I find myself needing to put a new battery in my 1983 R100S again. Only gets ridden a couple times a year. The lead acid batteries don't hold up on the tender. Currently have a dead Yuasa 53030. No I don't properly maintain it with any sort of diligence.
What are people using for longevity/battery life and low maintenance? AGM? Lithium?
Curious to hear what others have had success with.
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Battery for R100S
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schrader7032
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Re: Battery for R100S
I'm getting average about 5.5 years out of my stock lead-acid batteries. That's riding a little bit each month. So not much help.
What came to mind was the Odyssey battery. I managed to find a discussion about this battery here:
https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.ph ... -Batteries
You might also want to peruse Snowbum's website...his first love is electronics so I suspect he'd have a think or two to say!
https://bmwmotorcycletech.info/newbattery.htm
What came to mind was the Odyssey battery. I managed to find a discussion about this battery here:
https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.ph ... -Batteries
You might also want to peruse Snowbum's website...his first love is electronics so I suspect he'd have a think or two to say!
https://bmwmotorcycletech.info/newbattery.htm
Kurt in S.A.
'78 R100/7 '69 R69S '52 R25/2
Fast. Neat. Average. Friendly. Good. Good.
'78 R100/7 '69 R69S '52 R25/2
Fast. Neat. Average. Friendly. Good. Good.
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srankin
- Posts: 1080
- Joined: Fri Jul 14, 2017 8:45 pm
- Location: Spencerport, NY USA
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Re: Battery for R100S
I myself have had very good luck with Odyssey batteries, the two I have in my airheads have lasted far longer than any other brand.
The local airhead shop I hang out at found Odyssey batteries to be far better than any other makes they had sold in the past. Since they started selling them, warranty problems for batteries have gone to zero when the Odyssey batteries are installed.
Of course, this might not be just the case for Odyssey but a case to be made for more expensive batteries in whole. Cheap batteries are just that cheap, you get what you pay for.
Lead acid batteries are old tech and personally I will never use one again.
As for lithium batteries, they have their own specifics as to charging and such, much more stuff to cover than I want to learn about or go into, suffice to say they might be fine for special use but I doubt they are worth the trouble or cost for an average airhead owner to mess with.
I agree with Kurt, Snow bum is the go to guy for the information regarding details about batteries and charging systems. St.
The local airhead shop I hang out at found Odyssey batteries to be far better than any other makes they had sold in the past. Since they started selling them, warranty problems for batteries have gone to zero when the Odyssey batteries are installed.
Of course, this might not be just the case for Odyssey but a case to be made for more expensive batteries in whole. Cheap batteries are just that cheap, you get what you pay for.
Lead acid batteries are old tech and personally I will never use one again.
As for lithium batteries, they have their own specifics as to charging and such, much more stuff to cover than I want to learn about or go into, suffice to say they might be fine for special use but I doubt they are worth the trouble or cost for an average airhead owner to mess with.
I agree with Kurt, Snow bum is the go to guy for the information regarding details about batteries and charging systems. St.
Owner of a 84, R80RT and 78, R100RS
Re: Battery for R100S
I'll give a vote for Odyssey batteries, I put one on my 1967 Triumph TR6R (which is 12V positive ground) over 15 years ago. While it's pretty smooth for an old Triumph, by BMW standards there's a fair amount of shaking going on.I keep it on a standard Battery Tender, and it gets ridden about once a month. Still going strong, and the alternator on that bike is laughably anemic.
Adam
Adam