Optimate (other Brands Are Available..!)

What year's your Speed? Standard charger is definitely ok up to 2015, not sure about the latest 2016> Euro 4 models. I suspect you'd still be ok but worth checking with your dealer I guess.

 

If you're just trying to keep the battery in good shape over the winter while not riding the bike, why not just disconnect the battery from the bike so it's only connected to the Oximiser? You'd only have to disconnect one of the battery cables but leave the Oximiser connected. Am I missing something? That's what I usually do anyway if I'll be leaving the bike for awhile.

 

I've been using an Optimate on my 2017 Speed with no problems.

 

They do a version which you can use with can bus

 

Always wondered whether it's a good idea to leave the battery disconnected for extended periods, minor issue obviously having to reset clock, but are any ECU settings lost / revert to default if powered down for a while?

 

I wouldn't think so at all everything should be ok (as you say except the clock) I know a few lads that remove there battery completely and leave on a charger, though IMHO its just as good left connected on the bike with an optimate,

 

i know my bikes an 2011 but I've git optimate 3 nothing bad to say about it bar its a bit basic but does the job,got an oxford opmximiser 900 as part of mag subscription deal looks a good bit of kit but i don't rate it,firstly the mains lead is about half the length of the optimate one but worse my factory alarm keeps going off on regular basis,I've taken it off and put the optimate back on with no alarm going off liked the oxfords display better but that's the only good thing about it even the leads are inferior qaulity to the optimates and about half as thick.

 

The only problem I have ever seen with an Optimate is a lead acid battery being charged without following the instructions, and it will boil dry.

 

Optimate version 4 supports canbus. Or at least mine does

 

I'm a vehicle mechanic with 40+ years in the trade and running bikes.
If your battery is fully charged and in good condition there is no need to use a "condition charger". All I ever do is disconnect the battery from the bike (earth lead is safest). I may, on occasion, even remove it from the bike and take it into the house to prevent potential frost damage (I put it somewhere cool, with fairly constant temperature). A minor inconvenience is that I've had to reset the clock, and radio on my Goldwings, no other problems ensued.

With so many machines only used as "toys" (not all year round like some of us nutters) I can understand why some kind of charger may be desired.The biggest hassle is batteries are typically lead/acid types. These rely on a chemical reaction to release and recover electricity. Batteries, like most things, need to "rest" periodically, the use of "condtioners" keeps the chemical reaction going. Even at a very low rate of charge it wears the battery out (the materiel on the plates falls off, causes a build up of sediment which eventually creates a dead cell).

 

I lived on an offshore sailboat for a number of years where batteries are far more critical than on a motorcycle. I learned then not to listen to any personal experiences or 'mechanic' specialist, but rather go to the battery manufacturer's themselves on how to maintain their batteries. Thus I found the following article on Yuasa's website. Yes, it's written by an outside 'technical expert but republishing on their website (with permission) is an implicit approval. As I suspected, the answer to the OP is not so simple. Worth a full read. Note, while it does include an endorsement for their charger, the information leading up to it is quite interesting and provides guidance on 'off-season' charging of your motorcycle battery. Me? I resolved the issue by moving somewhere that I can ride all year

http://www.yuasabatteries.com/motor_battery.php