Storage and Cleaning: A buildup of lead sulphate (white substance) can stop the plates in the battery from receiving their charge and over time render the battery useless. To help prevent this, when you are storing your bike disconnect the battery and charge it regularly to keep the charge topped up. It is also very important that you keep your motorcycle battery clean as this will also prevent the build-up of sulphates.
Charge Regularly: Regularly charging your motorbike battery is vital to its long-term performance and the only way to ensure it has a long life. Most modern chargers are intelligent chargers that can be left permanently connected to the battery. When you are riding your bike, don’t disconnect the leads from the battery, but simply disconnect them from the charger and stow the leads neatly in your bike’s battery compartment, that way the battery can be put on charge straight away, with the charger taken care of the battery for you.
Monthly Motorbike Battery Maintenance
- Check the battery electrolyte levels and top up with distilled or deionized water as required (always wear gloves and eye protectors and top up in a well-ventilated area)
- Clean the battery ensuring it is free from dirt and grime
- Ensure the cables, clamps and batteries are not damaged in any way
- Clean the terminals and connectors
- Check inside the battery for excessive Sulfation (white build-up on the plates)
- Check that the exhaust tube doesn’t have any kinks or isn’t blocked
- Ensure that the caps are replaced tightly on the battery
- Test the battery
Quick Tip: Check the voltage after maintaining your battery, check once with the engine off and once with the engine on. This will help you spot any problems with the charging system early.
Motorbike Battery Maintenance
Motorbike batteries come in three different versions:
- Conventional Lead Acid Batteries
- Self-Sealed Maintenance Free Batteries
- Factory Sealed Maintenance Free Batteries
Both self-sealed and factory-sealed types offer you leakproof batteries, but all three will require filling with acid when you first purchase them – Electroquest supplies all motorcycle batteries free with the acid for batteries that require filling.