Battery Clamps

elefantrider · Dec 1, 2017

How are you all holding down your batteries seeing that the original clamp method will interfere with most modern battery terminals?

peter12 · Dec 1, 2017

There was a modification posted, I think it was on here, not sure where a battery tray was altered to take a modified strap across the middle. I have just bought an Alton starter, big battery and new tray, suspect I will use cable/ zip ties for the same reason you mentioned.

gripper · Dec 1, 2017

I fitted a captive nut under my battery tray allowing a steel strap to be screwed down and retain the battery. It actually came from a wall fitting for a curtain rod. I had a total wiring loom burn out when my rubber band retained battery tilted and shorted out. I now use a 8A/Hr battery as the terminals are well clear of the surrounding frame parts and 8A/Hr is adequate unless you have a starter, they are cheaper and sealed which eliminates the need for an acid dripping breather pipe

Fast Eddie · Dec 1, 2017

Velcro straps: Easy to fit. Easy to undo for battery removal etc. Very secure. Infinitely flexible. Cost nothing!

concours · Dec 1, 2017

Strap cut from inner tube, hooks made from coat hanger. Dense packing foam blocks around the batt. Off road tested.

texasSlick · Dec 1, 2017

Fast Eddie said:
Velcro straps: Easy to fit. Easy to undo for battery removal etc. Very secure. Infinitely flexible. Cost nothing!

+1 with a slight modification: I use an upholstery vinyl strap with sewn on Velcro ends. The vinyl has a slight degree of elasticity, and can be stretched around the battery.

I have also fabricated a battery "clip" from 1/16" aluminum which holds the battery on both sides, back, and bottom. The clip has room for foam blocks too.

Slick

batrider · Dec 1, 2017

You can just turn the battery around to keep the terminals from shorting to the stock metal bar. I think the original setup is ridiculously hokey. The straps die almost immediately. I'm using a Harley Sportster rubber strap ($1.89 on eBay) with some homemade aluminum sheet metal ends, each having a screw head to catch the stock holes in the battery box.

Beach · Dec 1, 2017

I use a pair of old spokes, through original angle bar and self locking nuts to thread onto spokes holding bar downward against the battery.

bucksfizz · Dec 1, 2017

It all depends on which way your battery is orientated.
For East-West mounting, the standard strap works well enough with a Motobatt unit:

Fast Eddie · Dec 1, 2017

That looks very nice and tidy in there Bucksfizz, nice one.

XTINCT · Dec 1, 2017

I am not trying to say that all of those methods aren't good ones, but I will tell you of an experience that we had on my 880
flattracker. We ran a total loss ignition (not that that matters) and held the battery down with several zip ties. The battery was behind the number plates so we normally did not see it. One day we started the bike without the number plates on it and saw that the battery was bouncing (from engine vibration) as much as 3/4" (19mm). The zip ties were very tight. Now I will admit that that race bike shook more than a Commando, (it was rebalanced for a solid mount frame) but that convinced me that I would never use anything other than a substantial metal bracket.

XTINCT · Dec 1, 2017

I should add that it was not a big battery and it sat on an L shaped shelf. This shelf bottom was just short of the width of the bottom of the battery and the back was just short of the height of the battery. This pulled the battery into the V and you could really tighten it up. (tighten it down?) When feeling the tension on the zip ties you would not have believed that it could move. It did.

XTINCT · Dec 1, 2017

bucksfizz
Isn't there any dirt in England??
My Commando wasn't that clean when it was built.

bucksfizz · Dec 2, 2017

XTINCT said:
bucksfizz
Isn't there any dirt in England??
My Commando wasn't that clean when it was built.

I'm conscious of drifting off-topic here, as the OP wanted to know about fastening down a battery.
Anyway, IMHO photographs say it better than words, and I wanted to depict my battery strap.
I have to add that my Commando was a recent restoration.
Here's what I started with in the battery compartment:

A bit of fettling, and it was looking better:

I really enjoy rewiring old Brit bikes, having done my Trident earlier.

gripper · Dec 2, 2017

Our local council have just salted the roads here. I can see the incentive to not go out in blighty this time of year. Last year despite pressure washing my Triumph street triple after a winter run, One week later the front brakes were solid. Bet you don't get that in California. polished alloy engine cases and fork legs? forget it.

Fast Eddie · Dec 2, 2017

Bucksfizz is in Somerset Gripper!

You can tell he’s English by the classic understatement ‘after a bit of fettling’...!

Yes the salt is a killer. I once had a new Suzuki 1200 Bandit. I put it away in a dry garage after a wet winter ride thinking it’d be fine until I got around to cleaning it a few days later. Yeah right, less than a week and it looked like it had been in a swamp for a decade! It was never the same again.

That’s why I don’t do many winter miles these days.

elefantrider · Dec 2, 2017

On my Hybrid, I am using these flexible rubber coated metal straps made by a company called Gear Tie, but I’d prefer elastic hook straps on my Commando because the tray does not have integrated hooks like the Hybrid tray.

The original Commando replacement straps do not look like they will last very long. And flipping the battery around so the lugs do not touch the bar will have the polarity on the wrong side. The harness terminals are probably too short to accommodate a flip.

My '88 BMW GS has quality rubber straps which are original to the bike. No signs of cracking or deterioration whatsoever.
That is what I would like to find but with hooks on the ends.

The search continues.

Thanks

batrider · Dec 2, 2017

On my '72 the original leads to the battery were plenty long enough to turn it around. Since I started using the rubber strap I don't have to turn it around anymore. I have had some scary electrical and mechanical incidents with the right angle bar. It was too long for one thing. When one of the stock straps goes the whole contraption can drop down into the chain, etc. and that's before it gets spit out on the road.

XTINCT · Dec 2, 2017

We are not really off topic here as we can be talking about corrosion in the battery tray. bucksfizz, There does seem to be a difference between those two pics. Very nice work!

franko · Dec 2, 2017

I cut off a section of this https://www.grainger.com/category/fiberglass-angle-stock/fiberglass/raw-materials/ecatalog/N-c15 and drilled a hole in the corner at each end. I went to the dirt bike shop and asked about some spokes. They gave me some used ones. The battery I use is a bit taller than normal. The spokes were the perfect length to fit the head end into the holes at the side of the battery tray. wingnuts and washers from the hardware store. With the normal battery the spokes could be cut to length and a die run over them.

Battery Clamps

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