Battery for R100RT

[Bamboo812]

Just a heads up, the Odyssey PC680 is on sale for $101.95 with free ground shipping: http://www.batterymart.com/p-odyssey-pc ... tDa2FXGQ.0

[SteveD]

Deka etx16l. Cheaper than the orange one, fits nicely. I just changed my last one out @ 7-8 years. Just because...it was still working.

Time for another one. 8.5 years this one lasted.
I replaced it with a 400CCA Deka. A tad taller, certainly larger but still able to slide in from the rear and accommodate the tool box.

To replace the etx16l would've cost ~$OZ330 at the local battery shop. I think it was $OZ185 in 2015. They didn't have any alternatives either. I needed it today! So....
The local BM privateers had the 400CCA model for about 38litres worth of petrol less!

[jackonz]

I need a battery for my 1995 R100RT Classic, but not sure which one to get. The size is a little different than my R90s. I would appreciate any recommendations. AGM would be my preference.

For what it's worth I don't worry a lot about my motorcycle battery being the 'right' size. I have often changed battery size to suit the bike, using a wood spacer or such. You do want to have the + and - terminals on the correct side of the battery if you prefer the stock setup. For myself I prefer not to ground the battery at the ground location where the speedometer cable inters the transmission. The reason is that the threads are less than optimum in total length and prone to stripping. I make my own cables and I prefer to ground the negative pole on the left hand side of the transmission. You will need a short spacer for the cable lug to but onto, but for most people (like me) that's not a big deal. The battery cable that connects to the positive post of the battery has always been long enough to reach either side.

I'm also not a fan of the AGM batteries, since they seem to die sooner than conventional lead acid batteries. That wouldn't be so bad, except that the AGM batteries of my experience seem to die for no reason at all. Lead/acid batteries usually give me a bit of a warning.

Ken

Normal Lead Acid batteries need a charging voltage of 13.5volt, AGM Batteries need 14.5Volt and in a lot of cases that is why the AGM battery fails as the charge rate in the vehicle is too low.

[Rob Frankham]

Sorry, can't agree with that.

An AGM battery will tolerate a higher charge rate than a wet cell (but doesn't require it). Any lead acid gattery will charge fully on any steady charge voltage that is significantly more than the resting fully charged voltage of the battery. Both AGM and wet cell lead acid batteries have have a resting fully charged voltage between around 12.8 and 13.1 volts (dependant on type, age and condition) so both types will charge fully on 13.5 volts although the it will take significantly longer to do so. A wet cell battery will charge perfectly happily on 14 volts but will require topping up (with distilled water) more regularly if the voltage goes much over 14.5 volts.

Both types of battery will be quite happy on the stock airhead charging system set at 14 volts or 14.25 for the so called 'police' regulator.

Rob

[jackonz]

Sorry, can't agree with that.

An AGM battery will tolerate a higher charge rate than a wet cell (but doesn't require it). Any lead acid gattery will charge fully on any steady charge voltage that is significantly more than the resting fully charged voltage of the battery. Both AGM and wet cell lead acid batteries have have a resting fully charged voltage between around 12.8 and 13.1 volts (dependant on type, age and condition) so both types will charge fully on 13.5 volts although the it will take significantly longer to do so. A wet cell battery will charge perfectly happily on 14 volts but will require topping up (with distilled water) more regularly if the voltage goes much over 14.5 volts.

Both types of battery will be quite happy on the stock airhead charging system set at 14 volts or 14.25 for the so called 'police' regulator.

Rob

Sorry Rob but on that we will have to disagree, we have had many cars come in to our workshop with batteries that are going flat over time, after checking there is no sneak drain on the system and the generator is found to be OK it simply is not putting out the required voltage (13.5v), these issues are on older vehicles made long before the Calcium and AGM batteries became available, the fix has been to install a modern alternator.

[Rob Frankham]

Sorry, can't agree with that.

An AGM battery will tolerate a higher charge rate than a wet cell (but doesn't require it). Any lead acid gattery will charge fully on any steady charge voltage that is significantly more than the resting fully charged voltage of the battery. Both AGM and wet cell lead acid batteries have have a resting fully charged voltage between around 12.8 and 13.1 volts (dependant on type, age and condition) so both types will charge fully on 13.5 volts although the it will take significantly longer to do so. A wet cell battery will charge perfectly happily on 14 volts but will require topping up (with distilled water) more regularly if the voltage goes much over 14.5 volts.

Both types of battery will be quite happy on the stock airhead charging system set at 14 volts or 14.25 for the so called 'police' regulator.

Rob

Sorry Rob but on that we will have to disagree, we have had many cars come in to our workshop with batteries that are going flat over time, after checking there is no sneak drain on the system and the generator is found to be OK it simply is not putting out the required voltage (13.5v), these issues are on older vehicles made long before the Calcium and AGM batteries became available, the fix has been to install a modern alternator.

I would suspect that the problem here is short journeys or excessive drain on the current output of the generator. Don't forget, on a very real sense, the battery when charging, only gets the current that isn't required to power the vehicle systems. I tend to agree that 13.5 volts is low and will take a considerable time to charge the battery.

Certainly fitting an alternator to a car previously fitted with a DC generator is a good way of improving charging performance both because of higher potential current output and because an alternator charges better at low revs

In any case, that is getting a bit away from the post. An AGM battery will charge perfectly well from 14 volts. I have three airheads that do exactly that and one of the battery's is now at least ten years old (and going strong)..

You can charge either type of battery with any voltage up to - say - 20 volts... that is exactly what a fast boost charger does... but it will tend to reduce it's service life and will rapifly destroy it if it's left on charge forlonger than necessary.

You can also charge it at slightly more than the resting fully charged voltage - that's what trickle chargers do and take a long time to achieve full charge.

Charging is all about how quickly you need to charge the battery and how much current you have available to do it. In princople, the slower you charge, the longer the battery will last... provided that you are providing enough charge to overcome the demands on the battery.

Rob