Older British bikes can run with a bad battery or without any battery at all. A bad battery in these bikes will result in poor idling, dim lights when the motor is off, and poor lighting at an idle.

O.K. Your at Bike Week, returning to your campsite on a dark country road, and your friend gets hit by a deer. The *#!%$! deer backs right into you friend, who is trying to avoid the deer (sounds familiar MM). It's nice to have a bright head to pick up the pieces and warn other vehicles.

A good battery should be maintained so that these problems can be avoided (O.K., maybe not the deer).

Battery Maintenance is important to the life of your battery. Maintenance commences when the battery is first filled and charged. A slow initial charge is recommended prior to placing the battery into service. Most manufactories recommend that the battery be charged at 10 percent of the battery's rated capacity for 3-5 hours during the initial charge. If a 1 or 2 amp charger is available use the table in the Battery Pagein Techique Pages for the initial charge times.

The use of a 1 Amp to 2 Amp battery charger will avoid overcharging.

The voltage reading of the battery should indicate 12.65 to 12.9 (for a 12 volt battery) after the charge. If it does not, additional charging at 25 per cent of the charge time may be required. If the battery is bubbling and gassing before the charge time has been complete, stop charging and let the battery cool down before continuing. Keep the battery acid level full (electrolyte level). If the acid level goes down, refill with distilled water (if available) or pure drinking-quality water.