K
kayseventyfive
Guest
If you use your motorcycle regularly, you do not need to use any charger. Only if the drain current is such that your breaks between rides drains the battery to say 12.6 V would you need a battery maintainer.
I can only speak for my BMW and my Odyssey battery.
The battery is marked to charge it at 14.4 to 14.7 volts, and float it at 13.5 volts.
The alternator on the bike puts out 13.7 volts max. On a Fluke. Both the Clymer and the Haynes manuals say anything between 13 and 14 volts is fine.
Soooooooo........ Riding the bike daily, which I do, does not charge the battery to Odyssey specs. My Midtronics conductance tester confirms this.
For practical purposes, the bike starts fine, and the lights get brighter when I rev the engine, and the red light never comes on. But, I believe Odyssey's recommendation as to charging voltage is the way to get best service and longest life.
The only way to get the recommended voltage into the battery is with an aux charger, unless someone knows how to increase the BMW charging voltage.
Odyssey's OMAX-6A-1B charges at 14.7 volts, and floats at 13.6.
The Battery Tender Plus, 021-028 has a charging voltage of 14.6 V and a float charge of 13.3 V.