Battery Life

[brazos parker]

I still have the original battery in my '05 that I bought new. It'll be 3 yrs old (to me) next May. IIRC, most comments I've read on this forum say the battery has a useful life of 3-4 years. My question is...what are the symptoms of a battery going bad? Or, will it just drop dead instantaneously one day? The thought of being stranded on the roadside somewhere w/ a dead battery is not particularly appealing.

I'm making a list of things I want to do to the bike this winter and am trying to decide if I should add a new battery to the list as "preventive maintenance."

P.S. Did a search but didn't find "pre-zactly" what I was looking for.

TIA.

 

[FastJoyRide]

No symptoms on mine, one day perfect the next day dead and would not take/hold a charge. I gather Westco batteries are the choice of most and fairly widely available. Just ride it!

 

[SkooterG]

I am not an expert, but from what I have read, there are generally two types of battery failure. In the first, sulfation gradually occurs on the battery's plates, and they gradually loose the capacity carry voltage. In this case, I would think that during the end of the battery's life, you would see the drop-off in performance.

The second, is catastrophic failure of one of the plates. Due to vibration accumulated from age, (or manufacturing defect), one of the battery's plates seperates and falls to the bottom of the battery, instantly killing the battery.

So I think a battery failure can happen either way. Seems on this forum I have read more of the gradual type occurring than the instant failure, but that's just a guess.

BTW, I still have my original battery in my 04 FJR. 4 years, 3 months, 133,000 miles and still going strong. However, I have had a brand spanking new WestCo on a tricklecharger waiting to go for replacement should the need arise since July of 2006.

 

[FJRSTAR]

I still have the original battery in my '05 that I bought new. It'll be 3 yrs old (to me) next May. IIRC, most comments I've read on this forum say the battery has a useful life of 3-4 years. My question is...what are the symptoms of a battery going bad? Or, will it just drop dead instantaneously one day? The thought of being stranded on the roadside somewhere w/ a dead battery is not particularly appealing.
I'm making a list of things I want to do to the bike this winter and am trying to decide if I should add a new battery to the list as "preventive maintenance."

P.S. Did a search but didn't find "pre-zactly" what I was looking for.

TIA.

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum//index.php?showtopic=27945

 

[S76]

I let the bike sit in the basement all winter without the use of a charger. If it starts in the spring, that's a good battery! If it doesn't, it gets a new one. Constant trickle charging can "mask" a battery with low capacity or internal resistance problems.

 

[Fred W]

I let the bike sit in the basement all winter without the use of a charger. If it starts in the spring, that's a good battery! If it doesn't, it gets a new one. Constant trickle charging can "mask" a battery with low capacity or internal resistance problems.

No, I don't think so. I think this is actually bad advice for everyone except the people that sell new batteries. Leaving a battery to slowly discharge all winter (they all do this) will significantly shorten the lifespan of said battery. Think of it this way: When a battery is "in use" it gets recharged every time you drive the vehicle. The batteries that last the longest are the ones in constant use, not the ones in someone's basement.

Keeping a battery well charged at all times is the best way known to extend it's lifespan. That said, I don't recommend just hooking it up and letting it trickle charge all winter long either. If you have a charger that shuts the charge current off completely at a predetermined voltage threshold then I suppose that's fine. Those devices are out there. But you don't want to be juicing the battery for 4 straight months otherwise.

What I have done in the past is hook up a low current charger for a day or two about once per week or so. Since I have a few bikes, 2 boat batteries (out of the boat in winter) a lawn tractor battery and one car that sits out winters, I just cycle the charger between each of those. If I forget to move it and it sits on one battery for a few days, no big deal. Just keep it moving and keep 'em all charged.

Now, back to the original posted question. The only way that you will get any early warning on an impending battery failure is if you have some real-time metering installed. Just a simple battery voltmeter will show you the voltage before you start, how low it sags after running the starter and how well it recharges after running. It also shows you that the regulator is running normally and not allowing the battery to discharge during running (the biggest cause of being stranded on the road) or that the regulator is overcharging the battery and cooking it. I heartily recommend some sort of voltage monitoring meter on any motorcycle. I have no idea why they don't just put them on all new bikes considering the demise of the kickstarter 20 years (and 500cc's) ago.

The catestrophic failures mentioned is a real possibility, but that is generally not directly related to age, and luckily, is relatively rare. It could happen to a nearly new battery. It's the slow sulfation of the plates that is the old-age phenomenon. This is the one you will be able to see occuring (in advance of a failure) on your voltmeter.

I would not (have not) replace(d) a battery from 3 year old (2005) prophylacticly unless I noted a lack in performance. Otherwise you're just throwing your money away. If well cared for, batteries can last for 8-10 years. If abused (allowed to deeply discharge, banged around, etc.) 2-3 sometimes.

Best batteries made? IMO, Yuasa FGM batteries. Yep, significantly more money. But you get your money's worth. Check their web site for all kinds of great (non-sales related) battery info.

Oh, one more thing: If you buy a battery in advance, don't activate it (put the acid in) until you need it. The shelf life of a non-activated battery is nearly indefinite. Once activated its sulfation failure clock is ticking...

 

[gahdzila]

I would not (have not) replace(d) a battery from 3 year old (2005) prophylacticly unless I noted a lack in performance. Otherwise you're just throwing your money away.

+1.

what you'll usually notice as a lack in performance is that it will gradually lose its ability to hold a charge. Like...maybe you don't ride your bike for a couple of weeks, and the next time you try to start it the battery is dead; then you notice that it goes dead if you don't start it for a week; then a couple of days.

Yuasa batteries are good stuff, IMO.

 

[Grumpy]

I still have the original battery in my '05 that I bought new. It'll be 3 yrs old (to me) next May. IIRC, most comments I've read on this forum say the battery has a useful life of 3-4 years. My question is...what are the symptoms of a battery going bad? Or, will it just drop dead instantaneously one day? The thought of being stranded on the roadside somewhere w/ a dead battery is not particularly appealing.
I'm making a list of things I want to do to the bike this winter and am trying to decide if I should add a new battery to the list as "preventive maintenance."

P.S. Did a search but didn't find "pre-zactly" what I was looking for.

TIA.

I got 5 years out of mine and then replaced it before it actually died. I was worried that it would let me down at EOM. I always plug it into a Battery Tender after riding.

Jim

 

[FJRMGM]

a sign of a battery that is on the tail end of its life span is it doesn't turn over very well when the bike is hot.

 

[GPRIDER]

a sign of a battery that is on the tail end of its life span is it doesn't turn over very well when the bike is hot.

Or......... when it's very cold. I was up in Colorado a few weeks ago. One morning in Crested Butte when we were getting ready to leave I checked the temp outside and it was mid 20's. Needless to say the original battery on my 04 was pretty sluggish when I pushed the starter button. It's probably needs to be replaced pretty soon. I have noticed the starting to be just slightly sluggish in warmer temps, but I can sure tell the difference in a fresh battery and an old one when it's cold.

GP

 

[Fred W]

a sign of a battery that is on the tail end of its life span is it doesn't turn over very well when the bike is hot.

Or......... when it's very cold. I was up in Colorado a few weeks ago. One morning in Crested Butte when we were getting ready to leave I checked the temp outside and it was mid 20's. Needless to say the original battery on my 04 was pretty sluggish when I pushed the starter button. It's probably needs to be replaced pretty soon. I have noticed the starting to be just slightly sluggish in warmer temps, but I can sure tell the difference in a fresh battery and an old one when it's cold.

GP

Yes, thhis makes more sense to me. I do not see how high temps would be a good test of battery state.

For one thing, in the cold, the oil in the engine is much thicker and the power required to turn over the engine at all is higher. So it would be a better test of maximum amperage available from the battery.

In battery terms this is CCA, Cold Cranking Amps

 

[fitrx]

I am not an expert, but from what I have read, there are generally two types of battery failure. In the first, sulfation gradually occurs on the battery's plates, and they gradually loose the capacity carry voltage. In this case, I would think that during the end of the battery's life, you would see the drop-off in performance.

I purchased a trickle charger that actually, according to hype, and testimonials, by electronic pulsing or some such actually de-sulfanates a battery so it will last indefinitly, which means until the catrosphic failure where the plates short out from mechincal failure due to vibration, whatever. I will get the name and post it.

The guy in the SHO club turned me onto it and has, according to him, has had the same battery in his Taurus SHO for over 10 years as he only drives it to rallies in the summer.

 

[FJR1300Mark]

I use a battery minder. It does a trickle charge and then gives it a pulse to keep it desulfanated. This is not a full size charger and it would take forever if it had to charge a dead battery. But it does a pretty good job of keeping a battery charged (not over charged) and extending the longevity. I've had three gel cells in use for about 8 years and they still have a 50% capacity draw down that is satifactory.

This is not the battery tender it is the battery minder.

One way to test a battery is to time how long it takes to go to 12 volts. The fully charged battery should be pretty close to 12.5

You can compare how long it takes each year and then decide if you want to replace it.

I don't think you can predict an internal physical failure.

In Virginia I'm expecting 4 years.

Hope this helps.

 

[Grand Poobah]

I still have the original battery in my '05 that I bought new. It'll be 3 yrs old (to me) next May. IIRC, most comments I've read on this forum say the battery has a useful life of 3-4 years. My question is...what are the symptoms of a battery going bad? Or, will it just drop dead instantaneously one day? The thought of being stranded on the roadside somewhere w/ a dead battery is not particularly appealing.
I'm making a list of things I want to do to the bike this winter and am trying to decide if I should add a new battery to the list as "preventive maintenance."

P.S. Did a search but didn't find "pre-zactly" what I was looking for.

TIA.

Alrighty then. This is my first post in this forum. And I actually have an opinion on this subject. Go figure.

I just bought an '03 FJR with 19k on the clock. I noticed that when I hit the starter after stopping for gas, it would sometimes start up okay, but it would usually hesitate then the clock would reset. I figured the battery was ill.

I suspected the battery because when I had the top end of my '89 FZR1000 rebuilt a few years ago, the stock battery would sometimes fail to turn it over when the motor was hot and the pistons were warm and tight (that's a non-sexual reference, btw). I solved the problem by buying a heavy duty battery. It still hesitates once in a while but never fails to get it started.

So because the problem seemed familiar, I bought a new battery for the FJR and all is now well. I'm sure there is some life left in the old battery but it's not useful life as far as I'm concerned.

That's it. My opinion in it's entirety. Move along now. Nothing to see here. But thanks for looking.

Brian

 

[tyronewildman]

"Alrighty then. This is my first post in this forum. And I actually have an opinion on this subject. Go figure. <SNIP>That's it. My opinion in it's entirety. Move along now. Nothing to see here. But thanks for looking. Brian"

Glad to have you here, Brian. Opinions are what make the world go around. Most motors, I’ve seen, have a minimum size battery with them. It’s a cost, size thing but a larger battery would help. The original size handles its job, most of the time, when every thing is O K. When adversity comes along (cold/old/etc.) a bigger battery will do the job. I got tired of replacing the battery (narrow, long 12v) on a standby UPS generator w/big truck V8 engine. Got the biggest 12V battery (about 18’ X 24”) that a battery supplier had & it was doing fine for the 5 or 6 years till I retired. Bikes have limited space but I’ll cram in the biggest battery that will fit in my car or van & they really spin. As mentioned above, it’s about that CCA thing…Later,,, De

 

[Bounce]

Symptoms of a bad battery:

it goes out smoking, drinking, and whoring until all hours of the night and never once a call to let us know that it was okay. we were up all night worrying about it. was it laying somewhere in a ditch dead? in a hospital under a john doe name without a hope of knowing who we were? all it took was a minute of its precious time to let us know it was okay, but did it bother. no. and here we were worried sick.

 

[yamaholic]

My votes:

1.) Keep it trickle charged

2.) Install a voltmeter to keep an eye on the charge during riding (should be 13.9 to 14.4 with accessories off). Much lower and you have a charging system problem, or more likely the battery is dieing.

3.) When it's fully charged (according the trickle charger), check the voltage. Should be about 12.7

If it's not...battery is not holding a full charge.

I say if the volts look good, keep it and analyze it again every 3-4 months.

Once it hits 5 full years old, I say replace it. A 3 year old battery should have time left in it.

 

[dbvolfan]

OK, so please allow me to piggy back here.

My 2005 had a new battery put in it in Feb. (it was 2.5 yrs old and dies on a day when I rode it to work in 2 degree weather) I ride it every single day for 55 miles roundtrip, all interstate. When it is cold outside (below say, 30) it really struggles to crank. It's not like it wont crank but it is NOTICIBLY weaker. And this after one night in the garage. I get a little worried about taking it to the airport where I sometimes leave it for up to 4 days, fearful that if it got below 30 one or two nights it would be too weak to fire the bike up. I keep it on a battery tender when possible but like I said, I ride it every day...does any one see an issue here or have any suggestions for testing it?

edit: Guess I will try a volt meter first to check how healthy it is.

 

[Fred W]

OK, so please allow me to piggy back here.
My 2005 had a new battery put in it in Feb. (it was 2.5 yrs old and dies on a day when I rode it to work in 2 degree weather) I ride it every single day for 55 miles roundtrip, all interstate. When it is cold outside (below say, 30) it really struggles to crank. It's not like it wont crank but it is NOTICIBLY weaker. And this after one night in the garage. I get a little worried about taking it to the airport where I sometimes leave it for up to 4 days, fearful that if it got below 30 one or two nights it would be too weak to fire the bike up. I keep it on a battery tender when possible but like I said, I ride it every day...does any one see an issue here or have any suggestions for testing it?

edit: Guess I will try a volt meter first to check how healthy it is.

If you had an on-board voltmeter you would know how high the recharge voltage is, and also how low the battery is before you thumb the starter button. (That's why I put one on my bike)

As far as cold weather motorcycle battery performance: What kind of oil are you running in your bike? The reason I ask is that the battery capacity in a small motorcycle battery is not that great, so if you have to crank it for a while due to heavy thick oil in low temps you will likely deeply discharge it.

With a voltmeter you will know what is going on.

But, as an aside, I would not leave my bike at any airport parking in the world. Faggetabouddit.