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As the season changes and the weather begins to cool, many motorcycle owners opt to store their bike until the warmer weather resurfaces again in a few months. As with any piece of equipment, proper care and maintenance of a motorcycle – even while sitting idle – can add to its overall operation and longevity. This is especially true for the battery, which plays a pivotal role in not only starting the bike but also powering the onboard electronics.
Below, please find a few simple steps to take when stowing away your bike during the off-season. As always, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s guidelines for battery care and handling and direct any questions to your battery professional.
Inspection and cleaning: When decommissioning the bike, it’s beneficial to conduct a battery maintenance check. This includes inspecting the battery’s cables, connections and case. Remove any dirt, debris or corrosion on the battery terminals. Ensure all battery-related hardware is tight, including the terminals and hold-downs.
Use warm water to clean the battery. If there is any presence of acid residue, create a mixture of one part baking soda to three parts water. Apply the mixture until foaming stops, then rinse. Do not use any detergents on batteries as they are made of a plastic that can break down and become contaminated if cleaning solutions are applied.
Test State of Charge (SOC): Simple testing can be performed to determine the battery’s SOC. To conduct a test, use a digital voltmeter to measure the disconnected battery’s Open Circuit Voltage (OCV) at least six hours after the battery has been charged. This rest period allows the battery’s chemical reactions to reach a state of equilibrium and the surface charge to dissipate so that an accurate voltage reading is obtained. The manufacturer’s specifications will provide the OCV that corresponds to 100 percent SOC.
Charge the battery: If testing indicates a less than full SOC, charge the battery to help ensure its life and capacity. A full charge will also help keep the battery from freezing. A smart charger can prevent the battery from being overcharged. Chargers aren’t universal, so be sure to use the right charger and the right settings for your battery type.
Decommissioning without parasitic drain: As your bike sits idle for several weeks/months, disconnect the battery cables. Leaving the cables connected makes the battery susceptible to parasitic draw from any electronics that remain connected. While this may be only a very small power draw, it nevertheless can drain the capacity of a battery in a relatively short time. If you disconnect the cables, the battery can be left idle without charging.
Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) ODYSSEY® batteries from EnerSys are engineered with proprietary Thin Plate Pure Lead (TPPL) technology to deliver twice the power and three times the life of conventional flooded lead acid batteries. The plates are made of pure lead, not alloys, which resist galvanic corrosion that occurs when dissimilar metals are in contact while submerged in sulfuric acid. Pure lead also allows the plates to be made thinner, so more fit into the same footprint as a comparably sized conventional lead acid battery. With as much as 15 percent greater surface area, there are more electrochemical reactions with the electrolyte to enable ODYSSEY® batteries to deliver cranking pulses up to 2,700 amps at five seconds. TPPL technology also provides ODYSSEY® batteries with deep cycling of more than 400 charge/discharge cycles at up to 80 percent Depth of Discharge (DOD) to support the growing number of onboard electronic accessories found in today’s motorcycles. Other advantages include slower rates of self-discharge that enable storage of up to two years without needing a recharge, and a faster rate of recharge that takes as little as four hours to reach 100 percent charge.
Last year, EnerSys added three of the most popular battery sizes for motorcycles and other powersports applications to its line of ODYSSEY® batteries. The models are ODS-AGM 14 (BCI BTX-14), ODS-AGM 20L (BCI BTX-20L) and ODS-AGM 30L (BCI BTX-30L), which offer 220 Cold Cranking Amps (CCA), 275 CCA and 400 CCA, respectively. Their temperature range is -40°F (-40°C) to 140°F (60°C).
When it comes time to decommission your bike, taking a few minutes to check in on the condition of the battery can help ensure it remains in optimal health all year.
Check out our websites at www.odysseybattery.com and www.eu.odysseybattery.com for the latest ODYSSEY® battery global news and updates.
You can also connect with us on social media using the hashtag #MYODYSSEY by following us on the below platforms based on region:
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ABOUT ENERSYS
EnerSys, the global leader in stored energy solutions for industrial applications, designs, manufactures and distributes energy systems solutions and motive power batteries, specialty batteries, battery chargers, power equipment, battery accessories and outdoor equipment enclosure solutions to customers worldwide. The company goes to market through four lines of business: Energy Systems, Motive Power, Specialty and New Ventures. Energy Systems, which combine power conversion, power distribution, energy storage, and enclosures, are used in the telecommunication, broadband and utility industries, uninterruptible power supplies, and numerous applications requiring stored energy solutions. Motive power batteries and chargers are utilized in electric forklift trucks and other industrial electric powered vehicles. Specialty batteries are used in aerospace and defense applications, large over-the-road trucks, premium automotive, medical and security systems applications. New Ventures provides energy storage and management systems for various applications including demand charge reduction, utility back-up power, and dynamic fast charging for electric vehicles. EnerSys also provides aftermarket and customer support services to its customers in over 100 countries through its sales and manufacturing locations around the world. More information regarding EnerSys can be found at www.enersys.com.
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