Can a Completely Dead Motorcycle Battery Be Recharged?

A dead motorbike battery is a headache for many riders, and that’s why the question arises, can a completely dead motorcycle battery be recharged?

If you have a dead motorcycle battery, you can recharge it with a trickle charger. However, it’s important to inspect the battery beforehand using a voltmeter to make sure it’s rechargeable. The voltmeter should ideally show a reading of zero, indicating that the battery is not charged.

Let’s consider what it means and what you can do about it. 

While writing this post, I leave no stone unturned so you can know everything about recharging the dead motorcycle battery. 

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Can a Completely Dead Motorcycle Battery Be Recharged?

Yes, you can recharge your dead motorbike battery, but before that, you should know whether you can save your motorbike battery or not. 

Connecting a motorbike battery is the easiest method for checking it to the charger. 

It’s a ray of hope if your motorbike battery starts to charge after a few minutes. 

But suppose your motorbike battery is not charging even after connecting charge for hours, then you need to buy a new motorbike battery.  

You can also check your motorbike battery status with the help of a voltmeter, connect both ends of the motorbike battery with the voltmeter and see the reading.  

If your voltmeter shows a reading of 0 volts, then there’s a chance that your motorbike battery is completely drained. 

But your motorbike battery could be dead if your voltmeter shows a reading of not more than 11.0 even after being charged for more than hours. 

And if your voltmeter shows a reading of more than 10.0 but less than 13.0 even after charging for an hour, consider your battery is sulfated. 

Experts always consider checking your motorbike battery status before reviving it. No one wants to spend a buck on a motorbike battery charger. 

No worries, I’ve mentioned some ways to revive your dead motorbike battery in the later section. 

How to Recharge Dead Motorcycle Battery?

Recharging the dead battery is easy if your motorbike battery isn’t sulfated. 

Sulfation is a phenomenon in which your motorbike battery gets deeply discharged. And it causes sulfur from your motorbike battery to accumulate on the lead plate, which finally blocks the flow of electric current. Fortunately, you can save your motorbike battery if the sulfur corrosion isn’t severe. 

If your motorbike battery isn’t severely sulfated, follow the steps below to reach your motorbike battery. 

Steps to recharge your dead motorbike battery:

Wear Safety Clothes: 

Wearing safety clothes is the most underrated advice which riders usually follow. 

Recharging the motorbike battery can be messy, so it’s advisable to wear safety clothes only. 

Experts usually recommend wearing full sleeves clothes only because the acid in the motorbike battery could burn your skin. Also, don’t forget to make your room or garage well-ventilated, as faulty motorbike batteries may release harmful gasses. 

Last, never forget to wear safety glasses and never charge motorbike batteries when it’s hot. 

Remove the Batteries: 

After ensuring you and the people around you are safe, now it’s time for you to remove the battery. 

You may need a small crescent to remove your dead motorbike battery. Losing the battery connector carefully removes the small battery caps, so the acid doesn’t spill on you. 

And now, carefully pour all the acid into your motorbike battery. 

Prepare the Salt Solution: 

If your motorbike battery dies because of sulfation, you should consider changing the salt solution. 

The best you can use is Epsom, also called magnesium sulfate salt solution, to replace your old motorbike battery acid. 

Add 8 ounces of Epsom salt with one-quarter of distilled water to make an Epsom salt solution. 

Experts recommend heating the distilled water to approximately 130 F to increase the mixability and remove harmful minerals. 

Additionally, you should never use tap water when making Epsom salt solution. Tap water contains some minerals that work like sulfate by sticking on the plate and blocking the electric current pathway. 

You can use a plastic funnel to fill each cell of the motorbike battery. And don’t forget to shake the motorbike battery to settle the solution in the battery. 

Connect to the Charger: 

After filling the motorbike battery with the Epsom salt solution, it’s time to charge it. 

Experts always recommend connecting the motorbike battery with a slow-type charger. Or you can use a car charger in the slow-rate charging mode.

Try to understand motorbike batteries are much smaller than car batteries, so you must reduce voltage and current rates. Otherwise, your motorbike battery could release harmful chemical gas. 

Connect the positive lead to the positive terminal and the negative lead to the negative terminal and leave the motorbike battery to charge overnight. 

And don’t forget to choose a well-ventilated and cool place to charge your motorbike battery. And ensure there’s no flammable substance around your motorbike battery while charging. 

Also, jumpstart your motorbike battery with the car, as a high voltage electric current can fry your motorbike battery. 

Install Back Your Motorbike Battery: 

After charging the battery overnight, remove the charger once it shows complete charging. Also, don’t forget to check the voltage reading through the voltmeter. 

Connect all wires back carefully and ride miles to operate your motorbike effectively. 

Can You Charge a Dead Motorcycle Battery With a Trickle Charger? 

Charging the motorcycle is always a debating and complex process in which numerous riders often need to correct mistakes, especially when charging a dead battery. Now, can you charge a dead motorcycle battery with a trickle charger? 

A trickle charger can charge a dead motorbike battery, but it will take longer than usual. Charging a dead motorbike battery will take approximately 24 to 48 hours, depending on the charger output. Experts recommend charging the motorbike battery for a whole day due to the extended period.

But when leaving the motorbike battery charging, it’s advisable to check the battery temperature often to protect it from overheating. 

Also, read my previous post where I discussed what keeps the battery charged during riding motorbike, CLICK HERE to read more.

Can You Use a Motorbike Maintainer? 

Indeed you can use a motorbike trickle charger to charge the dead motorbike battery. Now the question arises, can you use a motorbike maintainer? 

Using the motorbike maintainer would be even better than using a trickle charger because the motorbike maintainer maintains the current and voltage throughout the charging period. You can also protect the motorbike battery from overheating and overcharging by supplying constant current and voltage. 

In simpler words, you can protect and even boost the battery’s health with the motorbike maintainer. 

Motorbike Maintainer or Trickle Charger; Which One Should You Choose? 

Indeed motorbike maintainers can protect your battery from overheating and overcharging. Now the question arises, which one should you choose, a motorbike maintainer or a trickle charger? 

Suppose you want to charge the dead motorbike battery then, you should always go with the motorbike maintainer because charging the dead motorbike battery would take time which can cause overheating. And to protect the battery from overheating and overcharging, you should go with the motorbike maintainer. 

Trickle chargers could decrease your dead motorbike battery health, and it’s advisable to go with the maintainer to protect the battery’s health. 

How Long Does It Take to Charge the Motorbike Battery Through Trickle Charger? 

So far, you understand that you should always use the motorbike maintainer to charge the dead motorbike battery. How long does charging the motorbike battery through a trickle charger take? 

It takes almost 24 hours to charge the dead motorbike battery through the trickle charge. However, the charging time highly depends on the charger amp output; for instance, if you’re using a 2 amp charger, it would take almost 24 hours. Still, if you’re using a 4 amp charger, it would take nearly 12 hours. 

However, with the high output charger, the battery overheats, and overcharging chances arise.

Is it Safe to Charge the Motorbike Battery Through a Trickle charger? 

Indeed it takes almost 24 hours to charge the motorbike battery through the 2 amp charger. Is it safe to charge the motorbike battery through a trickle charger? 

Charging the dead motorbike battery through the trickle charger is completely safe until you don’t let the charger overcharge the battery, causing battery overheating, which isn’t safe. And that’s why experts recommend charging the dead motorbike battery should always be done away from the motorbike. 

Because of disadvantages, including overcharging, should you charge the battery through the motorbike maintainer? 

Can You Charge the Dead Motorbike Battery By Riding? 

So far, you understand that the trickle charger can overheat, so you should choose a motorbike maintainer. Now, can you select the dead motorbike battery by riding? 

You can’t charge the dead motorbike battery by simply riding because the output you get from riding the motorbike is comparatively less than the trickle charger output. However, you can further charge the motorbike battery if you charge the battery to approx 20% by the charger. 

Charging the battery through the motorbike is the safest approach that you can take to protect the battery from various issues.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Final Verdict: 

 Can a completely dead motorcycle battery be recharged? You can recharge the dead motorcycle battery with the trickle charger. Still, before that, you need to inspect the motorbike battery to see if it can be recharged. 

You can check through the voltmeter. In the ideal case, the voltmeter should show zero reading meaning the battery is not charged. I’ve also mentioned some steps to charge your dead motorbike battery and protect the battery from decreasing battery health.