_levy]

The average sealed, maintenance-free battery has a rated life of 3-5 years (depending on brand) at 25 degrees Celsius constant. At four years, you're in the zone where replacement is a good insurance policy, even if the battery still has some life left in it.

 

For what BMW will charge you for another Exide gel, consider a Hawker PC680 or another Hawker 16 AH battery from the Genesis series. We use them in the UPS systems we manufacture for the military here at work. They are rated for 8-12 years at the same 25 degrees Celsius constant, but have FAR superior performance in terms of operating temp range compared to the typical gel or lead-acid type battery. The Genesis we put into my Controller's Harley here at work in 1997 is still going....

 

-MKL

[JayW]

Why not have it load-tested, and replace it only if it fails? Call me cheap, but I have had batteries last over 7 years, and would be reluctant to throw away a battery that still passes spec.

 

Jay

[VinnyR11]

I am pretty fanatical about changing the batteries in all my cars and my bike every four years. Sure enough...last year I said, "you know what, the bike starts great I'm going to wait an extra year."

You know the punch line.

 

It's relatively cheap insurance.

[L Rider]

If I was planning a long trip I'd replace it. Just for peace of mind. For local use, I've used well maintained batteries up to 5 years, then replaced them.

 

Cheers........Rod

[kinchy]

Ok..thanks everyone. My intuition said it's time and seems that most would agree. I'll check out that Hawker PC680 as well.

[PLW]

I replaced a 5 year old BMW lead/acid battery last week with a PC680. The original battery has never so much as hiccupped, but I had purchased the Odyssey battery last winter just in case and figured I ought to use it. It's good insurance for a bike that's difficult to jump start single handed. On the other hand, I probably wouldn't have bothered if a new battery wasn't sitting on my bench for 6 months. I'm in SoCal, so batteries don't have a particularly hard life, ymmv.

[keithb]

Jay I totally agree with you. I had the orginal battery in my 93 K1100RS for at least 7 years. The only reason I changed it is I had what I thought was a battery issue. It turned out to be the ignition wire so I spent $100 on a battery I did not need. Furthermore, I never put a trickle charger on my battery and it always starts. Maybe I am lucky with the battery thing.

[Jitryd]

I've found I get enough 'hints' that my battery is starting to weaken to wait for it. Hard cranking, ABS system refusing to engage if the bike's been sitting for a day or two. Gives me plenty of time to get a battery and put it in before total failure. Just don't ignore the warning signs because when they go you'll only get about a week of warnings before it goes from intermittent signs to totally dead within 24 hours.

 

I last replaced my stock with an Oddessy in 2005 for my 2000 R1100RT

[W. Mazelin]

I put a new BMW Gel battery in the GS last weekend. It's been in the bike since late Feb. of '04. I have an Auotcom, & GPS, PIAA lights added to the bikes heated grips and electric vest. When the bike is in my garage it's on a battery tender. We left for a few days of riding on the 4th, and on the 5th, I could tell the battery was getting weak, it took a little longer than normal to fire the bike, and from timi-to-time I'd get an ABS fault. I was hoping it was going to last thru the weekend, but then on more than one start cycle, I'd punch the button, the bike would very briefly crank, the RID/clock display would blank out, reset to 0:00 come back on, the bike would continue to crank, then fire. Not wanting to be stuck on the side of PCH somewhere, we went to BMW of Santa Cruz County for a new battery. Plenty of warning, just needed a new one - no more ABS faults, or hard starts.