Average lifespan of Odyssey PC680 battery in motorcycle

[khale]

I'm looking to find out what the average lifespan of the Odyssey PC680 is. I have a 1973 r75/5 that doesn't want the battery to stay charged. I'm trying to figure out if my battery needs replacing or I need to dive into the electrical of my bike. The battery is 6 years old. Was put in the bike in 2006.

[ozmoses]

Hopefully much longer than a Westco... yup, I'm gonna be "that guy"!

Cereally, I'm wondering the same thing about the PC680 i recently purchased.

[crazydrummerdude]

Originally Posted by ozmoses

Hopefully much longer than a Westco... yup, I'm gonna be "that guy"!

Cereally, I'm wondering the same thing about the PC680 i recently purchased.

I'm reminded of:

Originally Posted by Donkey Hotey

I had an Odyssey catastrophically die when it was under a year old (internallly shorted). If not for riding with somebody who could jumpstart my GS with the battery disconnected, I would have been stranded 9 miles out in the desert.

Then to compound matters, they would not honor the warranty because I bought it on the internet (excuse me, my nearest 'dealer' was 100 miles away). They wouldn't return emails and at the time, wouldn't take phone calls either. I got stuck replacing it on my own (not another Odyssey).

I still have that battery here and someday, I'm going to shove it up somebody's ass at that company. They never have a rep at their display at the Long Beach Motorcycle show--ever (I've been looking for three years now). I've got 14 bikes and they'll never sell me another battery again.

[Wirespokes]

Remove the negative lead from the battery. Set the meter to amps. Attach the positive (red) lead to the battery negative terminal. Attach the negative lead to the cable.

With the ignition off, the meter should read zero.

Switch the meter to milliamps. It should still read zero. If not, find out what is draining the battery.

[Hawk Medicine]

Originally Posted by khale

I'm looking to find out what the average lifespan of the Odyssey PC680 is. I have a 1973 r75/5 that doesn't want the battery to stay charged. I'm trying to figure out if my battery needs replacing or I need to dive into the electrical of my bike. The battery is 6 years old. Was put in the bike in 2006.

Forget about the battery until you've taken time to test your charging system for proper operation.

Meanwhile, place the battery on a charger and see it it holds it's charge. Odyssey PC680 have a rep for long life. Westco? None for me thanks...

[khale]

Originally Posted by mymindsok

Forget about the battery until you've taken time to test your charging system for proper operation.

Meanwhile, place the battery on a charger and see it it holds it's charge. Odyssey PC680 have a rep for long life.

What should I be reading at for certain RPM's on my voltmeter? I imagine around 13.5V and higher correct?

[Airhead Wrangler]

Originally Posted by mymindsok

Forget about the battery until you've taken time to test your charging system for proper operation.

What he said. Even if it is your battery, 6 years out of a battery isn't bad.

[Biebs]

Assuming you have a volt meter.

1. check battery voltage (after charging) static bike off should be about 12.5 volts. Then wait a couple of hours ( go have coffee or a beer) check again should still be 12.5 volts it it has dropped then bike is drawing power when off or battery is bad. Disconnect battery and repeat above test this will test just the battery.


2. With bike running check voltage at battery should read ~13 volts more as RPM increase if not check bike charging system.


This is a way of isolating the probem to either battery or bike.

I have had a PC680 in my 74 R75/6 for 4 years no problem great battery. Uses half the space as original and I can remove it without dropping subframe.
Only problem is the price of a new one I see they are about $150 now.

[lkchris]

These are "storage" batteries and bigger = more storage.

But, in motorcycles they are small and don't store much.

Your approach should be: if the motor's not running, a battery charger should be attached. This is a fact of life of motorcycle ownership.

[alister102]

I got 7 years out of my 680-

[boxerkuh]

I was going through a simular problems a few years ago.... Here is what I did and found out: I took the battery out and took it to Auto Zone and had it tested. Did not know what the cold cranks were so I told them about maybe 400.... they tested it twice and it came back both times as good. Then I emailed Odyssey to find out some info. They told me that the cold crank is only 220 and if it tested good at 400 twice the battery was as good as new. The battery was 6 years old at the time and I heard about abrupt battery failures... well that was 4 years ago and the battery is still in the bike and is working wonderfully. Odyssey told me that the average life of the battery is anywhere inbetween 7 and 12 years. After some further investigation it turned out that the diode board had a bad ground. It was repaired and no problems since. Hope that helps.

[Rucksta]

I killed my 320 at 3 years +
I put chokes on the bike and tidied up the charging system then slotted the 680 back in.
It was 2 years old when I benched it for the 320 and it seems to be holding up well.

Conclusion. you can kill these things but you have to try really hard.