Motorcycle Battery Reading & Maintenance

In this guide, I will share information about motorcycle battery reading and maintenance.

Battery Maintenance

Storing Your Battery

If you’re not using your bike regularly, I would suggest that you remove the battery cables to eliminate drain from electrical components and you should also consider charge the battery every two weeks or so.

For longer battery life, remove the battery from your bike and charge it to 100% or full. It is adviseable to charge your battery every month if you’re storing your bike at temperatures below 60° . If stored in a warm area (above 60° F), charge every two weeks.

Important: Before performing any inspection on your battery, make sure that there are no open flames or possibility of sparks around the battery and absolutely no smoking. Always wear eye protection, protective gloves and clothing.

Cleaning of the battery terminal

Clean the battery terminal when it is dusty or rusted.

1. Set the ignition switch“ OFF” position.
2. Disassemble the front seat, disassemble the ( +) positive battery wire after the ( -) negative battery wire. Remove the battery.
3. Clean the terminal. If there is white dust, clean it with warm water.
4. Assemble the battery wires and grease the terminal lightly.

When your battery is clean, it’s time to check the state of charge. When using a voltmeter, the battery terminal voltage should read at least 12.0 volts. If your voltage is below this or you’ve adjusted the electrolyte levels, a boost charge is required.

Battery Reading Guidelines

The reading guideline below may not be entirely accurate but it will give you some rough idea on how the battery measurement should read.

Ignition ON With Engine Off

12.0 – 12.9V: Normal (Healthy)

11.7 – 11.9V: Weak Battery. You should charge/replace it.

11.6V & Below: Bad battery. Change it especially if you’re using electric starter

Engine ON & Rev above 2000 RPM

14.6 & Above: Bad rectifier/regulator.

13.0 – 14.5V: Normal (Healthy)

13.0V & Below: Minor electrical circuit issues such as, incorrect wattage of light bulbs, alternator (Magnetic coil, fuel coil) or charging circuit fault etc

Conclusion

Proper maintenance and regular checking of your battery will ensure that your bike is in good condition. I am sure you don’t want to stuck somewhere due to the problems with the battery.