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Battery Replacement

P

ppaintguy

New member
Well it's that time. After 3 years the GS battery finally drew it's last amp and it is now deceased and living in Gel heaven.

I have done some searching around and Odyssey keeps coming up as perhaps the ultimate for performance and durability (and price). Has anybody had luck with any other type?

Thanks,
Andy
 
Westco/Panasonic battery is also popular. Odyssey is probably the most liked but I never had trouble with either the Westco or the Odyssey.
 
PUDGYPAINTGUY said:
Well it's that time. After 3 years the GS battery finally drew it's last amp and it is now deceased and living in Gel heaven.

I have done some searching around and Odyssey keeps coming up as perhaps the ultimate for performance and durability (and price). Has anybody had luck with any other type?

Thanks,
Andy
Click to expand...

My last two replacements have been WestCo. They were good batteries, but the last one had to have the hole in the positive terminal enlarged a little.

I too have wondered about the Odyssey battery. It will be interesting to read the responses.

Easy
Kerrville, Texas :german
"He hasn't an enemy in the world - but all his friends hate him."
Eddie Cantor
 
PUDGYPAINTGUY said:
Well it's that time. After 3 years the GS battery finally drew it's last amp and it is now deceased and living in Gel heaven.

Thanks,
Andy
Click to expand...

Anyone have an idea how to test a battery to see if it is about to have the terminal discharge? It would be nice to find the about to expire battery at home rather than on the road to Wisconsin.
 
No answer?

My "new" to me bike arrived today and how do I test the battery for condition other than waiting for it to expire?
 
PAULBACH said:
My "new" to me bike arrived today and how do I test the battery for condition other than waiting for it to expire?
Click to expand...

Take the bike for a good run and park it over night. Put a volt meter to it and you should have at least 12.6 volts. If it's a lead acid slosh battery with caps you also check for a bad cell with one of those little cheap hydrometers with the colored floating balls. Although a true test requires a load test, these two things will usually tip you off that the battery is fading. Of course, some battery failures are sudden due to an internal short.
 
If it's a slosh battery you will want to top up all the cells with distilled water. I suspect you knew that already.
 
I have an Odyssey battery and its about 5yrs old, still working fine but doesn't seem to hold a charge like it used to so I might replace it this year. If a battery last 5yrs I got my money out of it.
 
Panasonic

I bought a Panasonic gel battery for my R1100R 4 years ago and have had no problems. It survived the first two winters with no tender. I use a tender these days. I am very satisfied with this battery. At the time I bought it the price was very reasonable.
 
PAULBACH said:
Anyone have an idea how to test a battery to see if it is about to have the terminal discharge? It would be nice to find the about to expire battery at home rather than on the road to Wisconsin.
Click to expand...

Paul, along with the tests MRFRANK suggested, once you have fully charged the battery, use a voltmeter and put the probes into the accessory plug on your bike. You will obviously have to hold them in. Then hit the starter. You are looking for a drop in voltage no more than perhaps 11.8 or 11.9 volts. If you go down much further when the starter is hit, the battery is lacking capacity and is need of replacement. This over-drop is why 1100RT and 1150RT brakes sometimes fail to set even when the battery is left on the charger overnight. There just isn't enough oomph left in the battery.
 
Okay folks, I will get some feedback on this one I'm sure, but...I have had great luck with "Yuasa" batteries. The last one I had lasted 6 years and was in great shape when I sold the bike.
I know the electrical demands were not as great as on the BMW, but 6 years is still 6 years. It was a sealed battery, and I kept it on the "Tender" every winter.
 
Last edited:
glwestcott said:
Paul, along with the tests MRFRANK suggested, once you have fully charged the battery, use a voltmeter and put the probes into the accessory plug on your bike. You will obviously have to hold them in. ... There just isn't enough oomph left in the battery.
Click to expand...

I have a BMW plug with a "trailer hitch" plug (cannot remember the correct name) on one end. It used to be used for heated gloves and sweater. So I can use that pigtail and easily hook to the VOM.

Thanks for the very helpful tip.
 
PAULBACH said:
Anyone have an idea how to test a battery to see if it is about to have the terminal discharge? It would be nice to find the about to expire battery at home rather than on the road to Wisconsin.
Click to expand...

Unless there is a a discharged battery or a completely dead cell a voltage check will most likely come back OK even on a bad battery as it is only seeing the surface voltage. You need to do a load test on a charged battery to see what it can put out. That would require removing it and hooking up the load tester. Most autoparts stores have load testers and it is a simple test to perform. But even a battery that load tests OK can go out without a warning eventually. Take the age of the battery in consideration as well.
 
Slight hijack

What is the Panasonic # for a battery for a R 1100 RT?
 
Last edited:
I bought a Panasonic for my Roadster in July. It was $50 inc. shipping from Amazon.com.

My battery was four years old at the time, and it was the kind that requires maintenance. The effort required to check the fluid level in the battery (i.e. tank removal) is the same effort required to replace it, so I thought it was a good use of $50 to just replace it.

If there is any doubt at all, I would just replace it.
 
A year ago I did much research and replaced my 3-year-old OEM lead acid battery with an AGM battery through my dealer. The battery lasted less than ten months, with regular use and battery tender. Instead of trying to be smarter than BMW, this time I consulted BMW about battery types, and followed their recommendation to go back to a lead acid battery. Apparently they are the most reliable, and the electrons are still as good and more plentiful than the electrons from the gel and AGM and dry-cell types.

And that's what I did. Old technology, yet good to go, with the imprimatur of BMW.

Fred
 
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