The CB1100 Community Forum

I have been fortunate to always get over five years out of a battery, bikes and cages and without interruption of service. The longest was around seven and it didn't really need it until the next deep cold winter. I do not leave the battery on a tendering charge continuously.

(06-16-2019, 10:25 PM)GoldOxide_imp Wrote: [ -> ]I have been fortunate to always get over five years out of a battery, bikes and cages and without interruption of service. The longest was around seven and it didn't really need it until the next deep cold winter. I do not leave the battery on a tendering charge continuously.

Neither do I.
For winter storage, I remove the batteries from all the bikes except the 1100. It's buried down deep and has a pigtail on it so I leave it.
Once a month I pull them out and hook each one up to my Optimate charger for 24 hours and then put them back where it's cool and dry.

When I bought my six-year-old bike a few months ago, the original owner told me that the bike had its original battery, so he couldn't promise how much longer it would last. He kept it on a Harbor Freight tender, which he gave me with the bike.

I was dubious, but still rode on that OEM battery for a few months before a couple of slow cranks gave me enough of a reason to buy a new one. That was a pleasant change from my BMW, which would go through a Yuasa about every three years.

Clock is ticking on my Bonneville. It's battery is on year five...

(06-16-2019, 05:26 PM)Cormanus_imp Wrote: [ -> ]How long did yours last Obliviontoad?

Bought new April 23rd 2013... never needed anything but a start midwinter to prove things were ok.

Voltage of new battery right out of the box.

Voltage of the old battery after being on a 10A charge for 6 hours and then left to sit overnight.

All done.

Congrats Randy. I assume you mean a 1 amp charger and not a 10 amp charger. Motorcycle batteries are low amperage units. That would be a lot of voltage going into that battery if you used a 10 amp charger.

(06-19-2019, 10:39 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Congrats Randy. I assume you mean a 1 amp charger and not a 10 amp charger. Motorcycle batteries are low amperage units. That would be a lot of voltage going into that battery if you used a 10 amp charger.

Voltage is constant, a lot of Amps you meant...for sure not 10A for this battery

yes amps, typo. Thanks for catching that PB

The battery will draw the current it needs to charge the cells to their full voltage potential and then drop to a trickle.

Using the 10A charger means a partially discharged battery will draw too much current and "bake" itself. Using a 1A charger will limit the "bake" to a maximum of 1A. Best to use the so called "smart chargers" that regulate and cycle the charging for you so the cells to not prematurely fail.