Hi,

Interesting read about batteries, I came across this while trying to figure out if my battery is culprit for bike REFUSING to start, alas it does not seem to be so (same behavior with car battery attached).

http://www.landiss.com/battery.htm

Roy

Hi Folks,
Lots of total BS is talked about batteries much composed of half truths and
assumptions, for example there is frequent reference to gel batteries but in fact
gel batteries are vanishingly rare nowadays, the old Sonnenschein brand was the
last that I know of.

Even manufacturers obfuscate thing by referring to their
battery being a gel battery when they know it is not but they think the public
wants to hear that it is, because it sounds technical and it sounds as if it is
something good which it actually is not, except for a very limited number of
applications.

Gel batteries were invented for applications where the battery
could be in different positions for periods including upside down and must still work, like in camera
flashes (Mecablitz) and race cars where high g forces would slosh the liquid
electrolyte around of a normal flooded battery. So the gel battery was invented
originally using pectin to gel the acid. Gel batteries are not good at high
current loads such as in starting as bubbles form on the plates and the gel inhibits them getting
away hence blocking the plate surface from conducting through the acid gel.

Modern so called gel batteries (Optima is often called a gel cell) are not,
they are Absorbed Glass Mat batteries the first of which I recall came from
Yuasa around 30 years ago. These rely upon the capillary effect to draw the acid
up into a sponge of glass fibre between the plates. It has many advantages not
the least the glass mat holds the plates apart and the acid does not run out
because there is more glass mat than there is acid so it always tends to suck up
any acid back into the mat. They are also good for high vibration environments
i.e. K Bikes. There are some great Absorbed Glass Mat batteries around nowadays which are really good for bike use.

Best advice of all is get yourself one of the smart battery chargers designed for permanent standby use when the bike is not being ridden so as to keep the battery in optimum condition. The BMW electrical plug is ideal to plug it into when one comes home from a ride. I keep mine plugged in whenever I am not riding it.
Regards,
K-BIKE