Motorcycle Batteries

Motorcycle Batteries - Motorcycle Battery Chargers:  Information on where to purchase your motorcycle battery or motorcycle battery charger; how to maintain a motorcycle battery and more!

Gel & AGM Batteries:  What are gel batteries (also known as "gell" or "gell cell") batteries?  Gel batteries use a thickener in the liquid electrolyte rather than water in the cells.  They're similar to AGM, or absorbed glass mat batteries.  Gel batteries must be charged on a trickle charger rather than a fast automotive charger.  In my experience, the trickle chargers like the Battery Tender work fine for gel or AGM batteries. 

Both gel and AGM batteries work much better in a motorcycle application because they can withstand vibration better than water filled batteries.  It's my understanding that they also hold up better under a deep discharge. 

Make sure you check with your battery manufacturer before you use a Battery Tender or other charger; certain types of trickle chargers are not recommended for use in some gel batteries, although we've been using three separate Battery Tender Plus units continuously for over 7 years and have never experienced a problem, either with the battery or the Battery Tender.

Motorcycle Battery Chargers, Maintenance and Replacement:  wBW Reviews: see the right-hand column for a list of our motorcycle battery charger reviews  |  wBW review of Permatex Battery Cleaner and Permatex Battery Protector & Sealer  |  See more technical articles about motorcycle batteries and more on the wBW Technical Articles page  |  wBW Technical Article - Installing a Sealed Battery on a Triumph Thunderbird Sport 

Motorcycle Batteries - Motorcycle Battery Retailers:  Apex Battery has Westco sealed motorcycle batteries; free shipping on orders over $50.00  |  Motorcycle Batteries USA carries sealed batteries for many brands; also battery chargers and accessories  |  The Battery Mart carries Hawker Odyssey batteries for motorcycles; also various models of Deltran Battery Tenders and many other types of batteries and battery related products  |  The

Battery Web sells all types of batteries for many applications, including motorcycles; they also sell battery chargers  |  Westco Batteries sealed batteries by Westco  |  eBatteries to Go has several different brands of motorcycle sealed batteries, including Panasonic, Universal, Westco and others for many different makes and models of motorcycles  |  SVR makes sealed batteries, mostly for cruisers  |  Batteries Galore has motorcycle batteries, but no cross-reference listing their part numbers by bike make/model  |  Odyssey dry cell batteries for several makes of motorcycles

Motorcycle Batteries - UK and Europe:  Speedline Moto carries SVR batteries and they also claim to be Europe's largest supplier of pin grips for attaching badges to motorcycle jackets and clothing

How a Motorcycle Battery Works - How to Maintain a Motorcycle Battery:  The Yuasa Technical Manual (.pdf) is a comprehensive document describing motorcycle batteries and how they work, with drawings and illustrations, charts and more  |  The Battery University is an online resource with technical papers and information about batteries  |  Everything you never wanted to know about batteries  |  All sorts of tips in the "Car and Deep Cycle Battery FAQ" by Bill Darden, including usage, storage, testing and more  |  Activating a new motorcycle battery from the Battery Web  |  Here's a pretty exhaustive listing of battery numbers/types with battery numbers and info like amp hours, volts, cold cranking amps (CCA) and length, width, height by BCI Battery Group Numbers  |   A Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) list with lots of information about batteries  |  Westco battery observations and product review by master BMW Airhead and expert mechanic "Snowbum"  |  U.S.A. and Canadian shipping information and regulations covering batteries  |  Care and Feeding of Your Pet Battery (motorcycle) by David Searle at Motorcycle Consumer News  |   Sealed Lead-Acid Batteries Handbook (a .pdf file) has some good information on sealed batteries (Thanks to Murray R.!)  |  Charging sealed lead acid batteries  |  How Batteries Work is a good basic description in the BBC "Rough Science" guide  |  The Lead-Acid Battery: Its Voltage in Theory and in Practice; by Richard S. Treptow is a more detailed scientific discussion  |  Battery tutorial at Battery Stuff  |  "Charging or Not" is an article about troubleshooting motorcycle charging problems  |  "Understanding Motorcycle Batteries" article by Stu Oltman, Technical Editor, Wing World Magazine  |  Cutaway drawings of Yuasa batteries

Motorcycle Battery Cross Reference Chart:  This chart shows equivalent maintenance free and lead-acid motorcycle batteries

Motorcycle Battery Chargers:  wBW review of the Battery Doc battery charger  |  Accumate Charger and Westco Batteries by Westco  |  The Acumen Platinum Smart Charger (see the wBW review) is made in England, distributed in the U.S.A. and claimed to be "the world's best smart charger"; here's the UK Acumen site  |  Battery Tender 6A, Battery Tender Junior, Battery Tender Plus by Deltran; Traveling overseas? Deltran also has the International Battery Tender with connections for European electric outlets  |  Yuasa 1.5A, Yuasa 900mA Chargers  |  Superior Accu-Charger 21-1450, Superior Accu-Charger 21-1440 by Superior Motorcycle Products  |  Battery Doc by Operating Technical Electronics  |  Battery Minder by VDC Electronics  |  Cliplight battery chargers for 6, 12, 24, 36 and 48 Volt batteries by Cliplight Manufacturing Company (click on "OEM Products" then "Battery Chargers"  |  Battery Cellmate by Voltage Control Industries is "a precision electronic device which "Tops Off" your battery and maintains nearly optimum charge under a wide range of conditions"  |  Odyssey Drycell Batteries  |  The Optimate III battery charger has a "6-Step" process for automatically charging your motorcycle battery  |  Ctek makes several types of battery chargers with four to six step charging rates

Battery Organizations:  The Battery Man is the website of the Independent Battery Manufacturers Association; it has info on battery manufacturers  |  The Battery Council International website has information on batteries, battery recycling, environmental regulations, jump starting batteries and more

Special Batteries:  DC Batteries has a battery for special uses, such as locomotive batteries, the Optima battery and many more  |  Listing of world battery manufacturers

Motorcycle Repair and Maintenance:  Many articles now on the wBW Motorcycle Maintenance - Motorcycle Repair page or the wBW Motorcycle Repair Article Index

BUY GEAR with this link to the Motorcycle Superstore and help support webBikeWorld!

Note:  For informational use only.  All material and photographs are Copyright © webWorld International, LLC - 2000-2009.  All rights reserved.  See the webBikeWorld® Site Info page.  NOTE:  Product specifications, features and details may change or differ from our descriptions.  Always check before purchasing.  Read the Terms and Conditions!

►Reader Comments and Owner Feedback

From "A.C.C.":  "I was just browsing over some links in the "How a Motorcycle Battery Works - How to Maintain a Motorcycle Battery" section (above) and came across the one by David Searle of MCN. 

He states: "Motorcycle batteries are normally rated by their amp/hour (AH) capacity, or cold-cranking amps.  The AH figure is used in the advertising of car batteries as a months-of-life number, as in a 48-month or 60-month battery."

The Ah rating has nothing to do with the number of months a battery is expected to last."