BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

I've started a new topic for this, but it relates to a current topic.

I've noticed on a number of occasions that members have had to replace their Odyssey battery after only three or four years. Is the Odyssey battery the nirvana that a lot of people have come to believe? My BMW still has the original equipment battery and it seems absolutely fine even after 7 years. I don't cosset it; don't have it permanently on a smart charger and over the last couple of years have not ridden the bike very regularly because of various projects - oh, and I don't start the bike unless I am actually going to ride it.

I know that if I go to the bike tomorrow, even if the temperature is around zero centigrade, the starter will spin the engine easilly with no apparant effort (of course you know what will happen now!!!! )

Rog

"Is the Odyssey battery the nirvana that a lot of people have come to believe? "

I'm not sure what people believe, but my experience was less than "Nirvana"

The original BMW gel battery in my 2004 R1150R could go three winter months (NY City winter months mind you) without a charge, and start right up in April. My Odyssey will not start my R after sitting untouched for 1 1/2 summer months.

I put an Odyssey battery in my 1987 Moto Guzzi SPII and had the same damn results. I finally tossed it and installed a Harley Davidson gel battery. I only let that sit untouched for one winter, but it started right up in April. I now use Battery Tenders across the board.

When I replace the battery in my 2006 Road King this year, it will be an H-D gel battery.

With the Odyssey installed and fully charged, it will crank your engine like nobody's business, but it's hardly worth the extra cash and the time making it fit. I have seen a few folks around here and other forums spend a lot of time touting the praise of the Odyssey battery in 1000 word or more "essays", but in my experience, it is hardly worth the money and effort. I will say that in 35 years of motorcycling, the original BMW gel battery that came with my 2004 R was the best battery I've ever had in any bike I've owned. I often wonder how long it would have lasted if I wasn't so anally proactive and tossed it after 4 years.

My 2005 hasthe original battery and shows no weakness. It lives on a charger and I was going to replace it this Spring but having seen so many reports of long-lived originals, I may just wait.

Is the Odyssey battery the nirvana that a lot of people have come to believe?

A few years back I bought a set of Odyssey batteries online, as fresh replacements for our former R1100R and R1150R Roadsters. The batteries were drop-shipped direct from manufacturer. One of the batteries crapped out within three months, while the other survived for two years before showing signs of deterioration. The better battery went with the R1100 when sold, and the R1150R got a new BMW battery during its last season with us.

I've used Odyssey batteries in other applications with excellent results, and cannot explain the poor service life of the Roadster PC680s, especially when the bike batteries were maintained on appropriate tenders.

As for the BMW batteries, I got a solid 5 years of service on my Rockster's OE battery, which was replaced with another BMW-branded unit.

After 5 yrs my BMW gel battery could not hold a charge for more than a day, even after being fully charged with the BMW "smart" charger. One day if it had had to turn the engine over one more time it would have failed and I would have been left stranded and this was in mild winter conditions (50's). So replaced it with a WestCo AGM battery for $101 shipped. The BMW gel battery is $180 plus shipping from BikeBandit. Will see how long the WestCo battery lasts, is working great so far.

I was all set to buy an Odyssey when it was time for new battery. That was after 5+ years of the stock battery. The stock battery was absolutely and totally flawless for those 5 years (battery tender on about 4 months every winter, and very rarely used for the rest of the year). Then it died an instantaneous death.

Like I said, I was all set to get the Odyssey. I did some last minute research before purchase. The owners raved about how fast the Odyssey spun the starter. But, almost everyone said that they were replacing them at 3 and 4 years (sometimes less). I read numerous posts about the low voltage warning from the ABS system with the Odyssey (see: Dr. Strangelove's current thread). That was considerably less then the 5 years I got out of the stock BMW/Exide. I did not baby the battery and never once lit the warning light. Some people were getting 6 or 7 years out of the BMW/Exide.

So, I bought another BMW/Exide. I liked the longer warranty on the Odysssey, but warranties have never made much difference to me. If something is defective, almost always, it'll show up right from the start.

I bought the BMW/Exide because it was an exact fit, the stock terminals worked with no modification, and it likely will last up to a couple years longer.

Samiam wrote:My 2005 hasthe original battery and shows no weakness. It lives on a charger and I was going to replace it this Spring but having seen so many reports of long-lived originals, I may just wait.

My original BMW battery failed at 5 years. When I say failed, I mean slow cranking and damage producing leaks. The Odyessy PC680 I replaced it with has given me no trouble and being sealed I don't expect it to leak even at the end of it's service life.

I've never had extremely high expectations from batteries, so if they give me trouble, I just replace them.

My red 2004 has the original battery and my black 2004 has an Odyssey that was in it when I bought it. I have never had any problem with my original battery, both bikes stay on a Battery Tender Plus when not being ridden for a week or two, and they both turn the starter over at the same speed. Not sure what I'll get when the battery in the red bike dies. Might be another BMW gel battery.

R1150Rclean wrote:So replaced it with a WestCo AGM battery for $101 shipped.

The WestCo battery is great. I ran one for many years on an '88 Harley XLH. Sold the bike before I replaced the battery. They were the first real AGM manufacturer and I read once (don't quote me on this) that they developed the original AGM battery for the Mazda Miata.

My original OEM battery was acting out in mid 2007 and I replaced it with the Odyssey. It has lasted about 3.5 years and if I didn't have a bunch of farkles that get cranked along with the engine, I could prob squeeze a little more out of the Odyssey. It's a real hassle to turn stuff off before starting and then on once started. Life's too short for that.
But, I do think how long it lasts is partly a matter of elapsed time, the number of starts, and luck of the draw.
I am sure no one wants to have a battery fail in Podunk, and I am dependent on my battery working at 530 am for work, or in the middle of Utah, or Kentucky. The BMW battery is more expensive and in my experience was no more dependable. So, you do what you gotta do and take your best guess/shot, and right now it is the Odyssey for me.

John

Rog(UK) - Yorkshire Dales wrote: I've noticed on a number of occasions that members have had to replace their Odyssey battery after only three or four years.

My original Battery on my 2002 R1150R lasted about 3.5 years. I remember that it was not a GEL battery.
I replaced it with the Odyssey PC680 battery and it lasted about 6 years.
My 2004 R1150RA had original battery and in 2009 needed to be replaced, so it was 6 years with the GEL battery.
It looks like BMW is installing better batteries lately, since they went GEL.
My 2006 K1200LT had original battery until the end of the last year. 5 years for the LT bike is not bad at all.
I had 2 choices: ONE===$179.00+TAX, from the local BMW dealer, TWO=== $99.00 Odyssey PC680 from the WEB site. I picked the Odyssey for $99.00 +$14.00 S&H. Now all my bikes have Odyssey PC680. Two of them brand new and one is almost 2 years old. I never heard of Odyssey battery goes bad after three years. Maybe I did not listen.