Obituary

[Guest Nogbad]

The original Guzzi Spark 500 battery finally went west, departed this mortal coil, keeled over, went to meet its maker etc this morning after six sterling years service following a short illness.

 

Gerbingitis is suspected, although in a battery of such advanced age it is always hard to point the finger of blame. Deaths are always more common in winter too.

 

So, a cuboid vacancy has arisen under the seat of the Guzzi, and I wondered whether anyone had any recommendations as to make and type, and importantly, where to get one in the UK.

[grossohc]

I got my replacement battery (hawker odyssey pc545) from tayna.co.uk, delivered next day and already charged.

Gary

[Greg Field]

Odyssey PC-545. Sorry, but I have no idea where to get one in the UK.

[Admin Jaap]

I replaced it with a Yuasa YTZ12S (Note: the poles are the other way around!)

[Guzzirider]

Motorworks stock the PC545 too.

[Steve G.]

Odyssey PC-545. Sorry, but I have no idea where to get one in the UK.

 

Yup, this is the one, mine's 4 yrs old now, still strong as ever. The original dies after one year. I learned through this that these jell cell batteries absolutely must not be put on a trickle charger or battery tender. This reduces their life terribly. It says so right in the Odyssey direction package.

Ciao, Steve

[Guest Nigelstephens]

"jell cell batteries absolutely must not be put on a trickle charger or battery tender"

 

What are the alternatives. Get a new Odyssey and charge it on the bike.

I replaced my Gel battery with a Hawker Odyssey. No problems since.

[Guest Nogbad]

The ODD thing is that the Spark 500 battery has a sticker on it saying "Hawker Energy Products Warrensburg MO" hidden away on the down side and on the top it says "545A"

 

I am suspicious that my Spark 500 was made by Hawker for M-G and is to all intents and purposes the Odyssey or similar battery you mention. Not that I have any complaints, the Spark battery has lasted 6 years and until the short illness perhaps precipitated by commuting in heated gloves has always been strong and reliable.

 

I am risking charging it off the bike on a cheap car charger (only a crappy 4A one) and am keeping an eye on the battery with a voltmeter. Charging current has dropped over 4 hours from 1.6A down to 0.7A and the voltage has gradually risen to a smidge over 15V. The sticker says not to exceed 15V, but 15.12 is pretty close so I'm going to wait till the current gets down below half an amp for 15.5V or otherwise plateaus before stopping, and I shall then try to start the bike.

 

Charging update. The current rapidly fell to zero and the voltage went up to 15.8V. At this point I conclude the battery is full, (or at least one cell is full at any rate) so stopped. Maybe it is ok, maybe not. Will see whether charge is held, and will check alternator / reg output tomorrow.

[dlaing]

supersized http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/9716/spark545uz0.jpg

[Guest Nogbad]

I would say that's the same but they used different colour plastic.... So, if the Spark 500 originated in the same Hawker factory as the Odyssey, how come the mouldy reputation of the Guzzi version? Not that 6 years good service is mouldy from my point of view, it exceeds the Odyssey guideline for the application. If a new Odyssey does as well as the mouldy old black Spark 500, I will be well pleased.

[dlaing]

I suspect most of the spark 500s were rebadged Hawker Genesis G13EP batteries.

Your's unlike mine was marked PC545, so maybe it is a rebadged Hawker Odyssey PC545.

Here is a photo of the Genesis G13EP

http://www.gotbatteries.com/images/SLA/37L141S3.jpg

According to the product notes for the Genesis at www.gotbatteries.com

"For motorsports applications use the Odyssey battery. The Odyssey was designed for rugged vibration sensitive applications with thicker plates to prevent cracking and premature failure. The warranty on the Genesis doesn't cover motorsports installations. "

Also, FWIW the published specs on the Genesis G13EP more closely resemble the Spark 500. (I looked all three up a long time ago)

[Guest Nogbad]

I suspect most of the spark 500s were rebadged Hawker Genesis G13EP batteries.

Your's unlike mine was marked PC545, so maybe it is a rebadged Hawker Odyssey PC545.

Here is a photo of the Genesis G13EP

http://www.gotbatteries.com/images/SLA/37L141S3.jpg

According to the product notes for the Genesis at www.gotbatteries.com

"For motorsports applications use the Odyssey battery. The Odyssey was designed for rugged vibration sensitive applications with thicker plates to prevent cracking and premature failure. The warranty on the Genesis doesn't cover motorsports installations. "

Also, FWIW the published specs on the Genesis G13EP more closely resemble the Spark 500. (I looked all three up a long time ago)

 

I think you are right, its a Genesis. Mine is marked "545A" which may simply be a reference to the rated cranking current. Anyway, weaker or not, my Spark/Genesis has done ok.

 

The bike started this morning and the charging circuit appears to have perfect voltage control. 12.9V at idle with the headlight on, rising quickly to 14.4 V at 3000 rpm and remaining rock solid all the way up to the yellow line. My neighbours must really hate me now.

 

Will see if the battery loses charge again, I hadn't used the bike for a couple of months due to the very bad weather. It may be that the battery will last the summer.

 

Are there any non-Odyssey fitments? Westco make AGM bike batteries. Many of the other sites I have tried often come up with a Yuasa fitment for the V11, but when you open the illustration you can see the battery is a conventional wet cell that cannot be laid on its side, and the terminals look wrong. The Odyssey is the only one that looks "right".

[quazi-moto]

Another vote for the PC545.

[Ryland3210]

I think you are right, its a Genesis. Mine is marked "545A" which may simply be a reference to the rated cranking current. Anyway, weaker or not, my Spark/Genesis has done ok.

 

The bike started this morning and the charging circuit appears to have perfect voltage control. 12.9V at idle with the headlight on, rising quickly to 14.4 V at 3000 rpm and remaining rock solid all the way up to the yellow line. My neighbours must really hate me now.

 

Will see if the battery loses charge again, I hadn't used the bike for a couple of months due to the very bad weather. It may be that the battery will last the summer.

 

Are there any non-Odyssey fitments? Westco make AGM bike batteries. Many of the other sites I have tried often come up with a Yuasa fitment for the V11, but when you open the illustration you can see the battery is a conventional wet cell that cannot be laid on its side, and the terminals look wrong. The Odyssey is the only one that looks "right".

 

Yuasa makes a model with the correct polarity and dimensions for horizontal application. The factory prepared version from Bombardier is the only version they recommend for motocycles. I received a new one just last summer. It works fine, but seems to have a self discharge rate higher than what I would expect. See the thread on "do horizontal batteries always leak" for an overabundance of details. Odyssey makes a metal jacketed version as well. If I were to buy one and was concerned about the weight of the seat on the battery case (no problem in my case), I would go for the MJ version.

[Ballacraine]

Yup, this is the one, mine's 4 yrs old now, still strong as ever. The original dies after one year. I learned through this that these jell cell batteries absolutely must not be put on a trickle charger or battery tender. This reduces their life terribly. It says so right in the Odyssey direction package.

Ciao, Steve

 

So how are you supposed to maintain it during storage?

 

Nige.