Battery Tech - Battery selection - Sealed batteries - Charging
Battery selection
"My battery is dead and I need a new one. Which one should I buy for my BMW?"
First off, here are the current stock BMW batteries:
- 61 21 8 531 108 7AH AGM for S1000, C650, G310. Deka ETX9
- 61 21 7 726 563 10AH S1000RR/HP4, G310, G650x.
- 61 21 7 708 614 11AH AGM for HP2, S1000RR, '08-on R12GS-Adv. Yuasa YTZ14S, TTZ14S
- 61 21 7 729 049 12AH flooded battery for F650 and G650GS singles, like YB12AL-A2.
- 61 21 8 394 179 12AH AGM for most K2x, K4x, K5x, and K7x (used to be Yuasa YTX14).
- 61 21 8 531 121 14AH AGM for R1200RTW and K1600 '17-on, like Yuasa YTX16
- 61 21 2 346 800 19AH gel battery for all shaft-drive bikes up to 2005, plus R1200RT, K12/13GT, and K1600 pre-'17.
61 21 0 403 224NLA 19AH flooded battery for ABS2 K11/R1100S, K1200, Oilheads, and small-tray Airheads. Superseded by 19AH gel.61 21 1 459 650NLA 25AH flooded for non-ABS or ABS1 K75/100/1100 and all large-tray Airheads. Use 19AH instead.61 21 2 306 758NLA 14AH flooded battery for non-ABS R1100S and R1150GS. Use 19AH and update tray.
Sizes
Most pre-2005 models have battery trays that hold batteries with one of three footprints:
- 25AH tray, 185x128mm footprint. It's found on the long-wheelbase Airheads and most K-bikes up through the K1100. On the later models the tray is designed to also hold the smaller footprint battery. Modern technology has made batteries this large obsolete for motorcycle use and BMW no longer sells one.
- 19AH tray, 185x83mm footprinnt. Short wheelbase Airheads, K11 with ABS2, R1100/1150/1200C, K1200 brick and R1200RT. BMW sells the gray gel battery for this.
- F650 tray, designed for the YB12 footprint.
Many different batteries were introduced starting with the R1200GS and subsequent models (F800, K12/13/16, C-scooters, S1000, etc.).
14AH tray, 149x86mm footprint. Used in most models from the R1200GS onward (R1200R, K12/13, F650/700/800 twins, but not the R1200RT).
11AH tray (same footprint as 14AH, but shorter): HP2, R1200GS LC, GS Adventure 2008-on.
Not recommended:
U-1 garden tractor battery in place of the 25AH battery. These may or may not fit well, and the vapors might corrode your seat pan. These are very cheap batteries and are not designed to withstand vibration as well as the others, but sometimes people can get many years of service out of them. Within the same overall case size, the internals can vary from 120CCA to 280CCA, so be careful what you buy. Not recommended!
Do not believe the old literature that says you should use the YB18 in place of the 19AH battery! Even Yuasa has dropped this ill-fitting battery from their latest recommendations. It can be made to fit in some cases, but it will never fit well.
Battery dimensions
Green footprint is the traditional 17~19AH size used from 1970 onward. Blue footprint is used on many newer models but the heights vary.
| Battery | Height | Length | Width | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O E M |
BMW 25AH wet | 170 | 185 | 128 | Large tray, same as 19AH but wider |
| BMW 19AH gel | 173 | 185 | 81 | Slightly taller than flooded | |
| BMW 19AH flooded | 170 | 185 | 81 | ||
| BMW 14AH wet | ? | 181 | 78 | NLA, R11 non-ABS | |
| BMW 14AH sealed | 161 | 150 | 87 | R1200RTW | |
| Yuasa YTZ14S | 110 | 150 | 87 | ||
| BMW 12AH sealed | 149 | 143 | 86 | Gray case (was YTX14-BS) | |
| A F T E R M A R K E T |
Yuasa Y60-N24AL-B | 175 | 184 | 124 | Large tray (discontinued) |
| Yuasa 53030 | 171 | 186 | 130 | Large tray | |
| Yuasa YT19BL-BS | 170 | 185 | 81 | Made just for BMW | |
| Panasonic 1220 | 169 | 183 | 78 | Sealed | |
| Yuasa 51913 | 171 | 186 | 82 | Small tray | |
| Odyssey PC-680 | 168 | 184 | 79 | Replaces 19AH sizes | |
| Yuasa YB12AL-A | 160 | 134 | 80 | ||
| Yuasa YB18A-LA | 6.4" | 7.1" * | 3.55" | Too wide for some small trays | |
| Yuasa YTX14-BS | 145 | 150 | 87 | Replaces gray 12AH | |
| Yuasa YTX16-BS | 161 | 150 | 87 | Same as stock for RTW | |
| Yuasa GYZ16H | 145 | 150 | 87 | ||
| Odyssey PC-545 | 132 | 118 | 86 | Wider than the PC-680 | |
*Plus end vent.
Type
There are two main flavors of lead-acid batteries: flooded and sealed.
Flooded (which has free liquid electrolyte, like the OEM batteries) can be standard or low-maintenance.
- Standard: plates, separators, acid. Just like the Mareg batteries, they slowly electrolyze water which has to be replenished.
- LM: usually made from a lead-calcium alloy (instead of lead-antimony) they electrolyze far less water and rarely need maintenance. Some designs have sealed vents so that you can't add water at all (these are basically maintenance-free).
Sealed (should not be opened, ever) are also in two flavors, AGM (absorptive glass mat) and gel.
- AGM: typical sealed batteries like Yuasa's YTX series, and (I think) Westco, Panasonic, Black Panther, etc. The electrolyte is only enough to soak the plates and separators (which are like thick paper) with none left to slosh around. The battery operates under slight pressure on recharge and all sorts of fun chemical things happen to reduce the amount of electrolyzed water. Ideally, none is lost but in real life there is some loss, especially at the beginning.
- Gel: occasionally (but rarely) use AGM separators. The electrolyte is a gel (like hair gel) and is thus immobilized in the battery so it can't spill. The same wacky sealed chemistry applies.
How sealed batteries work
Sealed batteries don't have loose, liquid electrolyte (acid) in them; instead, it's absorbed in a thick fiberglass mat and is thus immobilized. This mat looks like fluffy cardboard when it's not in a battery.
The good: there is nothing to spill when the battery tips over, and very little to spill if it cracks.
The bad: with the immobilized acid, the only ion movement is by diffusion. So you can get stratification which leaves part of the plate in a weak acid solution and part in a strong solution. Ideally, all areas would have the same concentration so the entire plate can work for you. Also, cold performance is theoretically worse because of the slow replenishment of ions at the plate surface (they get 'used up' and need to be replaced). IIRC I could start the K75 down to about 5°F with the flooded battery but the sealed one was only good to about 10 or 15.
Due to the chemistry involved, sealed batteries usually have an open-circuit voltage of 13.1 to 13.2 volts, which is probably why they are so famous for eliminating ABS faults (by keeping the voltage higher during cranking). Flooded batteries are usually designed to have a voltage of about 12.6 to 12.8. You can get a flooded battery to maintain a higher voltage but it's not really good for it and performance suffers. With higher voltages, the charging force (difference between the resting voltage and the applied voltage) is smaller and you can get into situations where the battery might not get fully charged. This is kind of complicated but the uncharged portion becomes permanently unusable over time.
- big snip of outdated material -
So in summary, sealed batteries are great for what they do - or don't do. The don't leak, which is handy for a bike that might be upside down on short notice. They don't need watering (really, the BMW batteries hardly do either) and they'll keep your ABS faults at bay for a while, especially if you keep the bike on a tender. But the Westco specifically doesn't last very well, and Panasonic has openly stated that they're not recommended for vehicle use.
Sealed batteries are a good idea on the Oilheads, due to the location. The battery is difficult to access and check the electrolyte level on, and on the left side (where the vent tube is on a flooded battery) the main wiring harness runs just under the battery tray. I see a LOT of damage to the wiring harness here, from leaks in the vent hose or vent hoses which have been disconnected. I've even seen cracks in the fuel pipe there from acid leakage, which is a fairly expensive repair.
