It was definitely the battery specified for the bike and certainly not a leisure battery. it was also brand new so I doubt that it was faulty. It also had all the typical symptoms of overgharging. It had overheated, the casings were swelled and the lid had been forced off. Obviously pressure has built up inside due to the gas recombinant chemistry being unable to cope with the rate of gassing in the battery.
Why are you not wanting to use an Oddysey? You never mentioned you had one up to now. The Westco range will give no benefits.Or did you have one of those ginormous Oddyseys?
Did you check the charging voltage you were getting on full charge with a decent voltmeter on the battery terminals? That’s the only way to be certain that all was correct.Also a new battery can be faulty, the vent may have been blocked, which would cause the expansion issue.
Something like these
\
I have an AGM on the 76 V1000 been on for over 2 yrs no probs with the Bosch charging systam and the battery on the V11 Le Mans is a Guzzi agm one been there since 2005 the charging system is the Ducati type one, I have had to replace the reg/rectifier on that system… but no probs with the battery.
\
Sometimes new batteries are faulty DO NOT assume a new battery is good.
I had to replace a brand new one on the V1000 within days some years ago, a lead acid one died. Also had 2 rubbish Exide Batteries many years ago on a car, in the end the garage swapped it for a more expensive one at no extra cost to me , thay had got a bad batch and sent something like 10-15 batteries back to the manufacturer.guzzibear2013-01-02 11:17:10
I stick to standard lead acid batteries Exide and Yuasa are not too expensive and they act as a giant capacitor to remove excessive current from the charging system
newer sealed batteries require constant voltage chargers that limit the current to them
my local battery specialist and I mean specialist they started out working on Spitfires in the late 30s says stick to a standard lead acid unless the motorcycle is designed for a more modern battery
my brother in laws suzuki burgman although 12 years old uses a sealed battery as its placed on its side in the fairing, thats why when the regulator failed it was 160 quid for a new one as its so complex
Unless the battery has a shorted cell, which is unlikely, then provided the voltage regulator is working properly, and not allowing excess volts to the system, there will be no excessive current. It’s the job of the regulator to prevent it.
Those pictures i put up.3 amp charger unregulated 36 volt.
Batteries discharged left on charge for a week .
How they did not explode or catch fire
Take a look here for battery info how to check/test and lots of info
There are even reccomendations of batteries however older bikes you have to click all Moto-Guzzi all models to get to the early Tonti bikes. Of course this is an American site BUT it does give the cross references and a fair bit of info on the different types of battery available.guzzibear2013-01-02 18:50:14
I’ve an Odyssey 545, but its too large, also that Westco, as I’ve tried with a cardboard mock-up. I’m trying to fit in a single seat ‘hump’, so there isn’t much room.
Your problem may be that if you go for too small a battery you won’t get enough amps out of it to start reliably. You might be able to use 2 x 6 volt batteries in series.
If you look at the size of the standard Guzzi Battery fitted to a V11 Lemans/sport THAT is what you really need to factor in to get a reliable battery to start a big Guzzi, you are, after all attempting to throw over 2 500+cc cylinders cold.
Just picked up this comment from a Guzzi owner on Guzzitech.And so far I have much more faith in AGMs than in the new Lithium batteries, they have been a bit disappointing for my Guzzi’s. They appear to lack the amps a AGM battery has regardless of what they claim. They are impressive for their size, but to make one big enough for a Guzzi big twin ends up being a lot of $$$ and other then weight it is still no better then a quality AGM. And the weight issue is of little import on something as heavy as a Griso.
Brian UK2013-01-03 18:22:51
Hi,
I am running a long term review of a Shorai lithium iron (not a typo - this is different from lithium ion). Search for “Shorai Battery Review” in this forum.
I found out the AGM on the V1000 was not happy over Winter. After a fair bit of research it is , they say, due to the older bike having a Bosch starter as opposed to the Valeo one that has gearing.
I swapped it out for a lead acid one from Twiggers £65 it starts easily again, yet the AGM does not show up as a problem it just does not like churning the old motor to get the fuel through to the carbs on a cold morning.
I also read Northwest’s comment re going back to an OEM battery after, like me , years of using car Batteries ans a go with an AGM.
AGM’s et al are the way to go on the FI bikes with the Valeo starters but it appears that the OEM Batteries work best for the older Guzzis.
But like with Oil and Tyres there WILL be all sorts of opinions.