imported post
Lead acid wet battery types whether automotive or bike must be looked at for electrolyte levels at a constant pace because the act of charging that battery means putting amps into it and the removing amps as it is being used. Amps in/out create heat whether at full voltage or partial voltage and only full voltage will operate the regulator.
Being a wet lead acid battery means the wet part consists of H2SO4, sulfuric acid which is made up of H20 and SO3. Heat from charging and discharging turns the H20, liquid water part into water vapor, boiling as the electrolyte level simply falls as the water component evaporates.
A bigger physical battery can use plugs to capture that water vapor, cool it then return to the battery the water liquid, but motorcycle batteries are small, vibration prone and often in hot/cold locations and operate in a hostile environment for battery life.
Make the conditions the best you can for your battery.
Stop excessive shaking and vibration, secure the battery to the bike, yes the bike still vibrates but at least excessive banging around within the bike will be stopped.
Keep cables and connections well connected with clean large areas of joints. 100 A through a wide large joint connection is better than through a narrow metal to metal contact. Smaller joints create more heat, more voltage drop, higher surrounding areas of magnetic radiation to cause dirt contamination, that green stuff that forms with that grey matter a sort of fluff.
Although battery cables and terminals must be large clean terminations so must the grounds at the frame. And since the connections at the grounds are between different metals, steel, aluminum copper, lead, the difference in the metals does create electronic imbalances at the joint creating a mess. This mess interferes with conductivity. So keep the mess less, by tearing apart the joints, cleaning reconnecting and doing this cleaning on a regular basis.
Wet lead acid types by their nature lose water, so keep a close eye on the level of electrolyte because with exposed lead plates the battery loses capacity.
Wet lead acid really dislike a constant trickle charge because with time they will become a less of a battery and more of a dead weight. They need to be kicked hard every once and a while with an overcharge that stirs up things and changes their electrolyte from an insulator from constant low charging, back to a conductor. The becoming of an insulator is done over time and at a little bit at a time until the battery at 20Ah becomes a battery at 10 Ah. Eventually noticed when the starting amps won't do as the battery seems low and barely starts the engine.
A kick in the rear end charge is an equalizing charge which is a controlled over charge. A process used in deep cell battery technology but beneficial for automotive batteries if done safely, timely and with caution.
Keep the battery clean, secure, charged and test for state of charge, electrolyte levels add only pure water, no tap water.
Motorcycle batteries are by nature small because of the size of bikes, but they could be larger if there is a place to put them on the bike. Batteries are storage devices, they take a charge and hold that charge, then deliver that stored charge when needed. No matter the size of the alternator the battery is a fixed tank. Fixed by the design of the vessel holding the liquid electrolyte, fixed by the amount of surface area of the lead plate and fixed by the environment holding the battery. Change any of these to better the battery and you better the things the batter can do and that is deliver more stored energy wnen needed.
