What have you done to your bike today....

DD67

DD67

The Peace Keeper
Staff member
Foxy said:
@DD67 thanks for your kind offer mate, but there's loads on Amazon and Ebay for about £20. I'll not need one now, til t'winter comes anyway.
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No problem mate.
But spend the extra few quid for an Optimate (ideally an Optimate 4)
In my experience the £20 ones are utter shite.
Your current (pun intended) Optimate has proved how they are built to last.
 
MartytheMartian

MartytheMartian

Legendary Knight
I am a little 'in the dark' with these battery conditioners myself. I always just kept the engine turned over now and then and, if it was a little reluctant I'd stick the battery on charge but from what I read online it seems that batteries are more short lived these days and need nursed all the time. Weird. All my bikes seem to do fine battery wise without keeping them on charge and I try to make sure they all get run up at least once every two or three weeks and so far I haven't needed a new battery in any of them in the last two years and I couldn't tell when they had the batteries they have fitted as they came to me with them.
 
DD67

DD67

The Peace Keeper
Staff member
Gave my bike an oil/filter change, cleaned & lubed the chain. Fitted the Optimate hook-up lead & Xena alarmed disc lock carrier. Then fitted the guardian bell, courtesy of @Ron 🙂
I added the usual wheel bling yesterday that @chas loves so much 😉

Plenty of stuff left to do. But hopefully, I'll get to take it around the block this weekend.
 
Don the Don

Don the Don

Legendary Knight
MartytheMartian said:
I am a little 'in the dark' with these battery conditioners myself. I always just kept the engine turned over now and then and, if it was a little reluctant I'd stick the battery on charge but from what I read online it seems that batteries are more short lived these days and need nursed all the time. Weird. All my bikes seem to do fine battery wise without keeping them on charge and I try to make sure they all get run up at least once every two or three weeks and so far I haven't needed a new battery in any of them in the last two years and I couldn't tell when they had the batteries they have fitted as they came to me with them.
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More modern bikes have a lot more electrical items that have the possibility to be a parasitic drain even alarms but it does seem as if batteries dont last as long
 
DD67

DD67

The Peace Keeper
Staff member
chas said:
What is the benefit from a battery conditioner (like an optimate) as opposed to bothering your arse to check the battery now and then if it's sitting idle and putting some juice in with a charger?
I had the same battery in my ZThou for about 15 years using that method
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In short...
If your bike is stored somewhere with easy access to a 240v supply? An Opitmate 4 can be hooked up to the battery & left running when the bike isn't in use. For a "claimed" electricity usage (pre the recent price increases) of just £1 per year.

The charger/maintainer keeps the battery happy & healthy. For years longer than if you allow it to go flat. Then drag it kicking & screaming back into life with a jump start or even a regular battery charger.
 
chas

chas

Legendary Knight
DD67 said:
In short...
If your bike is stored somewhere with easy access to a 240v supply? An Opitmate 4 can be hooked up to the battery & left running when the bike isn't in use. For a "claimed" electricity usage (pre the recent price increases) of just £1 per year.

The charger/maintainer keeps the battery happy & healthy. For years longer than if you allow it to go flat. Then drag it kicking & screaming back into life with a jump start or even a regular battery charger.
Click to expand...
So it's not an advantage if you can be bothered to keep the battery with charge, either by usage or checking it , say, once a fortnight and sticking some juice in it if needed.

It was a question more for @Foxy 's benefit but I was curious myself as I didn't know if I was missing a trick by not using an Optimate (or similar)
 
DD67

DD67

The Peace Keeper
Staff member
chas said:
So it's not an advantage if you can be bothered to keep the battery with charge, either by usage or checking it , say, once a fortnight and sticking some juice in it if needed.

It was a question more for @Foxy 's benefit but I was curious myself as I didn't know if I was missing a trick by not using an Optimate (or similar)
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Regular use all year round would negate the need for a battery maintainer.
But "sticking some juice in" periodically doesn't keep the battery as healthy as a softly softly maintainer ticking over does.
 
MartytheMartian

MartytheMartian

Legendary Knight
See the 'softly, softly' bit confuses me a little as the actual charging system that bikes are fitted with seems pretty agressive and certainly couldn't be called a trickle charge so why don't they wreck the battery? Battery chemistry and technology is a bit of a mystery to me other than the very basic physics of it so do forgive me if I am missing something that people with more expertise in batteries know.
 
chas

chas

Legendary Knight
DD67 said:
Regular use all year round would negate the need for a battery maintainer.
But "sticking some juice in" periodically doesn't keep the battery as healthy as a softly softly maintainer ticking over does.
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I get that if you let it flatten out you're degrading the battery but if you keep a reasonable charge in the thing (it's an effort/remembering thing, I know) an Optimate is basically a labour saving rather than battery saving device. As I don't ride (Like a Duck) through winter these days I usually just remove the Batt and keep it in the warm, indoors and bang it on the charger when needed.

Granted it sometimes causes domestic discord as my method of remembering to charge the batt is to leave it in a prominent place. ;)
 
DD67

DD67

The Peace Keeper
Staff member
MartytheMartian said:
See the 'softly, softly' bit confuses me a little as the actual charging system that bikes are fitted with seems pretty agressive and certainly couldn't be called a trickle charge so why don't they wreck the battery? Battery chemistry and technology is a bit of a mystery to me other than the very basic physics of it so do forgive me if I am missing something that people with more expertise in batteries know.
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All I can add is this Marty...
Before purchasing my first Optimate approx 10yrs ago (& it's still working) I'd have to purchase a new bike battery every couple of years.
The £20 Oxford ones (ten years ago) were utter shite. There's every chance that they're fine now though.
However, as the Optimate has proved that it does what it says on the tin year after year. Whenever anyone asks about battery maintenance. I have no hesitation in recommending an Optimate 4 🙂
 
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