Misc: Charging Systems Charging battery on Rapide

[danno]

Hi
Just wondering about charging the battery on my C Rapide when not using it for a while.
I have been connecting my CTEK MXS 5.0 charger on to the connected terminals.
Is this ok on a positive earth vehicle or should I disconnect the battery?
Any help appreciated.

 

[bmetcalf]

Pos or neg earth doesn’t matter. Disconnecting the battery will keep it from discharging through the regulator.

 

[ClassicBiker]

On all my bikes, classic and modern, some of which have positive earth and others have negative earth, I have SAE quick disconnects that match up to Battery Tender Juniors. Which as the name implies looks after your battery, it monitors the battery charge level and maintains it. When I go out into the garage, almost daily, I move the tender from one battery to another. As I have a few late 60s and early 70s Triumphs, I have one AGM battery that I can easily move from one bike to the next, depending on which one I want to ride. As Bruce says disconnecting the battery will prevent it from discharging. My 1995 Triumph Sprint is a bit different as it has electric start and the attendant heavy connections for this I have an extra lead to plug into a battery tender.
Steven

 

[danno]

On all my bikes, classic and modern, some of which have positive earth and others have negative earth, I have SAE quick disconnects that match up to Battery Tender Juniors. Which as the name implies looks after your battery, it monitors the battery charge level and maintains it. When I go out into the garage, almost daily, I move the tender from one battery to another. As I have a few late 60s and early 70s Triumphs, I have one AGM battery that I can easily move from one bike to the next, depending on which one I want to ride. As Bruce says disconnecting the battery will prevent it from discharging. My 1995 Triumph Sprint is a bit different as it has electric start and the attendant heavy connections for this I have an extra lead to plug into a battery tender.
Steven

Thanks.
Yes, I have different connectors for my CTEK charger. Crocs for the Vin and BMW airhead and a plug type for the BMW R1100RS.
I recently had a flat battery out and about on the R60 and was stranded until I happened to see an AA van.
This has an Odyssey battery and a suggestion was to check current drain on this so I could do the same with the Yuasa on the Rapide.

 

[BigEd]

Thanks.
Yes, I have different connectors for my CTEK charger. Crocs for the Vin and BMW airhead and a plug type for the BMW R1100RS.
I recently had a flat battery out and about on the R60 and was stranded until I happened to see an AA van.
This has an Odyssey battery and a suggestion was to check current drain on this so I could do the same with the Yuasa on the Rapide.

I fit one or more accessory sockets to all my bikes so that I can connect my GPS, heated gloves, etc. I've made up leads from my Optimate chargers with an accessory plug on the end so that all I have to do is plug into the accessory socket when I want to charge the battery. On my more modern machines, the socket isn't "live" until the ignition is on so I wire one of the sockets direct to the battery through a fuse to use as the charging socket.

 

[vibrac]

On my e start Comet I have one switch to cut all the power from the lithium battery (in a standard battery box) I dont really need it as a modern Alton Regulator at rest does not discharge but a switch is nice to have
As you know my son endurance raced a K100, it has a lithium battery, unfortunately although the last UK endurance race at Donnington (2018?) drew a bigger crowd than the GP, there has not been another classic endurance race since then. When we tried out the new Vincent twin racer in 2020 he did take the K100 out for a race, but the BHR races are pathetically commentated, all the classes are mixed and the regs have been altered, so since then the bike sat unused for well over a year. Ben decided to sell it so he popped some petrol in it turned on the ignition and the battery spun up that monster engine as if it had just been stopped. I did check my lithium battery just at Christmas its still fully charged from end Sept. wince all you like about the price of lithium batteries but they are magic things.