How much can a bike battery take?
Discussion
I currently have aftermarket heated grips, e-scottoiler, gipro and a sat nav all hard-wired into the bike (2015 Z1000sx). Thinking of adding a phone mount/charger from ultimateaddons too.
Is the battery likely to spit feathers as a result or will it be unphased by the extra load? Had zero battery issues so far but I'm not an expert so don't know if I'm close to the threshold or not.
The battery is an upgrade from standard - can't remember exactly what it is (will have a look this evening if required). It is on an optimizer the majority of the time.
Any advice or tips greatly appreciated.
Is the battery likely to spit feathers as a result or will it be unphased by the extra load? Had zero battery issues so far but I'm not an expert so don't know if I'm close to the threshold or not.
The battery is an upgrade from standard - can't remember exactly what it is (will have a look this evening if required). It is on an optimizer the majority of the time.
Any advice or tips greatly appreciated.
It should be in your bike's manual/hand book.
Subtract to total load, i.e. the number of watts drawn by all the accessories you want to use, plus the power (number of watts) used by the bikes ignition system etc, from the alternator output. If you are left with a positive number you should be OK, but if it's negative then you will drain the battery.
Subtract to total load, i.e. the number of watts drawn by all the accessories you want to use, plus the power (number of watts) used by the bikes ignition system etc, from the alternator output. If you are left with a positive number you should be OK, but if it's negative then you will drain the battery.
ianrb said:
It should be in your bike's manual/hand book.
Subtract to total load, i.e. the number of watts drawn by all the accessories you want to use, plus the power (number of watts) used by the bikes ignition system etc, from the alternator output. If you are left with a positive number you should be OK, but if it's negative then you will drain the battery.
Excellent - thankyou very much for this! Will get the calculator out tonight Subtract to total load, i.e. the number of watts drawn by all the accessories you want to use, plus the power (number of watts) used by the bikes ignition system etc, from the alternator output. If you are left with a positive number you should be OK, but if it's negative then you will drain the battery.
The only thing on there that draws any meaningful current are the heated grips, and that will be absolutely fine on your bike.
You only need really to start worrying about all this when you (and maybe your pillion) are wearing heated jackets, with heated gloves and a set of aftermarket lights.
II've a 2017 R1 and it's got heated grips - I *think* I should be ok with a heated waistcoat too.
This is useful (if it has your bike model in there)
http://www.powerlet.com/shop-by-vehicle/yamaha/201...
You only need really to start worrying about all this when you (and maybe your pillion) are wearing heated jackets, with heated gloves and a set of aftermarket lights.
II've a 2017 R1 and it's got heated grips - I *think* I should be ok with a heated waistcoat too.
This is useful (if it has your bike model in there)
http://www.powerlet.com/shop-by-vehicle/yamaha/201...
Fort Jefferson said:
Don't forget if you fit a USB charge point, it will drain your battery even when you're not using it. You need to put an inline switch, or connect it to a supply that go's off with the ignition.
Or better still fit a relay so you aren't bazzing several amps through a tiny thin wire that is meant for an LED tail light. Some of the clueless bodgery I see in relation to bike accessories amazes me.Dog Star said:
Or better still fit a relay so you aren't bazzing several amps through a tiny thin wire that is meant for an LED tail light. Some of the clueless bodgery I see in relation to bike accessories amazes me.
This is something I'm interested in doing but haven't got a clue where to start. Any links to tips for fitting a relay?I bought the bike with all the above pre-installed by the previous owner, I fitted a trickle charger cable (just) and saw that the battery already seemed a bit clogged with the amount of wires attached to the terminals.
This is quite a good explanation: http://www.r1200gs.info/howto/relay.html
You might already have one fitted, depending how the other accessories have been done. I'd start first by taking a look how it's all wired in - personally I'd split it into two circuits: 1) heated grips, 2) everything else
Things like sat-nav/phones don't use much power (a couple of amps) so a 20A relay wired in separately gives you quite a bit of capacity to play with.
The GIPro and the Scottoiler will use microscopic amounts of power, I'd be shocked if they took 0.5A combined tbh.
You might already have one fitted, depending how the other accessories have been done. I'd start first by taking a look how it's all wired in - personally I'd split it into two circuits: 1) heated grips, 2) everything else
Things like sat-nav/phones don't use much power (a couple of amps) so a 20A relay wired in separately gives you quite a bit of capacity to play with.
The GIPro and the Scottoiler will use microscopic amounts of power, I'd be shocked if they took 0.5A combined tbh.
Edited by Krikkit on Wednesday 28th February 14:10
Fort Jefferson said:
Don't forget if you fit a USB charge point, it will drain your battery even when you're not using it. You need to put an inline switch, or connect it to a supply that go's off with the ignition.
Why is that? I've just bought one that I plan to wire direct to the battery (via inline fuse).CaptainSlow said:
Fort Jefferson said:
Don't forget if you fit a USB charge point, it will drain your battery even when you're not using it. You need to put an inline switch, or connect it to a supply that go's off with the ignition.
Why is that? I've just bought one that I plan to wire direct to the battery (via inline fuse).If you are using the bike daily it may not be not too much of a problem, provided you don't leave your sat nav etc. plugged in. If you leave the bike for a couple of weeks then you are quite likely to come back to a dead battery.
Mr2Mike said:
CaptainSlow said:
Fort Jefferson said:
Don't forget if you fit a USB charge point, it will drain your battery even when you're not using it. You need to put an inline switch, or connect it to a supply that go's off with the ignition.
Why is that? I've just bought one that I plan to wire direct to the battery (via inline fuse).If you are using the bike daily it may not be not too much of a problem, provided you don't leave your sat nav etc. plugged in. If you leave the bike for a couple of weeks then you are quite likely to come back to a dead battery.
Managed to get a picture of under the seat - battery is in good health according to trickle charger, definitely aftermarket.
The black wire (negative) and the black wire with the red crimp (positive) is my input (the trickle charger).
The red wire off the positive appears to go to an inline fuse. There's a jumble of red/black cabling thats been bundled up and cable tied together, that's what is coming off the negative with the red crimp. Could this be a relay as mentioned in previous posts? Reason being that there simply aren't enough wires direct from the battery for all the accessories!
I think all the accessories were fitted by the dealer before the original owner even picked it up from the dealership.
One cable that I can't figure out - at the back of the seat (top of the image) there's a bundle of black cable with one end looking like a USB, any ideas?
The black wire (negative) and the black wire with the red crimp (positive) is my input (the trickle charger).
The red wire off the positive appears to go to an inline fuse. There's a jumble of red/black cabling thats been bundled up and cable tied together, that's what is coming off the negative with the red crimp. Could this be a relay as mentioned in previous posts? Reason being that there simply aren't enough wires direct from the battery for all the accessories!
I think all the accessories were fitted by the dealer before the original owner even picked it up from the dealership.
One cable that I can't figure out - at the back of the seat (top of the image) there's a bundle of black cable with one end looking like a USB, any ideas?
bilhound said:
Managed to get a picture of under the seat - battery is in good health according to trickle charger, definitely aftermarket.
I hope you're using a Lithium Ion compatible trickle charger... As I think that's what you've got in there (unless Shido also do lead acid batteries?)bilhound said:
One cable that I can't figure out - at the back of the seat (top of the image) there's a bundle of black cable with one end looking like a USB, any ideas?
That'll be a USB charger (for your phone, sat nav, etc), then 
ccr32 said:
That'll be a USB charger (for your phone, sat nav, etc), then
Yup - so it is. Plugged it into phone, ignition on - phone lights up! Just need to find a way to route a cable up to the front and a suitable dock for the phone.That solves this mystery then. Wound up with the cable is a 3.5mm headphone jack - will do some more investigative works with that this evening.
Cheers all!
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