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The Honda CA95 / Benly 150 Restoration The little brother to the CA160 in our family of Hondas

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  #1  
Unread 10-20-2013, 03:00 PM
twinx1649 twinx1649 is offline
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It's that time of year here in Michigan, and I thought I'd share a tip for winter storage. I always use a bag with desiccant to enclose my bikes for the winter and leave the battery plugged in to a battery tender. The problem has been that I generally lose a fair amount of acid (below the fill line) from the battery when the bikes sits over time. I'm going to try using a timer in conjunction with the Tender to minimize the acid from being cooked out of the battery. Hopefully, an hour a day charge time will keep the battery in good shape without overcharging it. I'm aware that the Tenders are never supposed to over-charge batteries but experience tells a different story.
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Unread 10-20-2013, 03:34 PM
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Larzfromarz Larzfromarz is offline
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I have a question for you TwinX- You say you "bag" your bikes, and if I'm correct I understand you are basically enclosing the entire bike in a protective plastic cocoon. It's a great idea for preservation and I really like the concept. If this IS the case, I'd rather see you pull the battery for the time period. If the battery is out gassing acid vapor I'd be afraid of creating more damage, possibly spread across the entire contained bike, by the vapor. This is just conjecture on my part since we don't do such things in the south. Which Tender are you using and what does the manufacturer have to say regarding the electrolyte loss? Curious minds want to know.
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Unread 10-20-2013, 04:43 PM
Spokes Spokes is offline
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I have endured winters in Northern Ohio, Southeastern Michigan and Eden Prairie, Minnesota. I struggle with covering anything in plastic in cold regions. I have a bike cover that breaths and it was my preference. I also sprayed down everything with WD-40. As for the batteries, I always pulled the battery and set it in the shop. Frankly I'm not a fan of the battery tender. You can get 6V chargers with a storage charge feature for much less.

Although I have to report with some astonishment, living in Southeastern Georgia for the past two years, that rust is a concern in the summer.

Covering anything down here is bad news for metal and good news for really large bugs...
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Unread 10-21-2013, 12:33 PM
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ByTheLake ByTheLake is offline
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Jim,

I'm also in Michigan (I work with your wife at GM). I've used 6-volt Battery Tenders for my pair of little Hondas (CA95 and C102 Cub) with no issues. I have noticed a slight loss of fluid in the batteries each Spring - maybe 5mm, but I just top them off with distilled water and all is well. Not sure why my 6-volt bikes seem to lose water faster than their 12-volt stablemates, but it's what I've experienced.

Since I tend to ride during the Winter if the temps are above 35 and the pavement is clear, my bikes don't get overly-Winterized. I'll put a few hundred miles each Winter on my CB175, so it gets 5W-30 oil for the colder temps. Unlike Spokes, I have Tenders on everything - 5 for the bikes, one for the tractor, and another for the pontoon boat battery.

Kevin

Last edited by ByTheLake; 10-21-2013 at 12:38 PM.
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  #5  
Unread 10-21-2013, 05:13 PM
twinx1649 twinx1649 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Larzfromarz View Post
I have a question for you TwinX- You say you "bag" your bikes, and if I'm correct I understand you are basically enclosing the entire bike in a protective plastic cocoon. It's a great idea for preservation and I really like the concept. If this IS the case, I'd rather see you pull the battery for the time period. If the battery is out gassing acid vapor I'd be afraid of creating more damage, possibly spread across the entire contained bike, by the vapor. This is just conjecture on my part since we don't do such things in the south. Which Tender are you using and what does the manufacturer have to say regarding the electrolyte loss? Curious minds want to know.
The problem with pulling batteries is I have a stable of collector cars and bikes which makes it time prohibitive. That said, in the past 20+ years I've never had an acid off-gas related problem, i.e. corrosion. I have had a 3 year old battery in an Excelsior Henderson over charge and dump acid because of a faulty Tender, which is why I'm advocating a timer as well. The only other problems I've had was related to the Tender not charging the battery at all and still showing a charged state. I've replaced most of my chargers with the Yuasa Smart Shot because it has capability of up to 16 volts for recovery of sulfated batteries; the junior chargers don't. Additionally, they are 6 and 12 volt chargers which helps me out since I have a need for both.

Regarding a storage bag with 10 lbs. of desiccant, IMHO there is no better way to protect a vehicle from moisture. During the spring and fall up here in the North, the rapid temperature changes in the morning allow moisture to condense on the cold metal surfaces causing oxidation. The desiccant absorbs almost all that moisture and slows the aging/oxidation process considerably. As an extra benefit, there is no rust forming on the cylinder walls either. I'm happy to say my vehicles look as good now as the day they were restored many years ago.

Last edited by twinx1649; 10-21-2013 at 05:16 PM.
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Unread 10-21-2013, 05:36 PM
twinx1649 twinx1649 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ByTheLake View Post
Jim,

I'm also in Michigan (I work with your wife at GM). I've used 6-volt Battery Tenders for my pair of little Hondas (CA95 and C102 Cub) with no issues. I have noticed a slight loss of fluid in the batteries each Spring - maybe 5mm, but I just top them off with distilled water and all is well. Not sure why my 6-volt bikes seem to lose water faster than their 12-volt stablemates, but it's what I've experienced.

Since I tend to ride during the Winter if the temps are above 35 and the pavement is clear, my bikes don't get overly-Winterized. I'll put a few hundred miles each Winter on my CB175, so it gets 5W-30 oil for the colder temps. Unlike Spokes, I have Tenders on everything - 5 for the bikes, one for the tractor, and another for the pontoon boat battery.

Kevin
Hi Kevin,

I asked the Yuasa technical service person, Alan, why the acid was evaporating and he told me this is a phenomenon related to 6 volt battery's vs. 12 volt. He also told me a number of things that added up to: The smaller the battery (physical size), the greater the potential for evaporation because of the charging rate of the charger (one size fits all). At this point in the conversation he discussed a timer as a solution, and that others had used them with success.

Jim
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  #7  
Unread 10-23-2013, 02:14 PM
Sam Green Sam Green is offline
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I use a battery tender to keep my batteries in tip top shape. The fact that my bikes have not been run for some time makes me wonder if it would have been cheaper to buy new batteries instead of charging them.
However, I only hook them up to charge once a week for 5 to 15 minutes then let them condition for about an hour. This seems to work in the UK but I've just remembered something....Oh SH1T..

Sam.
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  #8  
Unread 10-23-2013, 02:33 PM
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ByTheLake ByTheLake is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam Green View Post
I use a battery tender to keep my batteries in tip top shape. The fact that my bikes have not been run for some time makes me wonder if it would have been cheaper to buy new batteries instead of charging them.
However, I only hook them up to charge once a week for 5 to 15 minutes then let them condition for about an hour. This seems to work in the UK but I've just remembered something....Oh SH1T..

Sam.
You didn't hire a motorbike-sitter while you are travelling to the colonies?
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Unread 10-23-2013, 03:46 PM
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Larzfromarz Larzfromarz is offline
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Naw, Sam "James Bond" Green has folks at MI5 or 6 do it for him. Apparently he has become quite popular here in the south with the King's English and all...
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Unread 10-23-2013, 04:15 PM
Sam Green Sam Green is offline
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That was so funny Larry.

BTL is correct, forgot the battery sitter.

Sam.
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  #11  
Unread 10-28-2013, 05:03 AM
kartgreen kartgreen is offline
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I've also noticed the loss of level in my 6 volt batteries while using my Battery Tenders especially the Jr. model . My 12 volt tenders don't have this problem . I did recently remove the 6 volt batteries from my bikes and have them in my home shop so I can charge them every so often .
My Benly's are kept in an enclosed trailer and I store the trailer in an unheated warehouse for the winter but I do have a small space heater set at 55 degrees to help eliminate moisture changes in the trailer . That's worked well the past several years . I also drain the fuel from the tanks , so I do have some work in the spring to get the herd of Benly's up and running again . I may spend an hour or so between the mechanicals and a little polishing for each bike but once their given the once over their generally good for the summer .
Our local BMW bike dealer has the plastic bike bags for around $30.00 and I've thought of that as well but haven't needed them so far .
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