Battery question

warman_imp

Running like a top
Thread starter
Bought a leftover 2014 (new) in April of 2017. Should I look at my battery as 5 years old or two and a half years old?
 
A friend and I both bought 2014’s in October 2016. Batteries lasted about 2 years. Both were on trickle chargers in the offseason.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Yeah, unless the original 2014 battery was packed in ice until 2017, the cell plates will corrode and the battery lifespan significantly shortened. As Houtman said, probably in worse shape than a used 5-year-old.
 
GoldOxide_imp said:
Yeah, unless the original 2014 battery was packed in ice until 2017, the cell plates will corrode and the battery lifespan significantly shortened. As Houtman said, probably in worse shape than a used 5-year-old.
I picked up my 2014 in April of 2017. Within less than 1000 miles and 4 months, the original battery had failed. Replaced with one from Batteries Plus. Still good to go over two and a half years after replacement.
 
I have heard some farmers can make an old-school lead-acid battery last 40 years. This makes sense to me because they usually wish to control operating expenses and down time of their equipment.

It basically comes down to proper tendering of the battery. If you can prevent cell plate corrosion, and damage to the anode/cathodes, then in theory (assuming the battery is well sealed), a tendered closed system should last a very long time.

I suspect with the old-school lead-acid units, proper distilled water would be used as top-up and formal electrolytic measurement and rebalancing of the acid would be done from time-to-time.
 
Warman, despite the fact your bike sat unused in the crate (or on the showroom floor) for all those years, if it were my bike, I'd replace the brake and clutch fluid.

Assuming the battery was fully disconnected when the bike sat, does the collective here still think it's a "five year old" battery?
 
Thread starter
I remember “activating” a battery for a generator once an wondered if motorcycle batteries might be similar. Was told the bike was still in the crate till I bought it.

Well I got my answer and I appreciate the input. Time to look for a battery now.

Thanks,
 
LongRanger_imp said:
Warman, despite the fact your bike sat unused in the crate (or on the showroom floor) for all those years, if it were my bike, I'd replace the brake and clutch fluid.

Assuming the battery was fully disconnected when the bike sat, does the collective here still think it's a "five year old" battery?
5 years-old.

The moment the battery is assembled or "made up", the clock starts.

The battery is a reduction-oxidation process. If left unchecked (e.g. no external charge applied), then the reaction will eventually complete and permanently depleting and battery anode/cathode grids.

- - -

Maybe I am wrong, but I think AGM batteries are already "made up". The old wet-cell based batteries I believe were not "made up" until the m/c was uncrated/assembled by the dealer who would then add the acid solution to the battery assembly.
 
These bikes come from Japan in a crate, you mean a battery is in the bike from the factory? I would had thought all these bikes had to have a battery added at the dealer during prep? I bought a zero mile 2014 in 2018... battery hasn't been an issue. I did change the brake/clutch fluid, it was dark... I've seen bikes on the showroom floor without batteries in them... salesmen tell me they don't put batteries in until the bike is sold...
 
Destindoc_imp said:
These bikes come from Japan in a crate, you mean a battery is in the bike from the factory? I would had thought all these bikes had to have a battery added at the dealer during prep? I bought a zero mile 2014 in 2018... battery hasn't been an issue. I did change the brake/clutch fluid, it was dark... I've seen bikes on the showroom floor without batteries in them... salesmen tell me they don't put batteries in until the bike is sold...
My '14 had no battery when it was delivered to the dealer. I happened to be hanging around the showroom the day it arrived. Only two were allotted to the dealer so I had to put up or shut up :D:D
They fitted a new Yuasa battery and added an Optimate pigtail free of charge.
That original battery is still strong, but I'm keeping an eye on it.
 
Rocky_imp said:
Destindoc_imp said:
These bikes come from Japan in a crate, you mean a battery is in the bike from the factory? I would had thought all these bikes had to have a battery added at the dealer during prep? I bought a zero mile 2014 in 2018... battery hasn't been an issue. I did change the brake/clutch fluid, it was dark... I've seen bikes on the showroom floor without batteries in them... salesmen tell me they don't put batteries in until the bike is sold...
My '14 had no battery when it was delivered to the dealer. I happened to be hanging around the showroom the day it arrived. Only two were allotted to the dealer so I had to put up or shut up :D:D
They fitted a new Yuasa battery and added an Optimate pigtail free of charge.
That original battery is still strong, but I'm keeping an eye on it.
My '14 had no battery when it was delivered to the dealer. I happened to be hanging around the showroom the day it arrived. Only two were allotted to the dealer so I had to put up or shut up :D:D
They fitted a new Yuasa battery and added an Optimate pigtail free of charge.
That original battery is still strong, but I'm keeping an eye on it.
I don't how they come these days, especially given many use AGM batteries. In the earlier times new crated bikes would include a dry lead-acid battery that had to be set-up and charged by the dealer.

Most dealers I know do not install the battery on show room bikes, unless they are often demo'ed like, for example, the Gold Wings.
 
warman_imp said:
Bought a leftover 2014 (new) in April of 2017. Should I look at my battery as 5 years old or two and a half years old?
Do a proper AVR/battery test, which will tell you about its health and entire charging system.
For my 213 and 2014, both batteries lasted about 5 years, while properly maintained off seasons.
 
Goldoxide is right on the money again, honda ships the bike with everything tested , that means the engine has run, shifted through the gears on a roller bank, lights tested etc and that includes the ( disconnected ) battery ( shown 5 minutes into the video ) in place.
All that the dealer needs to do is remove the crate, mount some hardware like mirrors that come in a separate box, maybe add some fuel and that's it;

Our bikes are manufactured in the hamamatsu factory and tested like this;

Activating a battery means adding the acid with the right specific gravity to the battery, this is not even possible with an agm battery, they leave the factory charged and ready to run, they also have a better shelf life and usually last longer than a "wet" battery.
From experience in my bikes the wet batteries never lasted longer than one and a half years, but the agm ones ave been good for 4 years now and still going, it's a big improvement.
 
peterbaron_imp said:
warman_imp said:
Bought a leftover 2014 (new) in April of 2017. Should I look at my battery as 5 years old or two and a half years old?
Do a proper AVR/battery test, which will tell you about its health and entire charging system.
For my 213 and 2014, both batteries lasted about 5 years, while properly maintained off seasons.
This is exactly my experience under PB's said conditions for my '14 CB1100.
Thx Max. Nice find regarding the Hamamatsu factory ...

max_imp said:
Goldoxide is right on the money again, honda ships the bike with everything tested , that means the engine has run, shifted through the gears on a roller bank, lights tested etc and that includes the ( disconnected ) battery ( shown 5 minutes into the video ) in place.
All that the dealer needs to do is remove the crate, mount some hardware like mirrors that come in a separate box, maybe add some fuel and that's it;

Our bikes are manufactured in the hamamatsu factory and tested like this;

Activating a battery means adding the acid with the right specific gravity to the battery, this is not even possible with an agm battery, they leave the factory charged and ready to run, they also have a better shelf life and usually last longer than a "wet" battery.
From experience in my bikes the wet batteries never lasted longer than one and a half years, but the agm ones ave been good for 4 years now and still going, it's a big improvement.
 
Max, I think our bikes are manufactured at Kumamoto. Hence the “K” in the VIN. It’s still an interesting video. :D
 
Thread starter
Been two weeks since I ask the question about batteries in leftover motorcycles and yesterday she wouldn’t start. I’d been busy (as usual) and hadn’t gotten around to replacing it.

Wished I had. Spent $126 on a no name O’reilly battery with a short warranty.

Surprised i had any warning at all. Seems in the last twenty years or so batteries give no warning at all.
 
Back
Top