Maintance free batteries?

[Magic]

Batteries

I tool would like to find a 6 volt no acid read no leak battery what is the best?

You're going to get alot of recommendations as well as negitives on this subject here. Personally I've had very good luck with the Yuasa/Exide Battery as one has been in my 58FLH going on 7 yrs and doesn't cause any corrosion at the terminals at all. Yes I also use the Battery tenders (5 currently on now). The only thing I didn't like about the Yuasa battery that I put in years back was that I had to paint over the top using Krylon Plastic paint to cover the bright red top which shows under the battery lid. They may of changed the color by now but maybe not but I sure would and will buy another of their batteries. The negitive that I'll give is the one that V-Twin was selling out of India with an all black case. My mistake it constantly caused corrosion on the terminals and destroyed the show battery terminal bolts every other year. always cleaning off the terminals on that one even though I coat them with grease to prevent oxidation it ate them from the inside out. Harley sells a good 6V all black too now which has been good so far. Made in the USA still holds true as good in this case it seems. Maintanance free batteries are the trend and prolly soon the only battery and makes life easy for those that chose not to maintain their own. Merlin in Pa.

[darrylri]

I have two Deltran Battery Tenders (they actually own that name), but any of the "smart chargers" are what you need. I have a pigtail mounted on the batteries of all my bikes, and I move the Battery Tenders around from one to the other each time I go into the garage. The smart chargers can be left connected to your battery without problem.

I had a wet lead-acid battery in my R60/2 that was in use for 9 years and about 20k miles, and I only changed it out because I was worried it had to be on its last legs. I used it for another year on my bench, testing electrics and horns and such. I also had a 9 year old 12V battery in my 1975 R90S before it finally gave up, but then that bike has an electric leg.

At least in the vintage BMW world, the "sealed lead acid" (eg, SLA) batteries that are available for emergency lights and various toys are very popular. Often you can find such a battery that is significantly smaller than the OEM battery for your bike, yet has the same or even higher amp-hour rating. A lot of people gut an original battery to use the case, and then put one of these SLA batteries inside. Properly cared for, they seem to have a good, long life also, and they can't leak and ruin the paint or chrome on your frame or headers.

I've got a couple of these in some of my bikes and they seem to be holding up fine. They are fairly inexpensive -- I've bought online from Rage Batteries, but look around, there are plenty of places selling them.

[William McClean]

Club Stalwarts John Bowman Jr. and Joe Martin were on a trip a few years back when a wiring issue caused catstropic failure of the battery on John's BSA Woodsman. It blew the top off battery at speed. Other than a large portion of the top of the plastic battery case fractured the battery appeared to be intact and still had a charge. With tape {I'm not sure if it was duct or electic } holding the shards of battery top in place, a Roadside wiring alteration in the rain was affected. Having faithful tenders close by and a support vehicle the decision was made to trundle onward. " Just to see how far the battery would go."

They made it safely to the planned lodging that night, about 30 miles where the battery was brought into the hotel room for an overnight charging. The next day it was remounted to the BSA and they hit the road again arriving at the final destination without further incident. All told about 120 miles were put on the machine after the batterey let loose.

It was a gel battery.

[Paps]

You may have a very very small drain on the battery as it sits for an extended period of time. Does the bike have any assessories such as digital radio memory, digital clock memory, etc. ? Accessories such as these draw even when turned off. If no digital accessories on on the bike, check for small shorts. Paps

[Glenn]

the best thing I bought for for the bikes are battery tenders. they come in 6 or 12 volt so you can use on anything the current battery is going on 5 years old and still works great

now back to you original I tool would like to find a 6 volt no acid read no leak battery what is the best?

[scd]

Food for thought. I've had several Sears battery tenders in use in the last few years. They were relatively cheap, and allowed 6 and 12 volt settings. HOWEVER, I've had terrible luck this winter. Two of them just quit working without any sign of failure. One looked like it had the battery up and holding, but was really doing nothing, the other one actually smelled hot and started buzzing while it quite doing it's job. Don't know what to think, but you get what you pay for. Both were about three years old, and had been used nearly continuously.

[Robert Luland]

Jeff K-Mart bought Sears a couple of years ago when they were bankrupt (I'm still tring to figure that one out). K-Mart now carries Craftman tools and automotive stuff. Bob

[jmanjeff]

battery's do have a shelf life but most rotate the stock now to my ? a Sears battery tender in K-Mart

[Robert Luland]

Now here’s an interesting question that I’m sure many a person here has asked themselves but was to embarrass to ask. Last year I didn’t use my FLTH for about a year and as usual the moment I wanted to the battery was dead as a door nail. I mean dead! Non-rechargeable. In the trash dead. Well after Harley screwed me out of a $160 clams I started wondering about these maintance free batteries. Last week I went to fire up one of our welders in the shop. AAA wrong again! Dead in the trash. So as you can aces I’m not having a good time here. Last Saturday I decided to pay my local K-Mart a visit. As I’m strolling though the isles I happened to come upon a Sears battery tender on sale for $10 bucks off (This sale is still going on as I type this). As I’m pulling the tender off the shelve I happen to look down and lord en behold there is the battery for the welder. All it is a lawn tractor battery. Now for the all important question that I’ve been leading up to. The battery on the K-Mart shelf had a ½” of dust on it. Do these maintance free batteries die on the shelve? Because they sure do die in real life. I went in to the shop yesterday and went over to my kids atv which hasn’t been used in two years. I put and old style battery in it in the summer of 07. The little **** fired right up. Maintance free my ass. Someone here has to know the answer to this riddle. Bob Luland