It is very dangerous riding a motorcycle with a low or faulty battery at night. The motorcycle battery is a savior, especially during tight traffic. A good battery keeps you safe by illuminating your way as well as driving indicator lights.
It is advisable to change the motorcycle battery immediately after realizing the fault from the old one. Poor battery performance is due to the way it was handled the first time you bought it. The first time wrong or procedural installation may be a big mess for the rest of your motorcycle battery life.
I would advise you not to get your motorcycle on the road if you suspect any battery fault. I realized that when I almost caused an accident and was charged a fine by the traffic police. So I am writing this article because I really felt real the pinch.
However, if you are aspiring to buy a new battery for your motorcycle, I am advising you that if you don’t do a proper installation, you will have moved no step from your previous situation.
Changing the battery for the first time requires you to be patient and look for any helpful and relevant information from experts online and you will not regret having wasted your dollars.
This article will help you with detailed and helpful information on correct first-time battery charging tips that will keep your battery powered for a long time.
The following instructions apply to all batteries. So no matter the type of battery you buy the procedures remain the same.
Related Read: How to Find an Electrical Short on a Motorcycle
Table of Contents
Safety Precautions
First and foremost before you start working on anything, you must read the cautions and adhere to the given instructions. Remember you are dealing with acid that can harm your skin. Ensure that you wear hand gloves and protective glasses to ensure the protection of your eyes and hands from direct conduct with acid.
Battery acid is harmful when it gets in contact with the human skin or any other part of the body. Ensure that you are working in an open space or a well-ventilated working area. Gases that emanate from the battery when charging and discharging are very harmful and highly flammable.
Unboxing the Battery
Inside the box, you will find a battery and its accessories. These are; terminal knots, a vent hose, and the acid pack. Inside the acid pack, you will find that there are two sizes of hoses. The longer one is used as a vent hose and the shorter it will be used to fill the battery.
You can realize that the acid pack has both the spout and the closed cap on the other side. The cap was used by the manufacturer to fill the pack, so you don’t need to touch this, but use the spout for filling the battery with acid.
Filling the Battery
The first thing you do before filling the battery is to ensure that the battery filling caps are removed. Some battery cap models have threads and you need to twist out, while others you can just pull out.
After removing the caps, cut off the end of the acid pack spout and slide the short hose into place to fill the battery. Move the hose to the cell opening and fill the battery by squeezing the acid to squirt out the acid to fill the cell. Fill the battery with the acid until its upper-level line then move to the next one.
After a while, you will realize that the levels drop in each cell because of the fact that the air bubbles are being released. Now repeat the same procedure by making sure that the cells are filled till the second level.
Remove The Bubble and Close The Battery Caps
Tap the battery to remove any air bubbles left, and check if all levels are correct before you close the caps. If you have to screw the caps into place, ensure that you use your free hand to avoid overstressing them with other tools such as screwdrivers.
After you are done with charging, ensure that you clean up any acid spills using soda, baking powder, or any other acid neutralizer.
Charge The Battery for The First Time
First-time battery charging is very important to any battery life. If the first charging cannot reach 100%, it is sure that the battery will never charge until it is full again for the rest of its life.
This is a proven truth for all batteries that accepts lithium batteries. to correctly charge a motorcycle battery, they are a few other key signs you need to take into consideration.
- Use a low amperage charger to charge a motorcycle battery. Do not use a car battery; hence you will damage the battery.
- Check out the amperage ratings your battery is supposed to be charged at. Remember to divide Ah rating by 10 i.e. when you have 10 Ah batteries then it means it should be charged at 1.4 Amps. Some motorcycle batteries are very small such that they should never be charged with any charger delivering more than 3 Amps and above. So this must be charged strictly with specific chargers.
- Ensure that you have a battery tender in order to charge your battery. The battery tender is not much expensive and it is readily available in most auto-part shops, just if you don’t have one. Connect a battery tender to the battery and wait until the light goes on. This is an indication that the battery is charging.
- Take your time to monitor the battery while charging, to ensure that it does not overheat. If it is overheating, take off the crocodile clips from the battery terminals and wait until it cools down.
- When it is cool, connect the battery terminals with crocodile clips from the charging tender once more to continue charging. Keep charging the battery until the battery tender indicates that it is fully charged. Take off the crocodile clips from the battery terminals. Do not allow the battery to overcharge since overcharging spoils the battery performance too.
