Battery thread

Lol, no I just wanted to see what good AGM battery fits my 1150

Previous owner said he put a good battery in but the bmw tech said he was getting bad readings

Shop wanted to sell a $190 bmw battery and I thought that was excessive

I was looking at batteries myself and found this guy:

https://www.beemerboneyard.com/batteries3.html

Less than half the price of the BMW item.

Joe

Thanks Joey I also found the Westco battery is a good match for Bmw

I think batteries plus has them locaaly

Lol, no I just wanted to see what good AGM battery fits my 1150

Previous owner said he put a good battery in but the bmw tech said he was getting bad readings

Shop wanted to sell a $190 bmw battery and I thought that was excessive

Lol, no I just wanted to see what good AGM battery fits my 1150

Previous owner said he put a good battery in but the bmw tech said he was getting bad readings

Shop wanted to sell a $190 bmw battery and I thought that was excessive

Morning Tennmoto

Are you SURE that your present AGM battery is bad?

AGM batteries have an inherent trait to look dead, seem dead, & test low on capacity if not properly charged, & in some cases, recovered with proper charging techniques.

If you battery is relatively new then a proper recovery re-charging might be all that is needed to recover it to full strength.

What brand battery does your bike now have?

I was wondering how good my battery really was during my over winter maintenance. It is an Odyssey that came with the bike to me in 2009 (a 1997 RT). Local distributor says "bring it in and we'll test it for you". Did that and we both were amazed - it tested huge and powerful and good to go. The manufactured date was 2007 - more than 10 years ago - and its been in the bike since 2008, running lots. Something to the phrase sometimes of "you get what you pay for" IMHO. I would gladly buy another Odyssey - if I had to, will test again in another 10 years and see. YMMV

Safe travels.

+1 on making sure you at least check that it was charged/maintained correctly if it is an AGM. If you regularly use an AGM compatible battery maintainer you can get away w/o changing the regulator on the bike to reach the higher voltage AGM requires to get to a full charge.

As shown in link above the Panasonic LC-X1220P as well as Universal Battery UB12220 are affordable alternatives at $50-$60 shipped to your door. These are AGM batteries that are sold into the emergency hallway lighting and electric wheelchair markets which seem to command a lower price for a given AH rating. They may not be quite as robustly built as an automotive battery but I have never experienced or read about folks having issues using them on their R1100 and R1150 bikes and they fit perfectly. I get at least 5 years out of them. I say at least 5 years because at $50 I replace with a fresh one at 5 years even though the battery if still functioning fine.

A lot of folks are fans of the Odyssey AGM battery and they are built for extreme service environments and have tended to command a premium for their extreme service rating, but lately on line prices seem to be more in line with other quality automotive type AGM batteries. Looking just now I see a PC680 offered at $110 online (Battery Mart) which is quite a value for this battery (normally $169).

If you stay with a standard flooded battery, and loose the roundel logo on the side of the battery, the price is about $100 to $110 less for standard flooded battery.

I had an Odyssey PC680 that came with a '99 R11S two years back. Kept it on a BatteryTINDER all the time. One morning the bike wouldn't start because the battery was dead. Well, OK, so I got a new PC680 and started reading about AGM batteries. As others have said, they require a slightly higher charging voltage to get them to 100%. And we all know that batteries last much longer when kept fully charged because then the sulfates that precipitate when discharging don't/can't coagulate and short the plates killing the cell.

I bought a "BatteryMINDer" to replace the "other" NON AGM charger. Several days later, just for fun (and to check out the "DESULFATION" claims by the BatteryMINDer ads), I put the "dead" PC680 on the 'MINDer. A couple of days later I checked it and it was GOOD!! Full charge. Last I heard it's still running a friend's R75 up in Michigan somewhere. I use the 'Tinder on my lawnmower with the flooded plate battery now.

These "2000 era" and before BMW's were built before AGM's were popular and had voltage regulators for the older flooded plate batteries.

EME has a plug-and-play internal type Voltage Regulator for the Bosch alternator on oil head and some K bikes: BOALT-365 Lori there is very sharp and can verify that it fits your M&M.

This voltage regulator can be changed WITHOUT removing the ABS unit or the alternator or belt, at least on the '99 R11S, contrary to what the repair manuals say.

If you have an AGM battery you might want to check if your charger is rated for AGM.

Dirtrider

I put my 1150 in the local BMW shop. They supposedly have a great technician. He found the readings on the battery the previous owner had installed we not right.

I tried to find a local AGM battery in time to deliver to the shop so they can finish the 30k service. This BMW didn't have a dealer history and I couldn't resist trading for it.

It's in great cosmetic shape and with only 29k miles I figured it should be good to go. The fuel connections were upgraded with metal ones I just found out from the shop, and that's a good thing. I will do some of the minor maintenance but I wanted a good BMW tech to go over it thoroughly right now. The local BWW scene has been changing and this dealer

Has had the BMW tag for about 4 yrs. so I told them to put a BMW battery in. It's an expensive service interval with all my requirements over $1100. There is a small seal leak

In the final drive and we are going to go after that later. I'm a blue collar guy whose partially retired so money is a little less available.

I really like the R1150R, it's a work of art and a good riding machine,

Just go down to your local hondayamazuki shop and get a bikemaster lead acid unit - Still the biggest bang for your buck. There are better batteries, and more expensive ones, and weird fire alarm batteries that just happen to fit, but for the money ($60?), plain old lead acid is the way to go. I've had several AGMs. Yes, they last longer, but I was replacing them at 6 years, and they cost more than double the lead acids that lasted 4 years. Personally, I'd avoid anything that's not designated as an automotive type starting battery. You got your Ah and CCA, and your deep cycles, and starting batteries. There's a reason there's different types and ratings, and it does make a difference.

10 years on a battery is an anomaly. Don't expect that on a commuter bike.

Whatever you do, don't buy the BMW brand. You can get basically the same life at 1/2 the price (or less) somewhere else.

And when to replace a battery is a grey area. Back in the day, I would commute on a ferry, with a short run on either end. I'd have to put the tired old battery on a charger every night. I commuted like that for 9 months. Sooner or later you get sick of it not starting and it's time to replace it. But I suspect that a lot of perfectly good batteries get replaced on the advice of a mechanic that has kids in college. ymmv.

Dirtrider

I put my 1150 in the local BMW shop. They supposedly have a great technician. He found the readings on the battery the previous owner had installed we not right.

I tried to find a local AGM battery in time to deliver to the shop so they can finish the 30k service. This BMW didn't have a dealer history and I couldn't resist trading for it.

It's in great cosmetic shape and with only 29k miles I figured it should be good to go. The fuel connections were upgraded with metal ones I just found out from the shop, and that's a good thing. I will do some of the minor maintenance but I wanted a good BMW tech to go over it thoroughly right now. The local BWW scene has been changing and this dealer

Has had the BMW tag for about 4 yrs. so I told them to put a BMW battery in. It's an expensive service interval with all my requirements over $1100. There is a small seal leak

In the final drive and we are going to go after that later. I'm a blue collar guy whose partially retired so money is a little less available.

I really like the R1150R, it's a work of art and a good riding machine,

Morning Tennmoto

You will pay more for a battery from BMW but at least you get a BMW warranty to go with it. The original battery in your 1150R bike was a flooded (lead acid) but most BMW dealers now replace that with the 61212346800 GEL battery (BMW bulletin on this).

Due to the battery being under the fuel tank, plus, on the R bike the oil coolers being in the way of lifting the fuel tank then a GEL or AGM battery is probably a better choice as it is extremely difficult to get to the battery to check or add water to a conventional lead acid (flooded battery).

Battery threads are nearly as extensive and interesting as tyre and brake-pad threads.....

For years I swore by the Odyssey from Hawker-Siddeley UK., getting up to ten years matchless service from each one.

Until weight-saving up high on the bike started to be an issue, whereupon I switched to the 'new' technology Li-On, ( lithium-Iron Potassium or something ) which is a fraction of the weight of a lead-acid jobbie and whose price has fallen dramatically as its popularity has spread.

Only problem is, it needs a different battery-minder. Your regular Optimate won't do the biz.

And you need stiff foam pads to fill out the space in the battery-carrier; the Li-on is a third of the size, too.

But press that button, and the motor spins like gangbusters. Even on a chilly morning, you "warm-up" the Lion by hitting the button again for the bike to roar into life like the MGM logo. Your lights are brighter, your heated grips are hotter ( if you have 'em ) and in general your day is ginger-peachier.

( Rege Cordic used to say that at the end of his show every morning - what a broadcaster...sadly no longer with us.)

Alan,

I have seen you post 2 times about this battery. I have searched but can't seem to find in the states. Would you have a link to one somewhere?