Battery storage | GTAMotorcycle.com

Battery storage

A lot of people continue to just believe in most of them regardless...because their dad/grampa/cousin/wife/nephew/bosses third cousin said they were true, and therefore they must be, right?
 
I think there is still some good in saying not to leave the battery in an unheated garage all winter...mainly given the fact most likely wouldn't top it up first when putting the bike away, so it might actually hit low voltage before the winter is done.

That said, although I do pull my bike's battery in the winter, I rarely use my car, and just make sure I top it up with the tender from time to time (also disconnect it if the car will likely be sitting for an extended period of time). Although the bike battery is fairly new (bike isn't that old), car's battery is an Optima YellowTop I got back in 2010, so it's turning 7 this year, and still load tests within 90-95% of spec when fully charged.
 
I've had the batteries in unheated garages going on 3 decades. Only ever had to replace em after around 7+ years. Topping em up every month or so negates the self draining loss.
 
A fully charged battery won't freeze until it reaches -67C.

Even at 3/4 charged its -37C.

The point is...keep the battery charged with a tender and it causes zero harm whatsoever to leave a battery out in the cold.

battery-chart.png
 
I keep my batteries in the cold room. I top them up before storing them and recharge in the spring with a smart charger...never had a problem...I don't believe in these battery maintainers...waste of money to leave them on charge all winter if you ask me ...
Just my 2c worth
 
I am terrible when it comes to maintaining batteries. My maintenance steps amount to
- turn the key off at the end of the season,
- leave battery in the bike, in an unheated shed
- hookup Battery Tender Jr at the beginning of the season to recharge
- ride throughout the season
- rinse, repeat

Have yet to replace a battery. Recharging the battery I only started doing the past few years, used to just boost it and go for a ride. The OEM Yuasa in my FZ6 lasted just fine throughout my ownership; 8 years, 120k km.
 
I am terrible when it comes to maintaining batteries. My maintenance steps amount to
- turn the key off at the end of the season,
- leave battery in the bike, in an unheated shed
- hookup Battery Tender Jr at the beginning of the season to recharge
- ride throughout the season
- rinse, repeat

Have yet to replace a battery. Recharging the battery I only started doing the past few years, used to just boost it and go for a ride. The OEM Yuasa in my FZ6 lasted just fine throughout my ownership; 8 years, 120k km.

Exact same procedure I follow........

even the Walmart battery is still good after 4 years, following this....

I should say though I don't have a Battery Tender Jr. mine is the one from Canadian Tire, before they changed to the new name and style one.

.
 
I top them up before storing them and recharge in the spring with a smart charger...never had a problem...I don't believe in these battery maintainers...waste of money to leave them on charge all winter if you ask me ...

A lead acid battery battery self discharges at 5% per month, so if you stopped riding in October, by April your battery has lost 30 to 35% of it's charge. Again, for a SLA battery this is in the danger range for causing damage to the plates. If one puts the bike away in September and doesn't ride again until May (not out of the ordinary) then the battery has lost 40% of it's charge just sitting and some damage will likely have occured - the battery may never operate to it's proper standards ever again.

So, this is why tenders are recomended. They are not a waste of money as they do not constantly charge the battery, they only come on (sometimes for as little as a few minutes) when they detect the battery has fallen below a 100% SOC. Their cost to operate is pennies per winter, and they can make the difference between a battery lasting 5-7+ years, or 2 or 3 if you're lucky.

I am terrible when it comes to maintaining batteries. My maintenance steps amount to
- turn the key off at the end of the season,
- leave battery in the bike, in an unheated shed
- hookup Battery Tender Jr at the beginning of the season to recharge
- ride throughout the season
- rinse, repeat

Have yet to replace a battery. Recharging the battery I only started doing the past few years, used to just boost it and go for a ride. The OEM Yuasa in my FZ6 lasted just fine throughout my ownership; 8 years, 120k km.

Not using a tender is a gamble (see above reply) but possible IF you don't let the bike sit for long, and IF your bike has absolutely zero phantom draw. That said, even a clock or LED display somewhere can eventually draw a battery down into the damage territory if you don't take precautions (IE, a tender, or occasional charging) to avoid it.
 
A lead acid battery battery self discharges at 5% per month, so if you stopped riding in October, by April your battery has lost 30 to 35% of it's charge. Again, for a SLA battery this is in the danger range for causing damage to the plates. If one puts the bike away in September and doesn't ride again until May (not out of the ordinary) then the battery has lost 40% of it's charge just sitting and some damage will likely have occured - the battery may never operate to it's proper standards ever again.

So, this is why tenders are recomended. They are not a waste of money as they do not constantly charge the battery, they only come on (sometimes for as little as a few minutes) when they detect the battery has fallen below a 100% SOC. Their cost to operate is pennies per winter, and they can make the difference between a battery lasting 5-7+ years, or 2 or 3 if you're lucky.



Not using a tender is a gamble (see above reply) but possible IF you don't let the bike sit for long, and IF your bike has absolutely zero phantom draw. That said, even a clock or LED display somewhere can eventually draw a battery down into the damage territory if you don't take precautions (IE, a tender, or occasional charging) to avoid it.

I'm sure everything you are saying is technically correct. But in my personal real world experiences of riding for the past 11 years and not even disconnecting the battery over the winter (generally end of November to beginning of April) has not produced one dead battery.
 
I'm sure everything you are saying is technically correct. But in my personal real world experiences of riding for the past 11 years and not even disconnecting the battery over the winter (generally end of November to beginning of April) has not produced one dead battery.

December through March only results in a 20% self discharge which is not that bad, and I'm going to guess that the bike has zero or extremely minimal phantom draw, so your situation is totally plausible.

Someone else who puts their bike away 3 months earlier and doesn't get it out for 2 months after you, and also has all sorts of phantom draws will not fare so well if they do the same thing.
 
Have always stored the bike in an unheated garage with a tender hooked directly to the battery & never had an issue. The only time I did have a prolem was a power surge that blew both the tender & the battery all to h*ll. No damage to the bike's electrical system tho :)
 
I don't like stuff plugged in all the time if I can help it. Manual once a month is fine by me. Plus doesn't add to the phantom draw of the household.
 
At the very least, if you are not going to remove the battery or put it on a tender, you should disconnect it to prevent any parasitic drain on the battery (vs letting that occur the entire winter).
 
I don't like stuff plugged in all the time if I can help it. Manual once a month is fine by me. Plus doesn't add to the phantom draw of the household.

Out of curiosity on the phantom draw front, I hooked up my watt meter to my Yuasa tender and checked it out.

When I plugged it into the bike and it was actively charging (I had been out in the garage working on things earlier and had the bike radio on, so it drew the battery down a little) the watt meter showed 18.3 watts.

As soon as the battery topped off a few minutes later and the tender dropped back into standby mode:

tender.jpg


0 to 0.5 watts. Basically, this is the lowest reading my watt meter can read, but basically...the only power being consumed is the wattage required to turn on the red power LED.
 
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The battery is the first thing I have to replace on pretty much every used bike I buy, so some of y'all are full of ****
 
...the only power being consumed is the wattage required to turn on the red power LED.
Not bad. Wonder what a LCD clock uses?

The battery is the first thing I have to replace on pretty much every used bike I buy, so some of y'all are full of ****
I've been fortunate. Last batt I replaced was 7 years after I bought the bike used. PO might have replaced the batt just before I bought it, but I don't remember that being a selling point. Either way, I was satisfied getting 7 years out of it. And it was Motomaster one to boot, not a Yuasa, so I was surprised.
 
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