Gel cells and standard Norton charging.

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Both gel & AGM batteries are fine with standard Lucas setups & EI.

Martyn.
 
I would not use a gel cell. They may or may not stand up under vibration. The AGM batteries were developed for helo's so they will take the vibration. Go AGM. Look it up.
 
What's the biggest AGM that will fit on a pre-MKIII battery tray?
(74 MKII)
 
Pretty big if you want to fill that cavity. I just run the same battery as in my modern bonne t100 which I believe is YTX-12-BS. 10Ah
I'm of the opinion it is overkill on the mkii commando as its not needed for engine cranking. But I like to have the option to swap between bikes if need arises.

It takes about half available space in the tray. Leaves plenty of room for accessing other things etc.
 
Deka or Big Crank ETX15L made by East Penn is 14ah. A little taller but it fits the battery box. I adapted a cheap Harley rubber strap that goes over the whole battery but before that I had the useless stock straps with the bar in the top finger holes.
 
Gel cells are totally fine with a standard charging system - think of them the same was as a standard lead acid battery, but not spillable or leaky.

I personally don’t like gel in a motorcycle application, as I don’t think they are suitable.
  • Gel batteries lose power faster
  • Gel batteries don’t tolerate lower temperatures at winter time
  • Gel batteries do not recover as well from being fully flattened
  • Gel is not the best composition for high charge and discharge rate
I think the slightly cheaper AGM battery is better suited to motorcycles.
 
gtiller said:
Gel cells are totally fine with a standard charging system - think of them the same was as a standard lead acid battery, but not spillable or leaky.

I personally don’t like gel in a motorcycle application, as I don’t think they are suitable.
  • Gel batteries lose power faster
  • Gel batteries don’t tolerate lower temperatures at winter time
  • Gel batteries do not recover as well from being fully flattened
  • Gel is not the best composition for high charge and discharge rate
I think the slightly cheaper AGM battery is better suited to motorcycles.
Click to expand...
gtiller said:
Gel cells are totally fine with a standard charging system - think of them the same was as a standard lead acid battery, but not spillable or leaky.

I personally don’t like gel in a motorcycle application, as I don’t think they are suitable.
  • Gel batteries lose power faster
  • Gel batteries don’t tolerate lower temperatures at winter time
  • Gel batteries do not recover as well from being fully flattened
  • Gel is not the best composition for high charge and discharge rate
I think the slightly cheaper AGM battery is better suited to motorcycles.
Click to expand...
I noticed a high discharge rate (but wasn't sure about that till I read your post. And just recently the battery was deeply discharged. After two days on the charger (settings: small battery, gel cell) it has finall charged back to 100%. How are the AGM batteries?
 
I like gel's better than AGMs. They seem to be sturdier than either AGM's or lead-acid batteries under motorcycle conditions (heat, vibration, road shock etc.)
 
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