Re: Battery

[BeemerGary2@xxxxxxx]

Matt,
I purchased a new '04 R1150GS this past June that was equipped with BMW's new 
gel battery. It is my understanding that the primary advantage of the gel 
battery over the conventional lead-acid battery is that the gel battery is able 
to handle longer periods of non-use without losing charge sufficient to start 
the motorcycle. It is also an unfortunate fact that the conventional type of 
battery charger/tender used for lead-acid batteries should not be used on the 
gel batteries.
Since my motorcycles typically get ridden at least once a week, a prolonged 
period of non-use is not an issue for me. Had I had any choice in the matter, I 
would have preferred to continue with a lead-acid battery, which I would 
change out every three years which has been my practice for some time now. Rather 
than change something on a new bike that might come back to bite me should a 
warranty issue occur, I decided to accept the bike with the gel battery and 
swallow the cost of the new and necessary type of battery charger.
So far, I have had no need to use this battery charger. In addition, it is 
way to early to determine if there is any upside or downside when it comes to 
the useful life of the gel battery. As indicated before, if I can get three 
years out of a battery, I'm a happy camper and have no qualms about spending the 
money to pop a new one in at the end of that period of time.
Gary Prickett
Mission Viejo, CA

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End of oilheads-digest V1 #84
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