So I call a battery company. Bike has been sitting since 2008 (was built in Italy) and on the dealer floor as an 09'. I asked the rep if the shelf life was compromised? If it was sitting dry, then no was answer. Then he proceeded to walk me thru the steps they do with the competition's batteries. I'm sure they work those to death is my guess?
If you follow the decimal point, you need to choose the right battery charger for your bike's battery.
If you have a 12v 12ah battery, you want at least a charger that puts out 1.2a on the charger's sticker.
If you have a 12v 14ah battery, you now see the decimal point move to the right, so now you need to chase at least a 1.4ah battery charger.
If you place a 1.2ah charger on a 14ah battery, you'll never get it to its full capacity is that charge rate. Careful how you bad mouth a battery is point #1.
Some batteries come with the acid you have to fill with. Others come already filled.
The battery that needs to be filled, you now wait at least an hour before you place it on the charger. The plates inside need to be soaked in. You charge a dry battery, well, those might get so hot and buckle. Whereas the acid would have been on the receiving end of that heat to dissipate; so the plates do not buckle is point #2.
With the correct charger, the wait for soaking, the next step on the list is to charge the battery to it's full power. Usually 12.8v is the holding point after the battery has been in service.
With a headlight wired up to the high beam, a taillight wired up to the stop light filament, we want to drain that fully charged battery back down to 1v.
With the charger back in play, you want to do this routine at least 3 times.
With at least those 3 drains will make the battery last longer, so says the battery tech dept.
You are mailed a battery to install. No one is telling you to prep the battery this way; before it goes into service. Now, would I take a chance on a cheap battery? Prep it this way first? Yep. If it lasted the same amount of time as you said, then get your money back. Fuck pro-rate of 2 more years. Buy quality instead. That extra bit of chump, extended you another year or two, rather than buying another cheap one. :2thumbs:
