Battery recomendations ?

[The Civil One]

Hey .

Yesterday whilst out for a spin , on My 88 R100GS bumble bee , i was proceeding along nicely ,,,
my bike just stopped ,, i had all kinds of notions running thru my head as to what had happened .
Initial thought was it had to be electrickery , because of the way it just Stopped motoring ..
Having a look over the bike i couldnt see anything amiss ,,,,,, checked fuses , run my fingers along all the main leads
outa the battery area , Nada .
I called a friend with a van ,, had it vanned back to base .
On inspection , there wasnt a kick outa the battery at all ,absolutely nothing.
My Battery is about a year old , Motobatt , I have never heard of a battery " Just failing ".
Digging out the Voltmeter , she is charging , nothing astounding , sitting about 13.5 ,but that is about it on a Std R100Gs.

Have you ever heard of a battery "Just failing " ?
What battery would you suggest as a good fitment ?

[bpeckm]

Sounds fishy to me... I would look for a blown fuse/circuit breaker. What is the battery voltage when it isn't "charging"? Broken wire, something ain't right.

[ME 109]

I think 13.5 volts charge is too low.

Maximum is 14.3 volts .........I think.

I have a motobatt, so far so good. Hey, that yellow battery would look appropriate in a bumblebee

[boxerkuh]

As far as battery recommendation I am running an Odyessy PC 680 in both of my airheads. I have one for 8 years in service and still going strong. I just last week had a replace a failing "other brand" and replaced it with a PC 680.

A bike just stopping or shutting off sounds very strange. Exactly what happened? You were just motoring down the road and it quite? I would run a check on the electrics, wires, relays, etc. Something is amiss here. The best way to test a battery is with the assistance of a friend, and take a reading when the starter button is hit; if voltage drops below 9 volts the battery is done, but that is not what it sound like happened in your case.

More info please.

[Biebs]

Originally Posted by boxerkuh

As far as battery recommendation I am running an Odyessy PC 680 in both of my airheads. I have one for 8 years in service and still going strong. I just last week had a replace a failing "other brand" and replaced it with a PC 680.

A bike just stopping or shutting off sounds very strange. Exactly what happened? You were just motoring down the road and it quite? I would run a check on the electrics, wires, relays, etc. Something is amiss here. The best way to test a battery is with the assistance of a friend, and take a reading when the starter button is hit; if voltage drops below 9 volts the battery is done, but that is not what it sound like happened in your case.

More info please.

Odyessy PC 680 yes reccomend smaller than stock battery - BUT I have an 89 GS100 same thing happened to me multiple time the positive battery cable keep coming loose - Vibration of bike I'm guessing. Finally used some Blue loctie on positive battery cable and no problems since. Go figure.

[100RT]

PC680 in mine also, Many years of service. Just put one in my 03 R1150RT also.

[The Civil One]

I have now tried a full 24H trickle charge and nothing.
My 1 year old Motobatt has Failed.
I was just sailing along nicely and the whole bike just stopped !!!!!! ...
Having a backround in Road transport , i have been asking and no one i have
spoken to has EVER heard of this ..

Pulled the Battery from another bike and the GS fired straight up , no issues.

Thoughts ?

[Rob Farmer]

Are you sure it wasn't the broken indicator switch that caused it Phil?

Seriously. I had a lead acid battery fail completely a few weeks ago. Cheap chinese one off Ebay. That'll teach me not to buy a decent one in the first place.

[The Civil One]

Originally Posted by Rob Farmer

Are you sure it wasn't the broken indicator switch that caused it Phil?

Ha ha
If it wasnt goin to cost me the guts of a Ton , it would be funny .
Every corner i turn its another bill ,, Its never ending ..

[Beemerboff]

I have Motobatts in everything, no problems.

They are 1/3 rd the price of an Oddesy in Oz, and test just as good.

But if they get flat 13.5V or a trickle charger wont recharge them - they need 14.4 Volts and a decent shot of power.

Go to the Motobatt site - it has a comparison test on it, and recharge it the same way they recharged the batteries between tests.

I have had two PC 680s, both failed at two years, no warning, in normal use one minute, next start just died under load, still with full resting volts, but SFA under load, and I think this is typical of the newer style batteries.

[_cy_]

Originally Posted by The Civil One

Hey .

Yesterday whilst out for a spin , on My 88 R100GS bumble bee , i was proceeding along nicely ,,,
my bike just stopped ,, i had all kinds of notions running thru my head as to what had happened .
Initial thought was it had to be electrickery , because of the way it just Stopped motoring ..
Having a look over the bike i couldnt see anything amiss ,,,,,, checked fuses , run my fingers along all the main leads
outa the battery area , Nada .
I called a friend with a van ,, had it vanned back to base .
On inspection , there wasnt a kick outa the battery at all ,absolutely nothing.
My Battery is about a year old , Motobatt , I have never heard of a battery " Just failing ".
Digging out the Voltmeter , she is charging , nothing astounding , sitting about 13.5 ,but that is about it on a Std R100Gs.

Have you ever heard of a battery "Just failing " ?
What battery would you suggest as a good fitment ?

sounds like there's a good possibility nothing is wrong with your battery. your charging system should be putting out 13.8v to 14.2v at medium rpm.

here's a repost of basic trouble shooting list .. go to my LiFEPO4 battery testing thread for LOTS more info, AGM is covered too ...

-----------
to test PB battery ...

1. charge at least overnight with preferably a std size automotive battery charger. some batt tenders charge so slow, it may take several days.

2. allow fully charged battery to rest overnight to bleed off surface charge

3. use a known to be correct meter ... 12.85v shows a fully charged flooded PB at rest, 13v for AGM

4. next is a load test.. no problems if you don't have a load tester... your starter will draw about 150amp, then drop to about 95 amps. if your battery cranks strong with a verified full charge, then it passes the load test.

5. your charging system should put out at mid-rpm range.. 13.8v to 14.2v measured at battery. intermittent charging issues are the worst...

6. test for parasitic drain... set meter to measure amp in series ... connect meter in series to neg side between battery and ground. depending on what's running with everything shut down, a tiny drain may be ok... like a clock

note: AGM cells like to be charged at 2.40V to 2.45V/cell = 14.4v to 14.7v for max capacity with less sulfation. 2.30V to 2.35V/cell = 13.8v to 14.1v for max service life

AGM batteries that's gone thru a severe discharge. a reconditioning charge cycle may be in order. but that takes a charger with a conditioning cycle and/or a constant voltage charger that delivers 15.5v

for more technical information please consider visiting my battery testing thread. which contains the most technical information on LiFePO4 motorcycle batteries anywhere on the WWW that I'm aware of.

Earth-X ETX36 and Shoria LFX 36 .. both LiFePO4 batteries have plenty of cranking/AH capacity for adventure bike duties. Earth-X ETX36 weight 3lb 11oz... vs odyssey 925 at 24lb ... substantial weight savings, but costs $$$...

link in sig ...

Shorai LFX36 next to Earth-X ETX36 right


Earth-X ETX36 under going a regenerative discharge/charge Amp hour capacity test with Powerlab 8 (world's most advanced li-ion charge station)


------------
Battery Equalizing and Deep Discharge Conditioning for AGM Only!

Charge:
Charge with voltage-regulated (Constant voltage) charger.

Charge @ 15.5 volts for 8 hours.

Avoid overcharging... Equalizing should only be done when the battery is showing symptoms of capacity loss or from inadvertent deep discharges. In the event equalization is necessary, make sure to go through the normal charge cycle. Once the battery is fully charged, begin equalizing.