Trickle charging
 

Having gone to my XT the other day and found the battery to be discharged, I've decided that, especially at this time of year, I should look into trickle charging the battery. I don't ride the bike much during the winter ( because I'm skiing and stuff, nothing to do with being a fair weather biker or anything ;) ) and I understand it's not good for a battery to be heavily discharged and then recharged repeatedly.

However, I understand there may be issues with overcharging the battery etc? Can anyone reccomend a good (cheap!) trickle charger I can leave hooked up to my bike while I'm not using it which will keep my battery in tip top condition?

Thanks,

MAtt :)

The "Battery Tender " is the best ,but it's not very cheap .
Or you could put your battery in a window hooked up to a small solar panel and charge controller .
Or use a low power battery charger hooked up to a timer .
Or ride more often .

Hi Matt, It's not really a cheap option but I bought an Optomiser trickle charger a few years ago ( £30 ish from Hein Gurkin ). It came with a lead to wire direct to the battery ( and another with crocodile clips ) and is easy to plug in, I use it on my XT and GS1150 (not at the same time) and however cold it is the bike fires up enthusiastically at the press of the button - every time. It's pretty robust and has survived a few drops onto concrete floors. I've also bought a connector ( the male bit ) some wire and a cigarette lighter socket from Maplins and made a charger socket that plugs into the Optomiser socket wired to the bike battery ( for charging the mobile phone when I'm out and about ). Hope that's some help.
Cheers Mike

The Tender made it work. Ran cord from Motel room.

I use an Optimate on my bikes; I have fitted a socket to each of them so it's easy to hook up. I also made up a "jump lead" with the same connectors. Most of the lads I ride with have the same socket and it would be easy to hook two bikes together for a boost. Also useful if you rig up an accessory socket/optimate lead you can charge a phone run a GPS, worklight, mini-compressor, etc.

Good bit of kit and well worth 30 odd quid

Thanks for the advice guys. I hadn't thought of using an adapter socket for charging the battery. That would make things a lot more convenient and a socket would be a useful thing to have on the bike.

Will have a look to see what I can get in the UK.

Matt

SAE on the other. Very fast and simple.

For what it is worth - Accugard
 

For the past couple of months I have been using an "Accugard" which is a cut down version of the Accumate/Optimate (where do they get these names?).
It is working fine, so far, early days really.
You can find them in the link, buried away within loads of others.

I had one of the cheapo, £10 or so, trickle chargers, which worked OK for a while (some years actually, but it is knackered now): but, it does not do any of that battery monitoring stuff and that makes the Accugard good value IMO.

eBay.co.uk - battery charger, battery charger Motorcycle Parts Accessories, Accessories, Motorcycle Parts, Scooter Parts items at low prices

Thanks for your input everyone. In the end I followed Walkabouts link and got an Accugard charger off ebay which should arrive soon.

Matt :)

Remove battery?
 

I dont know where I got the idea in my mind from, but I thought it was bad to charge a battery (through a socket or direct) with it still installed in the bike because during charging a battery gives off vapours that can corrode surrounding parts of the bike.

Any thoughts, comments or experiance?

I recently purchased a Datatool battery optimiser from Laguna M/C's in Ashford for £39.99 it's great but this morning whilst looking around HALFORD's in Ashford I saw a similar devise which only cost £24.99!

Go to your nearest Halford's and have a look yourself.

I honestly wouldn't leave my bike in the garage without being hooked up to one of these. One UK winter is enough to destroy the battery of any bike laid up until the Summer. Most batteries these days are sealed and you can't overcharge them if you use an OPTIMISER as apposed to a BATTERY CHARGER which may just cook your battery if left on charge for 6 months or more!

Neil

Matt,

something that worked on my TT and the XT before, was to drain the carb of fuel prior to starting it - after leaving the bike for a while. Get's all that crap old fuel out, and some fresh fuel in. The bikes always started first prod, as opposed to cough-cough-cough-splutter-cough-weak-cough-start-slowly... Means if you have a low battery, you've a better chance of starting.

If I was more organised I'd probably have drained the carb every time I parked the bike for a while...

cheers,
Doug

Good point about the Carb! - Just close the fuel tank cock and start the engine. Let the carb run dry and the engine will cut out. There done...

And I always cover my bikes in WD40 (not on brakes, disks or tyres). You can't do any harm with WD40 if you stay away from brakes etc... I know there are other more expensive options out there but these are all almost the same as WD40 - maintenance sprays which drive out the wet... I swear by WD40 and you can now get an enormous trade can for only £3.99.

You need a special BMW charger ....and you can use your imagination as to the cost of this little jewel. :helpsmilie:

More great info. guys, thanks. I will definately drain my carb each time I lay the bike up now, sounds like a good tip.

Matt :)

I used to run the carb dry everytime I switched off the engine
 

...........The downside can be that the float stays down when you switch on the fuel next time: it happened to me quite regularly with a TTR carb - I never did get to find out what was the problem, but it sure ran some fuel out of the overflow and it was a bugger to get it to stop leaking.
If drained for a short time, like overnight, then it was often OK, but for a longer time......................

Hmm.

Is there a simple way of draining the float bowl just prior to starting it up then? That way you could leave it full, but draining the old petrol out just before starting it up after a long spell of inactivity.

Matt

there's a drain screw on the carb, hard to describe but sort of obvious if you look (check manual). unscrew a little and the fuel empties down the little tube that comes out under the bike. Make sure you switch the main fuel tap off first, or you'll empty all your fuel.

Don't think so on that particular carb, but some designs have a drain screw (I think!).

I was not knocking the idea of running the carb dry - personally, I thought it a great idea - just warning of the unintended consequences that can arise. It's worth a try, because the carb float should not stick in the down position of course.

I sometimes got my float free by bashing the handle of a hammer against the carb body and then again, sometimes I didn't!! :rolleyes2:

Bad memory
 

Yes, Dougie is right, there is a drain screw - that was another attempt to get the float to behave itself: opening and closing the screw, repeatedly.

its maybe not a bad idea to empty all the old fuel and start fresh after a long period laid up. I got my xt600e out from under the sheets in the garage last weekend. She took some persuasion to fire, but did in the end. Doesn't take much throttle to stall it even when warmed up. Im thinkin the fuel has gone a bit dead after 4 months parked up and the big single is particular about the fuel it uses? im gona empty it all this weekend and start fresh. Can't wait to get a good rip out on the big girl again

I use a fuel stabiliser if I am going to lay a bike up for a while.

Also, if you've got a metal tank, keep it brimmed to reduce condensation and thus water build up in the bottom of the tank.

Most bikes will be a bit "grumpy" to start if left for a long time but I find the stabiliser helps.

Seems to be two schools of thought on this.
Another good tip is