BMW K bikes (Bricks)


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1Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Battery/trickle charger Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:28 am

tunza60

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Well..it happened didnt it! I finally got round to deciding to go for a spin in freezing Tasmania..and my battery is flat. I was checking the clock (on the bike)over the last few weeks thinking..oh great the battery is still in fine fettle. Wrong. Went to start..and she nearly caught..but alas..shes flat as a tack.
So my question to my learned friends is should i buy a battery charger..or a trickle thingy..or as Bert mentioned in a thread just jump it from my car and keep starting her every week.?
Any opinions guys(and gals)
tunza

    

2Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:32 am

robinm

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Buy a battery tender, most bike shops will sell them. They are fully automatic, they charge when the battery needs charging and float when the battery is ok. They can be left connected all the time, just disconnect when you want to go for a ride.

    

3Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Sun Jun 20, 2010 9:55 am

Crazy Frog

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Battery tenders are good for regular batteries, but bad for gel batteries. (I destroyed 2 over a winter.)


__________________________________________________
Battery/trickle charger Frog15Battery/trickle charger Logo2101986 k75, 1985 K100rt, 1985 K100rt/EML GT2 sidecar, 1999 K1200lt/Hannigan Astro Sport sidecar.
    

4Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Sun Jun 20, 2010 11:32 am

blaKey

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I got my trickle charger of Fleabay. I then went to Jaycar (the electronics mob), bought a merit plug, connected it to the trickle charger and plugged it into the accessory socket.

If you don't want to change the cigarette lighter plug on the trickle charger to a merit plug, Jaycar sells a merit plug to cigarette lighter socket (part PP-2099) for around $13.00.


__________________________________________________
Neil
K100RS 1986 RED!

Dress for the ride and the potential slide.
    

5Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Sun Jun 20, 2010 1:56 pm

BIG D

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Crazy Frog wrote:Battery tenders are good for regular batteries, but bad for gel batteries. (I destroyed 2 over a winter.)

Battery/trickle charger Icon_cool

Hi Creazy Frog,

Could you please explain the reason's behind this as I have a Gel on my other bike and I will have to buy another battery for the BMW before its ready to roll and was toying with either another Gel or maybe a 30 AH battery, I do not wont to buy something that is not compatable with my Optimate 2 charger I thought they could handle all types.


BIG D

    

6Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Sun Jun 20, 2010 5:02 pm

Crazy Frog

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I don't know why, but I read it somewhere that gel batteries should not be put on a trickle charger.
I am also using an Optima2.
The result at the end of the winter is that the batteries on both bikes had a problem. Since then, I put an original BMW battery on the K100 and will use the Optima2 again on this bike.


__________________________________________________
Battery/trickle charger Frog15Battery/trickle charger Logo2101986 k75, 1985 K100rt, 1985 K100rt/EML GT2 sidecar, 1999 K1200lt/Hannigan Astro Sport sidecar.
    

7Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Sun Jun 20, 2010 6:49 pm

K-BIKE

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According to my BMW dealer parts guy the BMW batteries have been of questionable quality lately and he only uses them for warranty replacement too many failures of expensive batteries. I believe the best battery you can get for a BMW is a conventional flooded cell lead acid like a Yuasa 30Ah.

Gel batteries are an interesting subject many people talk about gel but are confusing them with retained electrolyte. Give we don't lay our bikes over when stationary the use of a gel is questionable since they have difficulty in hard starting in getting fresh electrolyte to the plates during the start process, something a flooded battery does not. Look at the chemistry of the battery you are proposing and remember the early K was designed with a voltage regulator specifically targeted at conventional flooded cell lead acid batteries not any form of exotic sealed cell ar lead calcium or any other modern battery.
Regards,
K-BIKE

    

8Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Mon Jun 21, 2010 3:37 am

BIG D

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Battery/trickle charger Icon_cool

Thanks Guys,

I like the idea of the 30AH battery.


BIG D

    

9Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:14 am

tunza60

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Blakey, are you saying i can charge my bike up by plugging the trickle charger into the acc. socket??

    

10Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:18 am

robinm

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Yes you can, the acc socket is directly connected to the battery, so it is the ideal place to plug the trickle charger, you just have to obtain the correct plug, it is available from the hella range. Most auto sparkies should have it, or be able to get it.

    

11Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:23 am

blaKey

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The socket near the coil cover...yes indeedy do!

Plug it into the accessory socket, switch on the charger and off it goes!

As robinm said...so long as you have the "merit" plug end...or the cigarette lighter/merit plug adapter.



Last edited by blakey on Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:35 am; edited 1 time in total


__________________________________________________
Neil
K100RS 1986 RED!

Dress for the ride and the potential slide.
    

12Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:28 am

tunza60

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well thanks guys thats good to know..saves stuffing around with the battery eh? Thanks for the info..much appreciated. Will buy one tomorrow. and a plug.

    

13Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:45 am

robinm

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jaycar electronics have the plug you need, item no PP2090

    

14Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:08 am

phil_mars

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Just to throw a cat amongst the pigeons I bought a cheap low AH AGM battery from eBay and it has been flawless. The description was a gel battery but according to others it is probably AGM
I have a large kill switch to disconnect the earth when not riding.
The reasons for the smaller battery was simple. It is much easier to fit in the battery tray, it has no vent requirement and as the modern K series and other twin cylinder bikes work quite happily with a much smaller battery than 24AH I thought I would give it a go.
If I still had my R100 it would be a different story perhaps although a smaller battery on those would also have been a godsend.
Apparently from the battery experts there is more to be considered than just AH and the CCA that is bandied about.


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Phil
    

15Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re : Battery / Trickle charger Mon Jun 21, 2010 8:38 am

Dennis

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I've read heaps about batteries going flat during winter, and isolation switches, trickle chargers, solar chargers etc, but my experience is similar to Phil's. I bought a cheap Toplite brand battery in November 2006 and was prepared to manage it through the winter but have never needed to. I leave the bike up to 3 weeks between starts (rarely if possible) and it still starts fine. Battery is normal wet type, $104 at the time, and I also use the starting procedure where I touch the starter button, then wait for the fuel pump to stop after max fuel pressure is achieved. Hit the starter and starting is almost instant. Having the ignition timing extra advaced also doesn't appear to make it more difficult to start cold, which can be the case with some engines.

    

16Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:20 pm

blaKey

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Robinm, I also bought a battery from Fleabay...20Ah, AGM. It was advertised as being suitable for a golf cart. $75.00 posted to my door.
That was 2 months ago. On the trickle charger when not riding.
No problems at all.

Bear in mind that my bike is as stock as a rock...no fancy do-dads, no spot lights, no ABS, no sooky heated grips, no fog horns, no coffee makers hanging off it.


__________________________________________________
Neil
K100RS 1986 RED!

Dress for the ride and the potential slide.
    

17Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:21 pm

Crazy Frog

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No coffee maker?

This is not considered as an accessory! this is just a big mistake from the German engineers! They missed it!
At least you must have a cup holder..


__________________________________________________
Battery/trickle charger Frog15Battery/trickle charger Logo2101986 k75, 1985 K100rt, 1985 K100rt/EML GT2 sidecar, 1999 K1200lt/Hannigan Astro Sport sidecar.
    

18Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:32 pm

K-BIKE

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Guys,
There is no question if you want the longest life and assured starts there is no better way to get that than by plugging the battery into a specially designed charger which will stop the constant self discharge of all secondary batteries. If you don't all that happens during the gaps between starts is the battery gets depleted by self discharge and the clock and alarm if you have one and you then punch that charge back into it with the alternator when you start and drive normally that is not good for a battery and wears it out. Charge discharge cycles damage battery life.

With plugs I have both the Hella and the genuine BMW one which whilst it is more expensive is much better quality, either are OK but the BMW is better made.
Regards,
K-BIKE

    

19Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Mon Jun 21, 2010 9:04 pm

phil_mars

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blakey wrote:

Bear in mind that my bike is as stock as a rock...no fancy do-dads, no spot lights, no ABS, no sooky heated grips, no fog horns, no coffee makers hanging off it.

You have heard of the term "farkling" I presume. Sounds like all you do is ride it. Where is the fun in that. Very Happy


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Regards,
Phil
    

20Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Wed Jun 30, 2010 8:26 am

tunza60

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Cheers chaps, all is well..shes purring contentedly.

    

21Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Wed Jun 30, 2010 9:26 am

blaKey

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Good to hear!


__________________________________________________
Neil
K100RS 1986 RED!

Dress for the ride and the potential slide.
    

22Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Wed Jun 30, 2010 4:33 pm

badgerdid

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For the UK people there a battery trickle charger on sale at busters £14.99, usually £37.99, a good buy

http://www.busters-accessories.co.uk/productInfo.aspx?catRef=587429&utm_source=email&utm_medium=285&utm_campaign=285

    

23Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Fri Jul 02, 2010 5:49 am

Guest

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One more important thing to consider if using a
no-name or cheaper battery charger is that it may not be of the
controlled-voltage (CV) variety. What does that mean? Inexpensive
chargers will often charge at up to 16 VDC causing the battery to
overgas, leading to a rapid deterioration of battery life.

AGM (and I reckon Gel too) batteries should always be charged with a
controlled-voltage (CV) charger which regulates the level of voltage to a
safe level of about 13.2 up to 14.5 VDC leading to longer battery life.

The primary difference between these two types of chargers is that the
newer type (controlled-voltage) were specifically designed to
accommodate the charging requirements of the newer AGM style batteries. To
achieve that goal, it is necessary to modify the absorption charge
mode in the following way. The newer type of charger (CV) switch to float
mode when the charge current drops to 0.5 amps. They
switch to float mode when the charge current drops to 0.1 amps. The
result is that for an extended period of time, not to exceed 8 hours,
the CV charger's output voltage will be held at a constant
voltage that is significantly higher than the float voltage.

The switchover at 0.5 amp results in an
absorption charge mode length of approximately 1 hour. During this
1-hour period, the battery charge voltage is held constant at a value of
approximately 14.3 volts. Because of the slightly higher voltage
recharge requirements of AGM batteries, and because AGM batteries
require a longer period of constant voltage absorption, the
controlled-voltage charger controls the output voltage at 14.4 volts
while it waits for either the charge current to decrease to 0.1 amp or for the absorption
charge mode control timer to expire. The end result is that the
controlled-voltage chargers absorption period is longer and at a
slightly higher voltage than that for the cheaper or older style chargers.

I've used a Battery Tender Plus (CV) and now use a Yuasa 900
controlled-voltage charger and while I reckon regular usage of the bike with a charging system in good working order, it is always a good idea to whack a charger on even with that regular use. I will often obtain five years or more of usage
from typical FLA (flooded lead acid) and AGM (absorbed glass matte)
batteries.

    

24Back to top Go down   Battery/trickle charger Empty Re: Battery/trickle charger Fri Jul 02, 2010 6:21 am

K-BIKE

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TWB is spot on there by using a sophisticated charger as described there is no question that battery life will be extended to the maximum.
Regards,
K-BIKE

    

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