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Must I charge my battery on a new LC?

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14 April 2015 - 5:39pm
Craig Broadfoot
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Joined: 2014/07/17

All this talk of charging batteries etc.........

am I supposed to charge the battery of my GS1200 LC or does the bike charge it as a car would?

if I must charge, how often and what charger do I get, and from where and does it come with REALLY easy to understand operating instructions?

 

i don't have a flat battery, but I am joining Geoff to Lesotho so just checking the do' sand donts for the LC battery.

next question will be on how to strip the motor down with a toothpick and elastic band and rebuild it with more horsepower and lower fuel consumption, all while sitting in the swimming pool :-)

thanks

Craig Broadfoot

 

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14 April 2015 - 6:02pm
#1
Tony
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Joined: 2008/08/24

the battery question is rather complex and would require a few hours to explain all the options.

The 2nd query however is fairly straight forward and easily doable Tongue Out.

OK, somewhat more seriously.

If your bike does not spend weeks/months parked in the garage, the battery should require no maintenance or charging from an external source.

Some guys do use a "smart charger" (e.g. Optimate, etc) to "condition" the battery from time to time.

In my experience, batteries often fail suddenly (without warning) and usually at the most inopportune time. This is why Geoff take a selection of spares (including a battery) along on his longer tours.

A bend in the road is not the end of the road... unless you fail to make the turn. ~Author Unknown

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20 April 2015 - 3:26pm
#2
hensonic
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Joined: 2013/03/22

Hi there,

I've had the LC for almost a year now.

If you leave a cellphone charger plugged in (even without a cellphone attached) it will drain the battery overnight. Three times I have mistakedly done this and the next morning the bike was dead. It has a handlebar bag with a 12V socket extension inside. Other than that I've never had battery issues.

 

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