Filling a new 'flooded' battery,  initializing it properly; other battery types, sources & usage;
battery chargers (SMART and not!) and their peculiarities.  
Includes how to load-test your motorcycle battery.

AND:  Charging voltages, another viewpoint.

© Copyright, 2011, R. Fleischer
newbattery.htm-35

FLOODED batteries: 

A "flooded" battery has removable cell covers, contains liquid you can see if any cell cover is removed, sometimes you can see through the case to see the liquid, and you have to add water occasionally.  Water type should be distilled or purified, NEVER EVER tap water.

Flooded batteries are often shipped dry, and therefore need to be properly filled with acid electrolyte in the initialization process.  Sometimes these batteries are advertised as "pre-charged", which is very misleading. There are several problems involved with the purchase, initialization, and use of a brand-new flooded battery. 

NOTE:  There are some other types of batteries, by SOME manufacturer's, that are NOT 'flooded' types, that you DO add liquid to.   A particular version of Yuasa's Valve Regulated Battery (VRLA) is such a type...but you add the ELECTROLYTE only ONCE, then you seal the holes.  That type is not specifically treated in this article; but is very similar in initialization and charging, etc.

If initialization is not done correctly, your flooded battery will NEVER reach its full capacity; AND, will be very likely to have a shortened life.   It is important that gas bubbles be eliminated during the initialization period and a full and complete soaking of the internal parts accomplished. 

NOTE that, in general, the old-fashioned flooded batteries are the LONGEST LASTING batteries, assuming they were properly made, and intialized.  

Flooded batteries can be extremely dangerous.   The hydrogen gas given off by a battery can cause an explosion.  Acid can blind you.  Do NOT take this lightly.  Wear goggles.  Have a container of water available.   Note that even sealed batteries can be dangerous, if grossly hugely overcharged and allowed to get quite hot.

The conventional flooded battery, with or without sealed battery chemistry, MUST be charged regularly, or kept on a maintenance charger, more often in warm weather.

Tongue-in-cheek (somewhat!) scenarios regarding flooded batteries:

Scenario #1:  Battery or motorcycle dealer fills the fresh (or OLD!...and OLD is particularly bad here if the cell tops were not originally or left sealed against outside air, which contains moisture!) "dry" battery with sulfuric acid electrolyte (one can hope of the correct strength...German's use a stronger electrolyte), and possibly charges it once, maybe not, and sticks it on the shelf for sale.  The battery begins to deteriorate from that moment on.  The battery deteriorates especially fast if acid is installed and the battery NOT properly "initiated".  The battery sits there deteriorating, awaiting YOU the customer.    YOU walk in, and YOU need a new battery RIGHT NOW.   Your battery may already have lost a lot of capacity, and may already have a vastly decreased life.

Scenario #2:  The dealer fills the battery while you wait, installs the battery, and you start your engine and you are happy and off you go down the highway.  Such a battery has not properly absorbed the acid, will have bubbles as well as dry places at the plates ...all create hot spots and chemical problem areas, and your new battery will NOT have 100% of its plate areas initialized chemically nor electrically.  That battery will NOT last nearly as long as it should, certainly NOT give proper long life; nor will it operate to its rated capacity and performance.    This type of battery often fails at low temperatures rather early in its hoped-for life.

Scenario #3:  The dealer fills a fresh battery (with no PRIOR air exposure since the cells WERE still capped and sealed) with acid mixture, initializes it in the way explained later in this article, and then connects it permanently to a Smart Charger on his shelf, whilst awaiting your purchase.  The dealer sells these shelf batteries within a few  months.    Congratulations!

Scenario #4:   You purchase a battery at a Wal-Mart or similar. It might even fit with the correct terminal types, polarity, and size.   YOU fill it with the acid that comes with it.  You are aware of the initializing needed from this article you are reading, as the instructions that come with the battery are hardly complete in this regard.  BUT....IF that battery has no side vent; fumes are released UPwards.    You find your seat, etc., rotted out, sometime later...ugggh!  What about if you have electronics of some sort near that battery?   Have you talked to Wal-Mart about how their battery WARRANTY works?....you may decide not to purchase batteries from Wal-Mart.  Do you know that if you return a failed battery in, let us say, 3 or 4 months, that the return $ allotment is VERY skimpy?   Did you even think to check the Wal-Mart (or other source) policy on bad battery returns?

Scenario #5:  You do Scenario #4, but fail to notice that the battery has the + and - terminals on the wrong side.  You return to the store with the battery, and find that batteries are covered not by exchange, but by an allowance, and you lose some of the $ you paid for it yesterday.   Or, you monkey with the leads on your bike 'to make it fit'.

Scenario #6:   Back at Scenario #5 again..... you return the battery as 'defective', and get you money back 100%....or, an exchange with the correct terminal placement.  This exchange battery also has no vent tube, and your seat rots out 3 years later.  YMMV

Scenario #7:   You get the correct battery, with correct venting via an overflow and vent tube, initialize it yourself in the correct way, and probably get a long life from it.

Battery types in common use: 

Flooded batteries are made in two basic formulations.  One type contains calcium in the plates.  A calcium containing battery generally has a slower self discharge, and can be a low or no maintenance type.

There are sealed batteries of several types available, besides conventional flooded batteries.  The conventional flooded battery with or without sealed battery chemistry MUST be charged regularly, or kept on a maintenance charger, more often in warm weather.
The absorbed mat sealed battery, often called AGM, and now often called a VRLA (valve regulated...), the most  popular brand is Panasonic (at one time these were re-labeled as WestCo when sold by WestCo), are sold by many places.  VRLA batteries have very low internal leakage and are shipped from the manufacturer fully charged, and probably will be OK on a dealers shelf for 6 months or so, unless the dealership battery storage area is quite hot.   Yuasa makes such a battery, shipped withOUT acid; as was noted well above.  Another popular brand is the Enersys-Odyssey, sold as a premium product, and available with a metal case on special order (and, worth it, it is less heat sensitive, the battery will last longer).

WestCo may have stopped selling rebranded Panasonic batteries.  In at least one size, the battery is a relabeled "BB" brand.   In the past, one could remove the WestCo label and see the Panasonic label.     The Panasonic brand is well-made (I have taken them apart, not an easy job), not sure about others.

ALL the various types of lead-acid batteries, whether sealed, gel, lead-calcium, lead-antimony, VRLA, AGM, etc., have somewhat differing charge, discharge, float, self-discharge, temperature... and other characteristics.

Things to know:

The higher the ambient temperature, the faster the self-discharge, and more need for re-charging.   This can be critical for flooded batteries, which self-discharge rapidly in the Summer.   VRLA batteries are MUCH slower to self-discharge, although the self-discharge rate increases as the batteries age.

Some manufacturer's do NOT furnish the really important specifications when promoting and selling their products.   Some, on purpose, try to cleverly avoid such information as Cold Cranking Amperes (CCA), by using other terms, that are of no importance, or even meaningless.   

BMW is phasing out flooded batteries (not all) and has what they call a Gel battery (NOT all gel batteries are the same!!!!), which requires, per BMW, a special type of Smart Charger.  All the various parameters of this battery and its TRUE charging requirements, settings of the bike voltage regulator, its TRUE expected lifetime, failure modes, etc......are not yet known accurately enough for me to make good commentary here.   NOTE that BMW started this phasing out, and then re-instituted at least one size of old-fashioned flooded battery.     BMW K bikes with ABS-2 are susceptible to ABS self-check problems with some batteries.   Some BMW K bikes will fry or weld a relay contact with a low or deteriorated battery.

The following is the PROPER way to fill & initialize a flooded battery (this type will have, after filling, visible liquid in it):

1.  Put the battery on your workbench, floor, wherever (concrete floor problems are an old wive's tales stemming from wooden battery case days).   Put your safety goggles on.  Fill the cells to the upper fluid level mark on the battery using the acid mixture provided.  Install the cell cover(s).  Let the battery stand maybe 4 or more ours, up to 6 or 8 hours...to settle in...and because the acid installation causes some heat (worse in hot weather), you wish to also let the battery cool down.  Some battery manufacturer's will say 1 hour minimum; that's not enough time in my opinion.    During this ~half-day period, occasionally shake/rock the battery to get the bubbles out.  I do this by rocking the battery back and forth, giving it a bit of a 'knock' on the table/etc.  

2.  At the end of the selected time, top off the battery cells again, to the same upper fluid level mark, using the ACID mixture.  Install the cell covers.  NOTE that this is likely the LAST time you will EVER add acid mixture to the battery....but, don't throw the acid out as sometimes a battery may require topping up after being fully charged and after it then sits overnight.

3.  After the above step 2, if and when the battery is at or below baby bottle (luke-warm) temperature, THEN you may start charging it.   Connect the battery leads carefully to the charger, and THEN plug in the charger, this is to avoid sparks.    This is especially critical during the time the cell caps are off. so be SURE the cell covers were replaced before playing with chargers.  Wear goggles anyway.    NEVER connect or disconnect a battery charger unless its power plug is unplugged from the wall socket first....that HELPS avoids sparks...SOME chargers can have a tiny spark when connected even if the charger is not plugged-in, so be careful!   Have the cell caps in place when playing with the charger or other wiring!

4.  The rate for initial charging of a new battery is a maximum of 10% of the battery ampere-hour capacity.  If you have a 28 ampere-hour battery, that means 2.8 amperes.   I do not recommend small chargers rated below 1-1/2 amperes for initialization, although if that is all you have, use it.   On a practical basis, you will likely be able to use as high as even a RATED 6 to even 10 ampere car-type charger, so long as its meter-indicated charge does not exceed about 15% of ampere-hours rating for a FEW minutes before the charge rate hopefully tapers down.  

In any event, discontinue charging if the battery warms up much beyond a bit over luke-warm, and then restart charging after the battery cools down.    Some of the small ''wall wart'' chargers (small black box chargers that plug directly into the wall receptacle) will have internal circuit breakers that will constantly cycle on and off during initialization of SOME types of new batteries; and that can burn out these wall units.    DO NOT use a charger rated at 6 amperes or more if you have not let the battery absorb the acid mixture and have not let the battery sit for some hours after that.   If using 6 ampere or more rated charger, do not let the charge rate exceed 15% of rated battery Ampere-Hours....see item 4, above.

Note:  When a dry battery has acid mixture first put into it, the battery will automatically gain a certain 'charge'.  This is the  'dry-charged battery' effect.   For most batteries, that charge is close to 80%, if the battery was properly filled and let stand for some hours.  If you put the battery into immediate use on a motorcycle, you MAY be charging the battery at a too high rate from your alternator; or, may be discharging it, if you have a bike with many lights or poor alternator output, and so on.   I strongly advise to NOT put a new battery, of ANY kind, into service until you charge it fully.  For a typical battery, that means that the terminal voltage, battery not mounted in your bike, but on the workbench, AFTER charging, and AFTER letting it sit for an hour or so with charger turned off or disconnected, will be 12.6 to 12.7 or even a slight bit higher.  12.5 is marginally acceptable.  The terminal voltage reached DURING charging; whilst important, and whilst it will be much much higher than those voltages...., is NOT the best criteria for when the battery has reached 100% of charge.   If, however, the battery has been charged at a low rate (10% of AH or less) for a long period of time, and the voltage has risen to close to 14 (up to 14.9 on some types)...then the battery is likely fully charged.   A more accurate indication is the battery voltage 2 hours after being disconnected from the charger (and NO load of any kind, not even your bike's clock, on the battery).

5.  The amount of time necessary to charge a battery, considering chemical inefficiencies, CAN BE AS LONG AS, but not necessarily is, in hours, the rating of the battery divided by the AVERAGE charging rate, plus as much as 50%.   I have seen it even longer with constantly cycling wal-wart chargers.  The new-fangled, and pricier Smart Chargers (lots of brands)  are very nice, and can be left turned on for extremely long periods (years). 
NOTE!....a MAJORITY of all the smart chargers I have seen have LITTLE TO NO temperature compensation; or, not enough.  Because of this, many do not initialize a battery well, nor maintain it well, particularly in cold weather.  These smart chargers SEEM to be set for a compromise voltage.   Frankly, I prefer initialization of a new battery using a common type of NON-smart charger, and where you WILL monitor the temperature and voltage of the battery. 

I suggest that you MONITOR the new battery for temperature of the case (by feel is OK), just to be sure it is not overheating, and MONITOR the battery terminal voltage with an accurate meter now and then.  The battery terminal voltage will slowly rise as the battery charges.  This rise can be quite non-linear too.  That is, it is possible for a rapid small increase, and then hardly any increase for long periods of time, until the battery finally reaches full charge and PERHAPS then spikes in voltage.    The speed of voltage rise, and the voltage reached after many hours, is dependent on the internal characteristics of your charger, and the type of battery.  It takes a MINIMUM of 12.8 volts at the battery, for a LONG time, to fully charge a battery; but this is NOT the same as initialization!  In general 12.8 is NOT nearly high enough to ensure a properly initialized battery....and the voltage should be considerably higher, near 14+-.

Speaking of both the flooded and Absorbed Mat batteries here, the maximum initializing is 13.8 volts, per many books.  In truth, up to 15 volts can be used, and for the AGM batteries, 14.7 at 25°C is really optimum!....IS BETTER, if the charging current is modest.  There is an official sweet spot, per the books, at 13.2-13.5 for FLOODED batteries.  You might as well disregard that, I find it WRONG for initial charging.  Reasonable for warmer climates for the maintenance mode on a smart charger.   All that being said, good and well with manufacturer's, you are, on a practical basis, going to initially charge the new battery up higher in voltage than that, particularly with a NON Smart Charger.  

I am placing this information early-on in this article, on purpose.   Battery voltages for charging are typically for 25°C temperatures, that is the same as 77°F.     Battery charging is controversial, with manufacturer's selling their own chargers that are touted as very special (some are), ETC.   For flooded batteries, no matter the calcium chemistry of the plates or not, when re-charging, it is a good idea to charge to at least 14.3 volts, and 14.5 is good.  I'd not go much higher.  Then, float charge can be in the 13.8 area.  Flooded batteries are quite tolerant.   For AGM/VRLA/ABS such as Panasonic, WestCo, Odyssey, I recommend (for the very longest life) that the charger be capable of half the A-H capacity of the battery.  Most won't have that powerful a charger, but you will only loose a bit of life if you do not.    Charge to 14.7 volts, and then float/maintain at 13.6 volts.  You can disconnect the charger if you want to, after the charge is at 14.7 and the current is maybe 100 ma.  But, this is not easy to determine for most of you, and there is the complexity of NON-smart chargers having a higher actual voltage, which is needed to actually do charging, and thus my recommendation for non-smart charging is to charge to 14.7 and then turn off the charger.

For the nerdy, you can calculate the change in the 14.7 value, for other temperatures.  If the temperature is COLDER, the voltage INcreases.
The calculation is 24 millivolts per degree Centigrade.

Later in this article will be lots more about voltage/charging.

If your battery is a flooded type with removable cell top plugs, you are going to look, now and then, inside the cells (no sparks, wear safety goggles).  I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that if you do that, you UNPLUG the charger from the WALL, first, as a safety measure, to avoid sparks.    After some hours (usually), the new flooded battery voltage will begin to rise close to 14 volts and the cells will have many small bubbles starting to rise; depending on the charging current.  The higher the charging rate, the more the bubbles.  You may not see bubbles if the charging current  is quite low; and, it may not happen for some time.  This is now a good time to keep under that 10% rule.  After an hour or two of these bubbles rising, ALL THE CELLS SHOULD BE 'gassing' at about the same rate.  The amount of gassing is current dependent.  More current, more gassing.   It may well be very difficult to see ANY gassing if your charging current is 1/4th or even 1.0 ampere, and you do not have to see gassing/bubbles.  Your eyeball, with those goggles on for safety!!  will easily notice if the bubbling is happening, that it is about the same in all cells, if the current is high enough (say 10% of capacity, as previously mentioned).  Be patient.  Do NOT move the wires, causing sparks. 

With sealed batteries you won't be looking for bubbles, but you WILL be monitoring the terminal voltage.  The exact point at which you stop the charging is not critical.  I recommend between 14 and 15 volts, AND this varies with battery construction/materials.   Smart Chargers may not allow that much; which is why I like NON-smart chargers for initializing and first charging.  

****When all cells are gassing (flooded type battery ), and the voltage is perhaps 14.4 at room temperature (closer to 14.9 at 50°F or a bit colder) the battery is fully charged.   You can remove the charger, and let it sit an hour or two, THEN recheck the terminal voltage (accurately, please!), in line with that 12.6-12.7 volts or more, that I mentioned earlier.

For some batteries the gassing point might be reached a bit lower, or a bit higher.  Do NOT let ANY battery type get over 15.0 volts at room temperature.  Do not let the battery get very much over baby bottle temperature.    If the current is low, and you can't see gassing, use the voltage measurement.  Conversely, if the bubbling is quite evident, and you are only at 14.4 volts, and the bubbling is the same in all cells, the battery is LIKELY fully-enough charged if the current is low, perhaps one-half ampere to as much as two amperes, depending on your charger.  Smart chargers are NOT in this category!

""The new BMW Gel batteries have special charging voltage requirements""...maybe not!  Ask about the latest recommendations.  Some chargers won't work well with them.  Whilst THAT is the official line, I have not found it so, in practice.
See later in this article for some more practical advice on various types of batteries, and charging/float voltages....and see a few paragraphs above for some information too.

6.  Unplug the charger from the wall and THEN disconnect the charger from the battery.  This helps avoids sparks.    Sparks are VERY dangerous, around flooded batteries in particular.

****For a flooded battery, as you are charging, shake and rock the battery some to dislodge more bubbles.  After fully charging, let the battery sit a few hours and repeat the shake and rocking.     At this point, if the battery fluid level is not at the upper line, equally, make it so with more acid mixture.  You will LIKELY NEVER AGAIN add acid, only water.

7.  For a flooded type battery, or a 'fill-it' type of AGM, etc., you can now install the battery into the motorcycle.  Mechanically (sandpaper?) clean the wires before attaching them TIGHTLY to the battery.  Be sure the wires are oriented to avoid shorts and sparks.  It is a good idea to purchase some of the goop in a tube (NCP2 or equivalent) and coat the entire POSITIVE (+) terminal, and + wires metal ends, AFTER assembly;...and, if the insulation is so-so, force some into the wire/insulation junction.  Use an old hardware store 'acid brush' or toothbrush suitably modified for this application.  It is NOT necessary to goop the negative terminal area.  It is OK to use clear silicone grease for this or common Vaseline.    The best is the special anti-corrosion grease stuff for batteries, it contains anti-corrosives, and does not depend on just the grease barrier.

8.  Monitor the BATTERY voltage AT the battery!....start the bike, and as soon as the cylinders have some warmth, increase rpm, watching the voltage.  Allow a minute or two, depending on how much you used the starter motor.  If it does not reach 13.7 MINIMUM (and 14.5 MAXIMUM (although 14.9 is OK on the sealed batteries at cold temperatures) as the rpm gets higher and higher (might take 4000-5000 rpm depending on the lights, etc. you have), then you have a problem with the charging system or excessive loads of your bike, which needs looking in to.   The voltage regulator should NOT be hot from a previously run engine for this test, unless you allow for that temperature effect (lowers the voltage).   The VR in K bikes is internal to the alternator, so you can't check its temperature by feel...but the alternator case is good enough.

For your information, it is typical for a BMW Airhead FAIRING voltmeter, to read approximately 0.2-0.5 v. lower than an accurate digital meter at the battery itself.  If over .35 volt you may want to check the fairing voltmeter calibration, and if it is OK, then check for resistance at various contacts, relays, and connections, beginning with the ignition switch and small starter relay under the tank.  

 On BMW Airheads, poor grounding connection at the diode board can cause charging problems...especially with the HORRIBLE rubber mounts and grounding wires needed with those rubber mounts.  I STRONGLY suggest changing the mounts to aftermarket metal ones.  There are certain models that can have timing chest to engine problems with painted touching surfaces, etc.  Lots more on this on this website.

9.  If you store your bike for the winter, removing the battery is usually not necessary, so long as you keep it charged.  A fully charged battery will not freeze in typical, even quite cold temperatures, 50 below zero or more.  If the bike is stored in quite sub-freezing temperatures, and won't be recharged or used with a smart charger, you probably should remove it from the bike.    The colder the battery, the less often it requires recharging.  A small trickle charger is fine every month or so (so is a Smart Charger you leave connected and plugged in all the time).
 

The WestCo/Panasonic/Digikey, etc. batteries:

You can purchase sealed batteries, which come fully charged, from WestCo....or you can purchase them fully charged from Digi-key, and numerous other sources, many brands of them these days.    I can no longer advise on where to purchase batteries, only give some hints on places to check.....as battery prices exploded upwards in 2008, and $$$ are all over the place.  BEWARE, if you want a GENUINE Panasonic battery, that Chinese, etc., 'replicas' are on the market.  Watch the wording in the advertisements.  Note that the Panasonic large battery is 28 AH, and one replica I saw was 26 AH...not that 2 AH in itself makes much difference.
 

WestCo PROBABLY is no longer relabeling Panasonic batteries with its own brand name...keep that in mind when you read what follows.

The 28 AH Panasonic brand battery is 6.5" x 4.9" x 6.9", and 3 POUNDS heavier than the flooded Mareg (of 28 or 30 AH). Float voltage is OK at 13.5.  Float voltage is NOT the bike system voltage under alternator charging...it is a floating voltage for long term storage, or after overnight SmartCharger use, with the SmartCharger still connected and powered.
 
There are two posts available on the genuine Panasonic battery, the suffix is AP and P, don't worry too much about that.
For those interested in 'P and AP', the WestCo-Panasonic battery always was the vertical threaded (5 mm I think) stainless steel post...which is quite a bit stronger than you think it is. Panasonic sells both that type and also sells the more conventional post. From an engineering standpoint, I'd prefer a fatter vertical post, but the SS post is fine.  The more conventional motorcycle type post is my first choice; and, I prefer them such that the holes are facing fore and aft when the battery is installed in the motorcycle.   Clean and shiny are the bywords for connections to the battery and elsewhere's, as voltage drops make the regulator screw up, or create other problems.  There is a small difference in the maximum height, as measured at the case top on one, terminals stick up a wee amount on the other.  In every instance I know of, either fits all bikes OK...but minor modifications have been necessary SOMEtimes to avoid tool-tray involvement on Airheads.  These may be as simple as turning the stock strap upside down.  In a few instances I have removed a small amount of the UNthreaded area from the bottom of the plastic hold-down knobs.  In one instance I made a stainless steel strap...but that bike had a deeper than usual tool tray.

The LARGER (28AH) battery, Panasonic LC-XB1228P (or close to that), does not generally fit the R65, GS,  /5.

The smaller battery for our other models is 17 to 20 ampere hours.

These batteries also fit the classic K bikes, some K bikes can use either size.

NOTE: The 28 AH Panasonic batteries are narrower than stock wet cell (flooded) batteries, and you can, if you want, add a side spacer of wood or?, or not. It is a small amount taller. Because of that small height increase, and depending on your bike, you may or may not have to do one or the other or two of the following:
1. Turn the existing battery top holder, upside down
2. Sand the BOTTOMS of the battery plastic hold down knobs....you will see that the threads do not start immediately, so this is of zero consequence. If you do this, do it squarely.
3. Make a top strap (less likely with #1 being tried).

These VRLA or AGM type batteries come fully charged if fresh.  No matter what brand you get, be sure that the negative and positive terminals are on the correct side, and forward, not at the back side. The self-discharge rate is quite low when the battery is new, so even if the battery sat for 3 months, it is still nearly fully charged. Probably sits around 12.6-12.7 Volts.  EVEN THOUGH these supposedly come fully charged, I suggest that you check the charge.

Airheads:  Adjusting the VR, if you have one that is adjustable:   Measure ONLY AT the battery terminals themselves. If you have a dash voltmeter you are probably going to want to NOTE what it reads in comparison to the digital voltmeter you are using at the battery, probably 0.3 volt less.  Be sure, of course, that your grounds, cables, brushes, wiring inside the timing chest, etc....are all properly tight and all grounds properly grounded...before adjusting the regulator. BE SURE you do that!

For Airheads:  Refer to the diode board article in this website for LOTS more information. Room temperature, try for 14.3-14.4 volts for the VR setting as a decent compromise, although up to 14.9 is OK on the Panasonic battery, but 13.9 and under is a bad idea.   As soon as the engine warms, the heat rises into the regulator, and the voltage starts going down a tenth or three, so do it before much heat develops. I start from a cool engine, and adjust the regulator after a 1 or 2 minute engine warmup, which is enough to allow me to go to 4000 rpm or so without harming the engine.  I have articles posted on my website and on the airheads website, on the regulators and on the grounding information.  It is a GOOD idea, if you have rubber mounts on the diode board, to change them to aftermarket solid metal ones before adjusting the regulator. PIA to install, but a really good idea. Motorrad Elektrik and Thunderchild sell the mounts.     RockyPointCycle.com  sells adjustable regulators very reasonably priced.

Setting the regulator without knowing that all is OK...wiring, mounts, diode board, connections, 
grounding...etc....is a waste of time.

AIRHEADS:   NEVER...EVER....remove the timing chest outer cover without FIRST disconnecting the battery, typically by removing all the wires at the negative post (if only the one big wire at that post, you can do it at the speedometer cable bolt, which lug can be modified for easier removal in future...with the smallest hole snip; be sure to use the washers).

Battery sources:

Ted Porter's Beemershop:   Ted likes the Odyssey and also sealed Interstate batteries, such as models FAYIX30L and FAYTX20HL...and get the plastic support plate.   (831) 438-1100.   34 Janis Way #E, Scotts Valley, CA  open Tuesday through Saturday.
Very knowledgeable BMW folks here. 

WestCo Battery; 1620 Sunkist Street-Unit L; Anaheim, CA 92806;
714-938-5080; FAX 714-938-5307. http://www.westcobattery.com

http://www.gotbatteries.com  small vertical terminal, a-la-WestCo.

800-551-5645 Portable Power Systems

Yuasa, sealed battery, for Harley Davidsons, about 1 inch shorter
335 CCA #YIX30L Yuasa, Allan Kohler 800-538-3627 (I have NOT
confirmed this information).
Yuasa has a Y60N28AL-B battery, is OK.  NOT the YB18.

Some have used 'Garden tools' batteries.  Be careful with flooded types, if no overflow/vent tube, you could see the fumes from the caps rot out your steel pan seat, ETC., over many years.   The typical garden battery used is size U-1.

http://batteryweb.com    ask for Ric, conventional terminals

There are a number of other sources.  Be careful about what you purchase.  I can't list all of these sources.  Ask about batteries on such as the Airheads LIST; the K bikes LIST, and so on.
 

BATTERY CHARGERS:

There is nothing wrong about using a common battery charger, NON-smart type, if used properly.  This applies to any of the battery types....absorbed mat (now called Valve Regulated...), flooded (slosh), sealed, etc.   

NON-smart type chargers can often be had quite CHEAPLY, and they are perfectly adequate for many of you.   BUT.....if you store your bike for long periods of time (all Winter?), and you ignore the bike during storage, you do NOT want a common type (non-smart) charger left turned on continuously. Nothing wrong with turning on a common LOW output non-smart type once a month, typically overnight, less for the Panasonic type batteries.

The Smart chargers are called SMART because (of many other things they MIGHT do) they recharge a battery to a reasonably proper higher initial voltage (many are too low though).   That higher voltage (which they call initialization, not the same as my use of the term in this article) is NEEDED to recharge the battery fully. Once that voltage is reached they automatically drop the charging voltage to one or two lower levels, the final level is usually called the Float Level or Maintenance Level of charging...which is just enough to maintain the charged condition. For flooded batteries, the fluid use is typically negligible in constant Smart Charger usage. In that respect, and because the SMART chargers can be left turned on all the time, the battery is slightly better off than being recharged manually now and then. Some of this is because flooded batteries, especially, tend to lose a fair amount of charge every month, day, hour, that they just sit there...and this happens FASTER as the temperature the bike is subjected to, rises. So, this effect is more important in quite hot weather.   ALL batteries lose charge by themselves, with nothing connected to them.  The self-discharge rate of ALL batteries RISES WITH TEMPERATURE.   You cannot expect full life out of a premium battery like the Odyssey if you store the battery where it is over 90°F, for many months.  Once in a great while someone asks about what to do if the bike is stored for a few YEARS.  Best would be to sell or give away the battery.  Second best is not practical, it is to put it into your refrigerator (NOT freezer) and charge it every 6 months.   Third best, and most practical, is to fill to highest level line with distilled water (if a flooded type that can have water added), and then connect a smart charger to it, and don't worry.

SPECIAL note on Smart Chargers:
Smart Chargers vary in design.   SOME have safety features that can cause you a mess of confusion and some problems, if you don't know about what I am going to tell you here.    Some of these chargers will have NO OUTPUT, therefore NO CHARGING!!.....unless the battery they are connected to....has at least some voltage (often maybe 8 or greater)  to begin with, and that voltage needed varies with the manufacturer and model.    IF your battery is drained very considerably, or is dead, and your Smart Charger does NOT start to charge that battery, you have NO CHOICE but to use some other type of charger on that battery (or jumper to another battery for a few seconds), until the battery terminal voltage rises enough for the Smart Charger to recognize it and turn itself on!   Of course, the battery could be no good, but it will not hurt to try a conventional charger on the battery for awhile.   For a very dead battery, it usually takes only seconds of any other type of charger, even a momentary connection (best with a series lamp or other resistance) to a car battery....to put just enough of a charge into your bike battery to allow it to trigger the Smart Charger immediately afterwards.  

For folks that commute in cities such that the STOCK Airhead electrical system does not keep the battery fully charged, and you wisely connect a battery charger every night, you PROBABLY should have a Smart charger, with an easy to plug-in setup.  In fact, an easy attaching method is a good idea.  The BMW accessory plug and socket works just fine for that purpose.  Be advised that there is supposed to be a 8 ampere fuse in that plug wiring.    Mind cautions about the sockets possibly grounding the battery withOUT the battery ground wire at the speedometer bolt being connected.   That can cause you problems in removing the front cover.  Because of that, I recommend ONLY insulated jacks, and the black negative wire go to the FRAME, NOT THE BATTERY.

As a general rule, the largest size of battery charger that might be used safely with your airhead's battery is one rated at 6 to 20 amperes. A smaller one is better for most folks. Even one as small as 1/4th ampere is often OK...but NOT always.   One that is too small may well not recharge the battery if it is well-drained from a day's commuting and you use the bike again the next morning.   The smallest chargers may well not fully initialize the battery either.  That is, a simple small 0.25 ampere wall-wort battery charge might NEVER be able to raise the battery voltage above, perhaps, 14.2 or whatever.   Most small motorcycle type chargers are rated at 0.5 to 3 amperes. NOTE that most of the various types of chargers, especially the cheap 'wall-wart' ones, have a built in circuit breaker, that tends to constantly recycle if the battery charge level is quite low....or a cell or two are somewhat, or more than somewhat, failing....these WalWarts tend to fail from that sort of usage.

There are, or can be, a relatively important problem with larg size chargers. Depending on the particular design, they MIGHT TEND TO overcharge the battery if left turned on for too long. It is NOT the current output CAPABILITY that causes this (at least up to the 12 ampere size, generally), but the internal resistance of the charger is lower, and so the output voltage also TENDS, by design, to be a wee bit higher, thus this type of charger TENDS to overcharge. NOT ALL will do this. If the charger is vigorous enough (not all will do this), then enough current flows into the battery, the battery will get hot, plates may buckle, the acid mixture and reaction causes hydrogen gas and water vapor to escape, especially on the open vented flooded batteries. Putting such a charger on a sealed battery might well cause internal pressures that could cause a mini-explosion.   I think 10% of capacity, in amperes, is OK as a maximum for INITIAL FEW MINUTES of charging.  For the Odyssey, you can initialize at up to 50% of AH rating!

The problem is that SOME of these chargers are probably designed such that their output current does not taper off ENOUGH, as the battery terminal voltage rises from the charging. This is NOT universally true!  I have a 10 ampere charger, that works just fine. Mine has an adjustable timer on it, a handy feature, but not really needed for most purposes. If I connect this charger to one of my airheads in my garage once a month, it shows a 6 ampere charge for less than half a minute, and is down to 4 amperes within a few minutes, then slowly tapers to under 1 ampere as the battery is recharged. That type of operation is just fine.  You don't want 5 or more amperes of charging for very long, minutes is usually OK.  Typically a recharge takes an hour or two after a couple of months of flooded battery sitting. An absorbed mat battery (AGM or VRLA) (WestCo/Panasonic/Digi-Key/Yuasa...ETC.) will USUALLY recharge far more quickly, as its internal self-discharge is quite low, even in hot weather.  A Smart Charger might take overnight for any type, depending on the ampere rating of the smart charger.

IF you use a common, NON-smart charger, MONITOR now and then the battery voltage. If it is a larger type, monitor that the current does not stay up too high for very long.  When the voltage reaches the fully charged amount, turn the charger off.  Don't allow the battery to get much over baby bottle warmth. The range of voltage depends on the battery type, and the temperature of the battery.  For temperatures near freezing, that voltage might be 14.5 on a flooded battery, and 14.9 on an absorbed mat battery. For 70°F temperature, the voltages will be somewhat lower.  I like 14.3 on a flooded, 14.3-14.7 on an AGM...as a general rule, in any reasonable temperature.

If you use a larger battery charger, many will have a meter that monitors the charging CURRENT. It is OK for that current to be initially rather high....in some cases half the AH rating of the battery......IF!! ... that current level drops within a FEW minutes to under 4, and then slowly downward. This applies to both sizes of the airhead batteries. The rule of thumb that a battery should not be charged at a rate over 10% of its ampere-hour rating is a good rule, but not an absolutely strict one; as 15% is usually fine, and even somewhat more for short periods.  What they don't tell you is that the so-called 10% rule is for 'continuous'.    If your larger battery charger is still delivering 3 or more amperes and the terminal voltage of the battery is already over 14, then you want to be cautious about using that charger.  NOTE that these currents are for already in use batteries, not for initializing a new one.


The use of old-fashioned service station quick chargers (typically 75 amperes and higher) is absolutely forbidden on bike batteries ...and is not good for large car batteries either. Huge input currents will cause spot heating in the battery, and plate buckling, steam, quite possibly the battery will be destroyed, and rather quickly.

CAUTION: NEVER, EVER!!!, remove the cell tops of a flooded battery during the time the electricity to the charger is turned on, or you intend to mess with the wires, power on or not.   Hydrogen gas is emitted from these batteries, and sometimes a bubble will be given off unnoticeably, not just when the battery is noticeably 'gassing'. One spark from the leads, and you could be covered with acid...the battery could, literally, explode. That acid will likely damage your eyes, very seriously. Wearing of protective goggles at all times is a very good idea. Goggles are very cheap compared to one's eyesight!!  The acid in batteries is sulfuric, and that acid attacks skin quickly, and will destroy your eyesight!!!

If you install a battery that is the flooded type, and the only venting is a hole in each cap, or the top area, and there is no plastic tube leading downward....or some similar method, corrosive gases will eat out your metal seat pan, or do other damage in the area.  I am NOT in favor of anything but sealed batteries in K bikes, where the FI computer is located above the battery....due to potential damage from fumes.

***NOTE:  Excessive charging, over a long period of time, even if the excess charging is of a rather low level, will slowly cause oxidation of the inter-cell connections, eating them away, and reducing battery life.  This is very much unknown for whatever reason.

SULFATION:   Usually when a battery is well sulfated, from age or being discharged for a long time, the battery is no good, and cannot be 'fixed'.  There ARE exceptions.   If you want to try to de-sulfate a battery, you can TRY by discharging it, if not already, to about 10.3 to 10.5 (the Odyssey type maybe about 11.0).  THEN, recharge with a substantial sized charger, to around 14.7 volts at room temperature.    The charger should be at least 6 ampere rating, but not over 20!!!  Some chargers are advertised as having PULSE MODES (or similar), and that they will de-sulfate even a quite battery.  NOT TRUE.  The pulse mode is a BIT better, but not worth a big premium.

Here is some information that you more nerdy types might like to have:

Batteries deteriorate, fully charged or not.   Deterioration varies with temperature and type of battery.  In general, every 15°F ABOVE a nominal 77°F the battery is stored or operated at, will HALVE the life of the battery.  

Batteries also self-discharge.   In GENERAL, a flooded battery loses upwards of 1% of its charge per day in Summer temperatures.  For an AGM, the loss is much lower, perhaps 1-3% per MONTH.  

When you charge any battery type, the conversion is not 100% efficient.   For flooded batteries, you must put into the battery about 15-20% more electrical energy than the battery will give back.   This 15-20% is converted to HEAT in the battery during this charging.    For AGM's, the conversion is more efficient, perhaps as low as a 5% loss.  

There is a peculiarity with Gel and AGM batteries, that deals with a mathematical function called Peukerts Exponent.   No need to get into the math, here.  What it means is that Gel and AGM batteries can be discharged (there is a recharge effect too) at a higher % of capacity rate than flooded batteries with a minimal loss of total capacity.   Let me explain that a tad more.   If you have a fully charged battery of any type, the battery has an ampere-hour rating.   A 28 AH battery SHOULD, theoretically, deliver 280 amperes for 6 minutes, 28 amperes for 1 hour; or, 2.8 amperes for 10 hours, or 0.28 amperes for 100 hours....and so on.   However, batteries are less efficient as current drain goes UP.  Thus, a battery typically LOSES capacity as the drain RATE increases.     The AGM and GEL batteries are MUCH LESS affected by this, than the flooded types.   The Peukerts value is LESS for the AGM and GEL, compared to the flooded type.  THUS, these new-fangled batteries can deliver large cranking power.
 

Some PRACTICAL advice on battery voltages for charging, and float charging:
(Read all the previous information from the beginning of this article, if you have not already!)

Although I have given you rather specific advice in this long article on various voltages, the following is PRACTICAL advice, since voltage regulators on the various motorcycles will vary considerably...or, you may want to know what is practical for setting yours if it is adjustable.  You might be interested in what settings are practical and useful for the three major battery types; and, a few other things. 
If the battery is at ROOM temperature (70°F approximately), then I would be OK with you setting your VR for 14.3 volts, before the engine heats the VR.  For constant float charging...in off-season or overnight storage situations, I would be OK with 13.6 volts.
These above voltages will probably result in a decently longer battery life, and slightly less life for your incandescent lamps, which will be a bit brighter.

On a really practical basis, ANY of these batteries will be ""reasonably"" OK with the motorcycle voltage regulator set for 13.8 to 14.5 volts under most any temperature you measure the battery at.  For floating charge, perhaps 13.2-13.8 volts.   In all situations, all types of batteries, after a battery is charged, and the charger disconnected...and this applies to after the engine is shut off too....>>>after a few hours of nothing connected as a load but maybe a clock, the battery should be 12.6 to 12.7 volts.  If the battery/bike has been sitting for some days, etc....then, if under 12.5, be sure to recharge the battery.