Battery Life Expectancy

[Bob Boro]

Hi!! My BMW brand gel battery is 3.5 yrs old. Seems to be fine. Just to be sure I took it to a shop and they did a load test. Everything was ok. Should I trust it for another year? I have not put the Tupperware back on yet. 2003 1150RT. Thanks!

[dirtrider]

Hi!! My BMW brand gel battery is 3.5 yrs old. Seems to be fine. Just to be sure I took it to a shop and they did a load test. Everything was ok. Should I trust it for another year? I have not put the Tupperware back on yet. 2003 1150RT. Thanks!

 

Afternoon Bob

 

Depends, if it is the OEM BMW battery then I sure wouldn't trust it in difficult to access (away from civilization) areas.

 

It might hold up another year & it might just as easily die on your next difficult start.

 

Gel batteries are rather fickle & can be just fine one minute & be to dead to start the bike the next minute.

[Bob Boro]

What battery would you recommend? The battery I have is an Exide battery with BMW printed on it. I got it at a BMW dealership 3+ years ago.

 

As a side note, I once bought a used R80ST, which started and ran great. It had a slosh battery. After a month I thought I better check the battery. I checked it with a hygrometer after a full charge. 4 cells were dead, 1 was at 1/2 charge and 1 was fully charged. Thing ran like a champ with a battery that bad, no problem starting. I replaced the battery immediately.

[dirtrider]

What battery would you recommend? The battery I have is an Exide battery with BMW printed on it. I got it at a BMW dealership 3+ years ago.

 

As a side note, I once bought a used R80ST, which started and ran great. It had a slosh battery. After a month I thought I better check the battery. I checked it with a hygrometer after a full charge. 4 cells were dead, 1 was at 1/2 charge and 1 was fully charged. Thing ran like a champ with a battery that bad, no problem starting. I replaced the battery immediately.

 

Evening Bob

 

That is a darn good question. In the old BMW 1100/1150 bikes I used to run, & really liked, the Odyssey (AGM) battery.

 

Personally I never had any issues with them in the older BMW bikes. BUT- your 1150 charging system output voltage is just marginal for keeping an Odyssey fully topped up to full charge.

 

 

[indy]

Personally I never had any issues with them in the older BMW bikes. BUT- your 1150 charging system output voltage is just marginal for keeping an Odyssey fully topped up to full charge.

 

Well I'll be. That explains why I need to charge my Odyssey every so often. Huh...learn something new every day from DR.

 

Indy

 

BTW, my Odyssey is 6yrs and just starting to show it's age

[Selden]

Lead acid batteries are notoriously unpredictable. I have had a brand new Yuasa fail within less than a year, but my Odyssey has been going strong since May 2009. Whenever not ridden for more than a few days, the battery is always hooked up to a Battery Tender Jr.

[Selden]

Lead acid batteries are notoriously unpredictable. I have had a brand new Yuasa fail within less than a year, but my Odyssey has been going strong since May 2009. Whenever not ridden for more than a few days, the battery is always hooked up to a Battery Tender Jr.

[Skywagon]

I've been waiting on a battery thread, just didn't want to start one. I've never had a BMW battery fail. I've changed them at 5 years before just because...

 

Now the part I wanted to share. I use a Concorde battery in my airplane. It is an AGC battery. It is never ever on a tender. Last week was time for my annual inspection. I checked my log books to see when I installed that battery....2004. It's 13 years old. It has never hinted at weakness. We load tested it and was still very good.

 

Got me thinking. I tried to find a Concorde battery for motorcycle. No luck. Called them and asked did they make a MC battery and answer was no. They didn't think there was enough market to start a new line.

 

[Tri750]

I've used and sold the MotoBatt brand for about 7-8 years now.

Amazon has good pricing or Impact Battery.com

 

The replacement for the 19a BMW battery is the MB51814.

 

Back when MotoBatt was getting big, it was found the 259 motor BMW's had a fitment problem as the factory battery actually tapered top to bottom . The K bikes where the battery dropped in wasn't an issue.

We send a core BMW 19a battery to the importer at the time in Florida for inspection and they in turn changed the case spec to mimic the BMW battery. Took a few months, but since then, the problem was fixed.

I have one in my RT now.

Like with any battery, regular use of a quality maintenance charger will extend the life of the battery a long time.

[tallman]

"Like with any battery, regular use of a quality maintenance charger will extend the life of the battery a long time."

 

Spend for that one time.

Then, over time you'll buy fewer batteries and it pays for itself.

 

 

[Lowndes]

Bob,

 

Couple of things - if you have an AGM (absorptive glass mat) battery such as the Odyssey PC680, you will get better life out of it with:

 

1) a BatteryMINDer (NOT a BatteryTINDer) charger made for AGM batteries with a desulfation cycle. Sulfation is what kills batteries. More info here: AGM info. Amazon has the best price on these.

 

I had a BatteryTINDer, used it religiously. One day last summer the bike wouldn't start. Tried everything. Dead battery. Bought a new PC680. Read about the BatteryMINDer, AGM batteries, charging, etc, got one and just for fun, put it on the dead PC680. 24 hours later the old "dead" was alive again. It's still alive and doing well on a friend's R90. Made a believer out of me.

 

2) the AGM needs 14.7V to charge fully (and FULLY charged batteries last longer and the bikes run much better). The Bosch OEM puts out about 14.2V. Yes, it makes a difference. You might want to install a 14.7V voltage regulator in your alternator. Simple drop in install AND with new brushes, too. EME

 

Lowndes

[lkchris]

I've had BMW batteries work fine for 7 years.

 

My motto is, if the bike's in my garage, the charger is attached.

[tallman]

I've had BMW batteries work fine for 7 years.

 

My motto is, if the bike's in my garage, the charger is attached.

 

Ditto.