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Battery, 86 K75C

N

NateVentura

Guest
Since I'm such a cheapskate...

I've been putting-off replacing my Westco battery, which is over six years old. I keep the bike in the garage hooked up to a "Battery Doc" whenever it's not on the road, and have done so for the last three or four years. Anyone get six years or more from their battery?

Bike is non-ABS, and cranks over great every time - but I don't want to get to the "weld-the-starter-relay-closed" point. Is Westco still a decent choice (I remember reading some bad press a while ago, but couldn't find the thread)? Don't really want to go the gel route, since all of my chargers are for conventional batteries.
 
I believe Battery Doc chargers are good for both wet and gel batteries, the only one you might have problems with is an Odyssey.

As for six years, that might be pushing it :) Do you have a multimeter to test the voltage?
 
Some folks change batteries on a schedule. Some folks wait till the bike won't start in a construction zone on the highway when the flag person flips the sign from stop to slow. I try a middle ground. If the battery ever feels sluggish I will check voltage, etc. I usually will give it the benefit of doubt once. But the second time out it comes and a new one goes in. Life is way too short for batteries that leave you stranded in odd places.
 
The cost of a battery is far cheaper than the aggravation cost of being left flat somewhere. There is no real virtue in making a battery last more than about four years
 
While we're talking about it, is there a specific type of tender to use with an Odyssey? I also like to keep the battery on a tender, and I just put an Odyssey in my '92 K75S. I haven't plugged in the tender yet, and after reading this thread, maybe that's a good thing?
 
Battery Voltage

Voltage reads around 12.9 V after sitting about 18 hours off of the Battery Doc. Not quite sure where that falls on the good/bad-battery scale... :scratch
 
NateVentura said:
Voltage reads around 12.9 V after sitting about 18 hours off of the Battery Doc. Not quite sure where that falls on the good/bad-battery scale... :scratch
Click to expand...

When you measure with a VOM, you read the no-load voltage; the no-load voltage isn't necessarily dispostive. What you want is to measure the battery while it is under load, to see how it behaves when it's stressed.

Many auto parts stores will load-test batteries for free. For a rough assessment in the garage, watch battery voltage while the starter is cranking the motor. On Oilheads, anything below 10v says the battery's toast. I don't know if that same rule of thumb applies to K bikes.
 
NateVentura said:
Voltage reads around 12.9 V after sitting about 18 hours off of the Battery Doc. Not quite sure where that falls on the good/bad-battery scale... :scratch
Click to expand...

A fully charged good battery is 2.2 volts per cell. 6x2.2=13.2 volts.

Ralph Sims
 
In my far distant past I sold batteries. It doesn't matter what their resting voltage is. The only thing that matters is how they perform under load.

Batteries don't like extreme cold or extreme hot. Winter is coming. Replace the battery. Then you'll have a new one and not have to think about it.

I just noticed you are in Ventura CA. No winter, so just keep riding and wonder when it's going to crap.
 
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