How long does your motorcycle battery last?

[yinghai]

how do u noe tt ur battery's time is almost up?

 

When youre cranking struggles.. Batteries can last many many years if you know how to recondition it.. Most of us are using maintainence free batteries.. Which is maintainence free wet cells.. I did a project and picked up a dead battery from my friends superfour.. Its a stock spec 3 battery.. I pull off the "do not open" cap and drain the water battery.. The water battery inside has decrease badly.. Purchased a new water battery, pour it in and push start my bike.. Ride around for an hour or so.. The battery now measures at 13.8v.. Previously 9-10v.. The battery last another few years on my s4.. Till now, the battery is still in good shape..

[arthur_chan]

how do u noe tt ur battery's time is almost up?

 

if u have a volt meter attached, it's very easy to know

[kaozie]

if u have a volt meter attached, it's very easy to know

 

a volt meter will only tell you the voltage is has...

 

if the batt is not able to hold charge, it can give you a reading of 11-12V, but after 1 crank, the batt will be dead...

[Tachnicolour]

my batt is 3yrs + old and going strong, stock FB battery.

 

Moreover, I went overseas for 3mths last year. Removed the battery, stored on wooden surface and silicone-greased the metal contacts to reduce losses.

 

Fast-forwards 3mths, reconnected battery, cross finger, say little prayer to figurehead of choice and hit the starter button. Fired up on the very first try. Quickly kill engine and proceeded to start-kill around 10 times. Battery took all the abuse without complaint.

 

Charger's were always on my mind before I left, but i figured a 3yr old batt, if it dies when I get back, it's cheaper to replace than to buy a good charger.

 

 

Just a question to the battery-knowledgeable guys out there. If a battery is starting to run down, it would take longer to top it back up as it won't hold a charge as well. Will this higher charging requirement place more stress on the rectifier, leading to increased heat buildup? As in, higher amperage flow.

[limbat]

Many factors affect the lifespan of a battery - most have been stated above. Best is to do maintainance charging of your battery, on vehicle charging can never fully charge the battery, as we are also using them at the same time.

 

Here is further reading to batteries matter - http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/what_causes_car_batteries_to_fail

[spaiduhz]

Hmm? Mine has lasted 2 years so far. Water drain so far has been minimal. Didnt need to change the last battery neither, had swop it over to another bike. Which is then sold.

 

Mine is the type you can top up by removing plastic screws, and pouring in battery water. Cheap, and good. With minimal elbow grease, the battery will last a long time. Battery water is damn cheap, too.

 

My fazer is using a mf wetcell. Last i checked, its holding 5Ah of charge. I should check again after a good, long ride, and see just how much charge its holding.

 

Ive heard some talk about having to change the rectifier whenever you change a new battery. Any truth to this? Sounds like an urban legend to clear old stocks of rectifiers.

[kaozie]

Hmm? Mine has lasted 2 years so far. Water drain so far has been minimal. Didnt need to change the last battery neither, had swop it over to another bike. Which is then sold.

 

Mine is the type you can top up by removing plastic screws, and pouring in battery water. Cheap, and good. With minimal elbow grease, the battery will last a long time. Battery water is damn cheap, too.

 

My fazer is using a mf wetcell. Last i checked, its holding 5Ah of charge. I should check again after a good, long ride, and see just how much charge its holding.

 

Ive heard some talk about having to change the rectifier whenever you change a new battery. Any truth to this? Sounds like an urban legend to clear old stocks of rectifiers.

 

never heard of this myth before... if its were to be ture, i rather the myth to say change bike whenever you change battery...

hahaha...

[yinghai]

If im not wrong, most mechanic will think the rectifier cause the battery to go bad.. Which is unlikely to happen.. Some mechanic will change it to play safe.. Most rectifier will go bad one fine day.. You wouldnt want to see your voltage keeps dropping till your bike stuck somewhere on the road..

[kaozie]

If im not wrong, most mechanic will think the rectifier cause the battery to go bad.. Which is unlikely to happen.. Some mechanic will change it to play safe.. Most rectifier will go bad one fine day.. You wouldnt want to see your voltage keeps dropping till your bike stuck somewhere on the road..

 

its easy to check if your rectifier is working or not by using a multi-meter...

 

and if your rectifier is really spoilt, your break dun break down suddenly. there will still be power in the battery to last you for sometime...

[yinghai]

Yesh its easy to check, but do you think amatuer riders out there would know when the rectifier would fail??..

[kaozie]

Yesh its easy to check, but do you think amatuer riders out there would know when the rectifier would fail??..

 

like i always believe, "if in doubt, ASK"

nobody will blame you if you ask... just dun act smart...

and not to give wrong advise...

 

thats the purpose of this forum isn't it???

[yinghai]

I used to work as a mechanic till one day i decided to go after a different dream(mechanic pay sucks as you know).. One night i got a call from my previous customer whose rectifier died in jb.. Had to go all the way there to save him.. Ive also been in a sceario whereby my friend's triumph daytona 675 rectifier died on the way back from kuala lumpur.. Push from exit to exit and finally decided to keep swapping batteries in pitch dark highways till we reach sg custom and decided to tow back.. My rectifier died twice on me.. The voltage shows steady 13.6v and it drops to 10v only once but went back up.. Did a test with the multi meter and it shows that its charging.. But next day bike cant start in psa port.. To save all the trouble, shop will tell you to change after a period of time.. not necessary every battery change..

[yinghai]

One more thing, i believe that theres quite a number of riders who frequent jb petrol.. Its better to be safe than sorry..

[achitto]

guys..

 

my bike is 4 years old, and the battery havent been changed before at all LOL. but it works perfectly. voltmeter readings connected directly to batt is 12.5 +/- when ignition is off, 11.7 +/- when ignition is on, and about 14.0 +/- when bike is idling.

been this way for years, need to change?

my gsr400 too have been running on stock battery for 3yrs 1mth to be exact.. also have same voltage readings too.. already clocked 60,000km

[le_stann]

dragstar 400 classic . ran the bike for 6 years before needed to change the dynamo coil , battery and rectifier .

 

stock bike and guess me putting the bike alarm 'drain' on the battery abit in those last years .

[ikki]

mine lasts for more than 3yrs..

to any electrical pros out there, does it consume less power if i connect e.g. IU unit etc. (except for bike alarm) to the ignition instead of directly to the battery? if likewise, is it negligible?

n is it better to have an auxiliary battery to power the bike alarm?

[gohjohan]

It depends on how those gadgets are connected. If they are connected to a switched supply then it will not drain the battery when you turn off the ignition switch. Most of the IUs I have seen are connected directly to the battery (via a fuse in series). If your IU is functional when the ignition switch is off then it will bleed the battery to dead if you are not riding it for a long period of time.

 

Exactly, it's the gadgets. I have that power supply for my GPS and it takes up power too, so I have to recharge my battery after 1 month, so that I don't have to worry about it running flat.

 

 

how come so many anime fans in this section?

[le_stann]

F* three years back I pumped at JB continuously for like a few months to save money and have a been of thrill and experience going there after midnight , have KFC and coming back around 4.30 am to see those malaysian workers swarming into sg for work at 5am.

 

Now three years down the road and using my reserve a couple of times and twice going till empty , I found recently that my bike's carburetor was full of yellowish water mixed petrol when I drained the carb and send it for washing. Bike was parked in covered parking so no excuse for the sun to heat up the tank and cause moisture to form in the tank. Damn knew that there wasn't a good deal up north..

 

Pls turn your gas tank to reserve and drain out about 1-2 litres of petrol into a gas container or glass bleaker to clear our the water should there be any . Top level of the settled mixture will still be gas and can be re-used by simply pouring back into your tank.

(Now see for yourself are those stations up north cheating us or not maintaining their station's underground gas container causing water to run into the tanks when they are doing refilling due to poor enforcement of procedures)

 

One more thing, i believe that theres quite a number of riders who frequent jb petrol.. Its better to be safe than sorry..

[Jetblast]

Good info txs

[heysugar]

F* three years back I pumped at JB continuously for like a few months to save money and have a been of thrill and experience going there after midnight , have KFC and coming back around 4.30 am to see those malaysian workers swarming into sg for work at 5am.

 

Now three years down the road and using my reserve a couple of times and twice going till empty , I found recently that my bike's carburetor was full of yellowish water mixed petrol when I drained the carb and send it for washing. Bike was parked in covered parking so no excuse for the sun to heat up the tank and cause moisture to form in the tank. Damn knew that there wasn't a good deal up north..

 

Pls turn your gas tank to reserve and drain out about 1-2 litres of petrol into a gas container or glass bleaker to clear our the water should there be any . Top level of the settled mixture will still be gas and can be re-used by simply pouring back into your tank.

(Now see for yourself are those stations up north cheating us or not maintaining their station's underground gas container causing water to run into the tanks when they are doing refilling due to poor enforcement of procedures)

 

Can I try the draining method on nsr150 sp?

[keown]

F* three years back I pumped at JB continuously for like a few months to save money and have a been of thrill and experience going there after midnight , have KFC and coming back around 4.30 am to see those malaysian workers swarming into sg for work at 5am.

 

Now three years down the road and using my reserve a couple of times and twice going till empty , I found recently that my bike's carburetor was full of yellowish water mixed petrol when I drained the carb and send it for washing. Bike was parked in covered parking so no excuse for the sun to heat up the tank and cause moisture to form in the tank. Damn knew that there wasn't a good deal up north..

 

Pls turn your gas tank to reserve and drain out about 1-2 litres of petrol into a gas container or glass bleaker to clear our the water should there be any . Top level of the settled mixture will still be gas and can be re-used by simply pouring back into your tank.

(Now see for yourself are those stations up north cheating us or not maintaining their station's underground gas container causing water to run into the tanks when they are doing refilling due to poor enforcement of procedures)

 

I pump JB petrol 10plus years no issue....

[fatboypin]

Looks like the rumour is true. Heard from some riders abt pumping across tge Causeway.

 

Someone also said better to pump Petronas cos they shd be better maintained than other stations cos state-owned. Not sure how trye this is too.

 

F* three years back I pumped at JB continuously for like a few months to save money and have a been of thrill and experience going there after midnight , have KFC and coming back around 4.30 am to see those malaysian workers swarming into sg for work at 5am.

 

Now three years down the road and using my reserve a couple of times and twice going till empty , I found recently that my bike's carburetor was full of yellowish water mixed petrol when I drained the carb and send it for washing. Bike was parked in covered parking so no excuse for the sun to heat up the tank and cause moisture to form in the tank. Damn knew that there wasn't a good deal up north..

 

Pls turn your gas tank to reserve and drain out about 1-2 litres of petrol into a gas container or glass bleaker to clear our the water should there be any . Top level of the settled mixture will still be gas and can be re-used by simply pouring back into your tank.

(Now see for yourself are those stations up north cheating us or not maintaining their station's underground gas container causing water to run into the tanks when they are doing refilling due to poor enforcement of procedures)

[nudgedoink]

back to battery topic, is it possible to tell from a voltmeter when the batt is gonna die so you can change it before it fails?

[naim]

from my experience, nope. cux wen mine failed suddenly, b4 start my voltmeter shows 12.5v, which is usually enuf to start d engine.... but the cranking was very weak...

[nudgedoink]

hm, then actually what use does a voltage reading have for us bikers?