revtothelimit - motorbike forum

The battery on the GSXR has always been a bit weak and worries that it won't start when we're out and about, so bought another this morning.

It's a gel battery which the shop assured me was the best, despite being cheaper than a standard one. But the ampage seems lower

Mine
10.5 (20hr)
10.0 (10hr)

New one

9.1 (20hr)
8.6 (10hr)


I'm not quite sure of the relevance, I just want it to be good.

I've got the Ironman on Saturday which is 5 hours of stop and start

Should I be worried ? Or take it back ?

The old one never showed more than 12.2v even after a charge or a long run. This shows 12.6 after a charge. The old one would start the bike down to 11.8v and was a bit strange. I never felt relaxed.

It's also a bit smaller m(1cm), but can pack it out to fit

I have to say I tend to just fit and forget.

It's been a while since I looked but Ah can be misleading when comparing different types of battery.
Unless the shop explained how and why it's the best then I'd just assume it's just what they wanted to sell at the time. Like DefTrap I don't pay much attention to lead batteries, just fit whatever is available.

Does the new one have a cold cranking amp (CCA) figure on it?

JackyJoll wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 6:38 pm Does the new one have a cold cranking amp (CCA) figure on it?

It says it on it, 190A (EN)

wull wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 6:51 pm

JackyJoll wrote: Wed May 18, 2022 6:38 pm Does the new one have a cold cranking amp (CCA) figure on it?

It says it on it, 190A (EN)

Then it might be better at starting the bike, if EN is equivalent to CCA.

I reckon the advice was genuine. Gel's better than wet in a number of ways including short term/high draw applications, maintenance, low self discharge etc etc etc and the lower Ah isn't an issue. The discharge curve is probably better too so it'll keep a higher voltage longer. Main drawback is price but you get a better battery for the money.

Capacity is a bit less, but starting current (CCA) is a bit better.
Voltage is better.

Fit it and forget it.

How can you check for battery drain?

This new (ish) battery is fine if used regularly.
But if left 2 weeks, it'll struggle to start. So maybe there is a drain on it.

How do I check?

An alarm fitted? Sat nav fitted?
Check everything that does not turn off with the ignition. Sat nav will do it, DAMHIKT

Cousin Jack wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 2:03 pm An alarm fitted? Sat nav fitted?
Check everything that does not turn off with the ignition. Sat nav will do it, DAMHIKT

Has an alarm, but don't set it in the garage. Nothing else.

Does it TOTALLY turn off, or just disarm while some of the gubbins are still live?

Yorick wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 2:04 pm

Cousin Jack wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 2:03 pm An alarm fitted? Sat nav fitted?
Check everything that does not turn off with the ignition. Sat nav will do it, DAMHIKT

Has an alarm, but don't set it in the garage. Nothing else.

When you say don't set it.... what do you mean ?

Most Cat1 are auto arming and when you switch bike off it HAS to arm automatically, unless you specifically stop it with button presses.

The time I had one do that, the regulator was borked ( ZZR600, almost new motobatt ).
It was leaking back through the reg. when it was switched off. While I rode it most days it was fine but if I went more than a week it wouldn't start the bike.
I worked it out by checking the current drain with a meter when everything was switched off.

(It had no alarm so you'd need to disconnect yours somehow to do this test, can you unplug it? it doesn't matter if it immobilizes the bike while unplugged)

weeksy wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 2:14 pm

Yorick wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 2:04 pm

Cousin Jack wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 2:03 pm An alarm fitted? Sat nav fitted?
Check everything that does not turn off with the ignition. Sat nav will do it, DAMHIKT

Has an alarm, but don't set it in the garage. Nothing else.

When you say don't set it.... what do you mean ?

Most Cat1 are auto arming and when you switch bike off it HAS to arm automatically, unless you specifically stop it with button presses.

This is Spain and it's manual setting.

Ian wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 2:16 pm The time I had one do that, the regulator was borked ( ZZR600, almost new motobatt ).
It was leaking back through the reg. when it was switched off. While I rode it most days it was fine but if I went more than a week it wouldn't start the bike.
I worked it out by checking the current drain with a meter when everything was switched off.

(It had no alarm so you'd need to disconnect yours somehow to do this test, can you unplug it? it doesn't matter if it immobilizes the bike while unplugged)

How do I check the current drain?

Yorick wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 1:58 pm How can you check for battery drain?

This new (ish) battery is fine if used regularly.
But if left 2 weeks, it'll struggle to start. So maybe there is a drain on it.

How do I check?

Disconnect the negative lead from the battery and connect a multimeter on the current setting between the lead you just took off and the now unconnected negative battery terminal. That will tell you your parasitic drain when the key is out.

The amount that's ok depends on your bike and should be in the specs somewhere. If it's more than it should be you can start pulling fuses to see where the fault is if there is one.

dern wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 2:37 pm

Yorick wrote: Wed Sep 06, 2023 1:58 pm How can you check for battery drain?

This new (ish) battery is fine if used regularly.
But if left 2 weeks, it'll struggle to start. So maybe there is a drain on it.

How do I check?

Disconnect the negative lead from the battery and connect a multimeter on the current setting between the lead you just took off and the now unconnected negative battery terminal. That will tell you your parasitic drain when the key is out.

The amount that's ok depends on your bike and should be in the specs somewhere. If it's more than it should be you can start pulling fuses to see where the fault is if there is one.

Aha. No good at looking for stuff in specs.
What's a ballpark figure?

Nearly 0

Yeah, ideally 0 or a few mA. If you know your Ah for the battery then you'll know roughly how long the battery will last for the drain you have. So (very roughly) if you're drawing a parasitic drain of 250mA on a 10Ah batter than it'll be flat in about 40 hours.

Disclaimer - this is all from memory.