How long will a BMW gel type last?

[dfmcintyre]

Greetings from a new (to me) 2002 R1150RT owner...

I just picked up my retirement bike, ah...."pre-retirement" bike. It was local, a model and color that I wanted with the right accessories and mileage.

Anyways, it has a BMW gel battery, that was installed in 2004. According to the second owner, who I bought her from, both he and the first owner used a battery tender.

So, question I've got is what is the reasonable time in service on such a battery?

Thanks - Don

[kgadley01]

Greetings from a new (to me) 2002 R1150RT owner...

I just picked up my retirement bike, ah...."pre-retirement" bike. It was local, a model and color that I wanted with the right accessories and mileage.

Anyways, it has a BMW gel battery, that was installed in 2004. According to the second owner, who I bought her from, both he and the first owner used a battery tender.

So, question I've got is what is the reasonable time in service on such a battery?

Thanks - Don

First of all, welcome to the Forum. The Gel Battery in my RT was put in by the previous owner in April of 05. the Gel Battery in my Harley was put in when it was built in Febuary of 04. Both are still fine. I try to put all my bikes on a tender at least two days a month year round. I would think 6 to 7 years for a well maintained battery is all you can expect. Kenny...

[MotorradMike]

Hi Don:

Firstly, I think 5 years is pretty good for any bike battery.

Secondly, I think there are too many variables to make a good prediction on battery life.

The ABS bikes are fussy about battery health on start-up. If you try to start your bike in 30ish temps without having had it on the tender all night I bet it will give you an ABS fault.

There is an electrical mod that disables ABS until the bike is running, I'd do that if I had ABS.

Finally, I'd just run it 'til you have trouble, batteries are one of the easier things to take care of far from home (on this continent anyway).

[PGlaves]

Read the standing voltage at the battery, key off, 1 hour after a ride of at least 20 miles.

Read the voltage 24 or so hours later.

Read the voltage while the starter is cranking.

Report back and we can probably come up with a good guess as to the health of the battery.

And even then you can't be sure. I went out yesterday to start a bike. It cranked but not as quickly as I liked. So to avoid aggravating it I put a tender on it for about an hour. I again pressed the starter button and heard a "pop" and everything went dead.

So I pulled the battery and read the voltage = 0

I used jumper cables and connected the bike to a 12v battery I happen to have for another bike. It started right up - no electrical issues.

But the battery had an internal connector break leaving no continuity through the battery and no volts out.

This is not the first time either. I rode my F650 to town once, came home, parked by the garage, and 15 minutes later went out to move the bike. "Pop" and zero volts.

Life is like that sometimes. At least, both times, it happened at the house instead of miles away in the boonies on Sunday afternoon.

[RoboRider]

My 2005 RT now needs a replacement battery. It seemingly works fine. It starts and runs fine. It does give me some trouble when it's really cold out. But, the issue is it has little capacity. I left my emergency flashers on for about 30 minutes and the bike would not start. Previously, I could leave the flashers on for much longer than that. If I forget the headlight on for 3 to 5 minutes, it's dead as well.

I use the BMW charger and again, for around town, it is fine. I will tough it out this Winter and replace it in the Spring when I start to again do more overnight trips.

Robo

[jamesdunn]

The BMW gel battery in my '94 ABS oilhead is about five years old.It seems they last a pretty good while, but the ABS does go into default mode if it has set awhile as others have noted.

[PGlaves]

My 2005 RT now needs a replacement battery. It seemingly works fine. It starts and runs fine. It does give me some trouble when it's really cold out. But, the issue is it has little capacity. I left my emergency flashers on for about 30 minutes and the bike would not start. Previously, I could leave the flashers on for much longer than that. If I forget the headlight on for 3 to 5 minutes, it's dead as well.

I use the BMW charger and again, for around town, it is fine. I will tough it out this Winter and replace it in the Spring when I start to again do more overnight trips.

Robo

Which is exactly why I had that extra battery I mentioned above. My R1150 seems fine usually but has next to no staying power. I just haven't pulled the tank to replace it, and the fuel hoses, and a few other things once the tank is off.

[jingdog]

The battery in my lawn tractor still works and I got the tractor (used) in 1993. My 1992 ST1100 had the origional battery when I sold it (in 2003 I think) I charged the tractor battery in the winter once a month with my Dads 6 amp 1963 Wards automatic tapering charge battery charger for years. I just bought a battery tender (Chicago Tools) for it this year. Thatll probably be the end of it! The ST1100 battery never saw a charger or tender because I rode it every week year round. I suspect thats the best way to preserve a battery.

[Brettendress]

For the price and peace of mind I replace the battery on my Gs every three years just because I use Heated Gear, GPS, PIAA, lights, and always charge stuff off it like the phone and I-pod. They should last five years but if your a touring motorcyclist out on the road camping in remote places I say go three for peace of mind

Brett Endress
Altoona Pa

[Acejones]

I would like to have lunch with the engineer that decided putting a battery under the fuel tank was a good idea.

[kgadley01]

I would like to have lunch with the engineer that decided putting a battery under the fuel tank was a good idea.

I would like to join you if you find him...

[Railbender]

I would like to have lunch with the engineer that decided putting a battery under the fuel tank was a good idea.

I think he is the twin brother of the engineer who put the battery under the seat of the airheads. I have to assume neither one has ever looked at the battery placement on a Japanese bike.

:buds

[PGlaves]

They actually did a very nice job on the R1100RS. Under the tank but slides out the side after the side panel and air snorkel are removed.

On the other hand, reference the Japanese comment above, I had to access the battery on a Suzuki DR 650 last week. Conveniently under the seat - bolted on of course - but then it had several things on top of it that had to come off too. Since that bike was headed to Mexico I ran an 8 gg lead from the battery to behind the side cover so it could be charged or jumped without removing anything.

[jingdog]

Use the battery under the gas tank to your advantage if your bike falls over. The cops/fire department will pick it up right quick if you explain the location to them!:D

[Weasel]

I just replaced the BMW get battery that was new in '04. It didn't fail me, I just thought that with winter coming on, it would be prudent to do so. It's been on the battery tender just a few times, and had never let me down. Then, again, the bike is ridden almost every day.

[jingdog]

Hmm sounds like women who get double mastectomeys just because they find out they have the "cancer gene".

[PGlaves]

I just replaced the BMW get battery that was new in '04. It didn't fail me, I just thought that with winter coming on, it would be prudent to do so. It's been on the battery tender just a few times, and had never let me down. Then, again, the bike is ridden almost every day.

Probably a good idea. It really depends on how you ride and where you ride. An old battery that always starts a bike under ideal conditions may well let you down in less than ideal conditions. Cold weather, or left the key on for two minutes, etc. If you live near a dealer and mostly ride close to home, and always in well populated areas then a failing battery may be a short inconvenience until somebody can give you a jump.

But if you travel alone, or ride a lot in the open spaces, or camp in less than congested campgrounds, then it can be a bit more inconvenient than that. My rule is a battery can let me down once - probably my fault. Twice - it's toast. And 5 years old - it's out of the bike. If it still seems good it goes on the shelf as a workbench power source or emergency spare. I would then charge it for 24 hours once a month - just because.

[jamesdunn]

/quote/My rule is a battery can let me down once - probably my fault. Twice - it's toast. And 5 years old - it's out of the bike./quote/

This is what I do. Five years seems a reasonable replacement mileage. I don't want to become stranded and would rather be a little proactive.

[osbornk]

I just replaced the BMW get battery that was new in '04. It didn't fail me, I just thought that with winter coming on, it would be prudent to do so. It's been on the battery tender just a few times, and had never let me down. Then, again, the bike is ridden almost every day.

I did the same thing in my 03 last year. About 10 months later, the new battery failed and I put the old one back in. It's working fine and the replacement battery under warranty is sitting in my garage.