My stepson left his Z1000 at our house while he is working in Bangkok. I've taken it out a few times and it is by far the best bike I've ever ridden.

 

We are going to be out of town for a month or so and I wanted to hook up my battery charger while we are gone. Now I have discovered that I am ignorant about charging current battery types. My Thai charger has a switch that has labels that translate to wet battery vs dry battery. Does anyone know what the charging difference might be between these settings?

 

So is the switch for lead acid vs gel/AGM or is it really for unsealed vs sealed? Is the charging requirement for a sealed lead acid battery the same as a gel/AGM battery? Do I assume correctly that a gel/AGM battery requires a lower charging voltage? Then the safe bet might be to set the switch to dry battery.

 

How do you tell if a battery is sealed lead acid or gel/AGM? I assume if I took it out and tilted it back and forth I could tell if liquid is sloshing around. However it occurs to me that the alternator on the bike may only support one type of battery. This is a 2012 model Z1000. Any help would be appreciated.

Why do you want to charge the battery?

I never charged the battery of a vehicle even if i didn't use it for several months, did never have a problem (Different bigger motorbikes in Germany over the winter, and my Honda PCX in Thailand when i was not in the country)

The battery should definitely survive a month without issues. Just make sure it's charged by riding it for a bit before you leave. If you want to leave it for a longer period, then check the model of the battery and look up its details that way.

Unfortunately there is a problem with the electrical system on the bike. The battery drains when it is left sitting too long but for some reason nobody can track down the problem. My guess is that the anti-theft system was not wired correctly.

 

He recently bought a new battery so I was trying to protect his investment. Probably would have been easier to just disconnect the battery.

On 6/7/2018 at 2:42 AM, grin said:

Unfortunately there is a problem with the electrical system on the bike. The battery drains when it is left sitting too long but for some reason nobody can track down the problem. My guess is that the anti-theft system was not wired correctly.

 

He recently bought a new battery so I was trying to protect his investment. Probably would have been easier to just disconnect the battery.

Buy a tender