How Many Volts Does A Motorcycle Battery Charge With?
Don’t you want a healthy and long battery life for your motorcycle? You do right! To have a healthy and long battery life, it is important to understand the fundamentals of charging your motorcycle.
Almost all the motorcycles have a battery. It is used to provide the power to start the bike. It also used for diminishing electrical energy.
Keeping your motorcycle battery discharged for a long period can cause untimely battery death. Do you charge your motorcycle battery after using it? If you don’t charge it, start charging because it can lead to early battery death.
There are various types of motorcycle batteries with different charging states and conditions. And so are the charging ways. Here in this article, we will be telling you how many volts your motorcycle battery charges with:
Fundamental Battery Operation
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Most of the motorcycle batteries are the conventional ‘lead-acid’ batteries. These batteries can be either of 6 volts or 12 volts. If the batteries are in good condition, then the actual value of voltages isn’t these values.
When the battery is charged fully, and it’s at peak, the terminal voltage of each cell is 2.1V. These cells are connected in series combination to provide required voltage.
A 6V battery consists of three cells which will give total terminal voltage 3 * 2.1V = 6.3V. Likewise, a 12V battery is made up of six cells having a terminal voltage of 2.1V, which will give a total terminal voltage of 12.6V.
A 12V battery gives energy ranging from 10.5V when connected to load with dimmed lights to 14V when charged fully. There will be voltage fluctuations as per the charging or discharging states the battery has undergone.
This depends on electrical loads. They lower the voltages temporarily. The usual operating voltage is reduced by the buffering charge.
Charge Status
You can determine the charge status of a battery simply by measuring the terminal voltages. This is the way how ‘intelligent-chargers’ works. They constantly measure the voltage, and once the required voltage level is reached, it stops charging.
Here in the below table, we will tell you about the approx value of voltages we get for different charge statuses. Here we have a comparison of a lead-acid battery, a 12V battery, and a 6V battery.
The voltages measured here are the ‘open-circuit voltages’ with no electrical load connected to it. The readings taken here are with the every light off, and bike’s engine is in a stop state. This table will give you the idea about volts for charging motorcycle battery:
Charge Status of a battery | Charge Status of a battery Lead-acid battery cell(2.1V) | 6V Nominal battery(2.1 * 3 cells) | 12V Nominal battery(2.1 * 6 cells) |
|---|---|---|---|
Recently Charged* | 2.13V | 6.40V | 12.80V |
100% | 2.10V | 6.30V | 12.60V |
75% | 2.06V | 6.18V | 12.35V |
50% | 2.01V | 6.03V | 12.06V |
25% | 1.95V | 5.85V | 11.7V |
Fully Discharged | 1.75V | 5.25V | 10.5V |
*Initially after the battery is fully charged, the voltage of a battery will be a bit higher and after few hours it will be settled down to 100%.
Charging Voltage
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It is important to take the battery voltage into consideration when you get to maintain condition and chemistry of the conventional acid-lead cells. For different charging modes, there are different voltage ranges. The table below shows different charging voltage range for 2.1V, 6V and 12V batteries:
Charging Status of Battery | Lead-acid Battery Cell(2.1V) | 6V Nominal Battery(2.1 * 3 cells) | 12V Nominal battery(2.1 * 6 cells) |
|---|---|---|---|
Minimum Voltage required for charging | 2.15V | 6.45V | 12.90V |
Trickle Charging | 2.25 – 2.27V | 6.75 – 6.81V | 13.50 – 13.62V |
Normal Charging | 2.30 – 2.35V | 6.90 – 7.05V | 13.80 -14.10V |
Faster Charging | 2.40 – 2.45V | 7.20 – 7.35V | 14.40 – 14.70V |
We will not recommend you the faster charging option if you charge your bike on a daily basis. Because if you opt for the faster charging option, you need to take great care as it turns into gassing. So as to provide you with the proper battery chemistry, some of the ‘intelligent-chargers’ are used.
Most of the battery chargers and classic bikes with onboard charging phenomena use normal charging voltage range to charge the battery. The least voltage value required for the lead-acid cell is 2.15V.
Lower charging voltage values are useful in trickle charging mode. When you aren't using the battery for a long period, keep it topped up by connecting it to proper mains charger. This is how you can keep your battery ready to use.
Go for the Replacement Battery
There are various kinds of batteries available in the market. It’s tough to get the perfect battery for your motorcycle, but we hope the information shared here helps.
Motorcycle batteries range from the conventional ‘lead-acid’ cell to sealed cells and latest Maintenance-free VRLA (Valve Regulate Lead-Acid) batteries; for instance AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) and the gel batteries.
Here I have listed some of the best motorcycle batteries that you can choose for your motorcycle. They are as follows:
- EarthX ETX680C Eco-Friendly Lithium Motorcycle Battery
- Antigravity Batteries 24–Cell OEM Case
- BMW Motorcycles Gel Battery 12volt
- MX30L Motorcycle Battery
- YUASA YTX14-BS Maintenance Free Battery
- ThrottleX Batteries – HDX30L – Harley Davidson Replacement Motorcycle Battery
- Odyssey PC680-P Battery
- Shorai LFX14A4-BS12 Lithium Battery
- Ballistic Performance EVO3 12V Battery 8 Cell For Motorcycles
- 12V 200Ah 4D SLA Relpacement SB 4D AGM ‘12V’ 200Ah Power Sport Battery
The manufacturers claim that the motorcycle battery lasts for 48 months. We consider ourselves lucky if it lasts for half of the time that the manufacturers claim. To prevent your motorcycle battery from an untimely death, select the best motorcycle batteries from mentioned above.
Ways to Maintain Your Motorcycle Battery
- Keep the terminals clean.
- Inspect your battery now and then.
- Check the terminals every month to ensure the connections aren’t loose.
- Check the battery leaks.
- If you are using regular motorcycle battery, use distilled water to keep it topped up.
- Wash your motorcycle
- Keep the battery charged.
Very much informed about your motorcycle battery than ever before, right? I hope this article helped in choosing right battery and keeping it from dying earlier. If you have any query regarding this, please let us know by commenting below.
