Can You Recharge Dead Motorcycle Batteries?

Last night my friend’s motorbike battery died, and he was confused about whether he could recharge his dead motorbike batteries or not. I thought, why shouldn’t I write a post answering ” can you recharge dead motorcycle batteries”?

You can recharge dead motorbike batteries with the help of a motorbike battery charger, or you can even jumpstart your motorbike battery using another motorbike. But after recharging your dead batteries, experts advise riders to ride their motorbike for some miles to charge batteries further.  

Let’s look at what it means for you and what you can do about it.

In this post, I leave no stone unturned so you can revive your motorbike battery once again. 

Can You Recharge Dead Motorcycle Batteries?

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

The easiest method for checking a motorbike battery is to connect 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 and charging for hours. In that case, you need to buy a new motorbike battery.  

You can also check your motorbike battery status with the help of a voltmeter. In that case, suppose 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 if your voltmeter shows a reading not more than 11.0 even after being charged for more than hours, then your motorbike battery could be dead. 

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 as sulfated. 

Experts always consider checking your motorbike battery status before reviving, as no one wants to spend bucks on a motorbike battery charger. 

No worries, in the later section, I’ve mentioned some ways through which you can revive your dead motorbike battery. 

How to Recharge Dead Motorcycle Battery?

Recharging the dead battery is easy as long as 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 enough, you can still save your motorbike battery if the sulfur corrosion isn’t severe. 

If your motorbike battery isn’t severely sulfated, then you need to follow the below steps to recharge your motorbike battery. 

Steps to recharge your dead motorbike battery: 

Wear Safety Clothes: 

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

Recharging the motorbike battery can be a little messy, and that’s why 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 gases. 

Last but not least, never forget to wear safety glasses and never charge motorbike batteries when it’s hot. 

Remove the Batteries: 

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

You probably need a small crescent to remove your dead motorbike battery. Losses the battery connector and 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 is dead because of sulfation, then 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. 

For making Epsom salt solution, you’ve added 8 ounces of Epsom salt with one-quarter of distilled water. 

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

Additionally, you should never use tap water when making Epsom salt solution. Tap water contains some minerals, which work the same as 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 the motorbike battery. 

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

Try to understand, motorbike batteries are much smaller than car batteries, and that’s why you must reduce voltage and current rate. Otherwise, your motorbike battery could release harmful chemical gases. 

Connect the positive lead to the positive terminal and negative lead with 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, now remove the battery charger once it’s showing complete charging. Also, don’t forget to check the voltage reading through the voltmeter. 

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

https://youtu.be/idFOwb_3iBY

Can You Charge a Dead Motorcycle Battery through Riding?

Charging dead motorcycle batteries seems to be rocket science, and that’s why many riders ask whether they can recharge dead batteries or not. 

You can’t recharge your dead motorbike battery only by riding. Your motorbike stator produces less voltage and electric charge, which isn’t enough to charge your motorbike battery. And that’s why experts recommend recharging dead motorbike batteries with the charger only. Also, never use a car’s battery current to recharge your motorbike battery. 

So I think you should spend some bucks on a motorbike charger if you want to revive your dead motorbike battery. 

Also, read my previous post, where I discussed how motorcycle batteries charge. Click here to read.

How Long Would it Take to Charge the Battery By Riding? 

Generally, the motorcycle battery charges best at 13.5-14.5 V, which means you need to ride your motorcycle for at least 3 hours to charge the battery completely. 

As mentioned above, the stator converts mechanical energy to electrical energy. And in this sense, the charging capacity will increase as you increase the motorbike speed. 

You can further decrease the charging time by switching off the additional accessories you installed on your motorbike.

Additionally, the smaller the battery size, the faster it would charge. 

Frequently Asked Questions:

Final Verdict: 

Can you recharge dead motorcycle batteries? You can recharge your dead motorbike batteries with the help of a motorbike battery charger. Or you can even jumpstart your motorbike battery with the use of another motorbike. 

But after recharging your dead batteries, experts advise riders to ride their motorbike for some miles to charge batteries further.  

I’ve mentioned some steps to recharge your dead battery and never ever try to recharge the dead battery with the car. 

Here are Some of My Favorite Riding Gears: 

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you found it helpful as you build your riding journey successfully. 

Here are some riding gears I use as a rider that I hope you’ll also find helpful.

These are affiliate links, so I’ll earn a commission if you decide to use any of them. But in all honesty, these are the same riding gears that I use and recommend to everyone, even my own family.

Motorbike Riding Pants:

For getting started, I like Scorpion EXO Covert Jeans for men (check the latest price on Amazon.com) and Indigo Protective Riding Jeans for women (check the latest price on Tobacco Motorwear).

These riding pants are comfortable so you can use these pants in summer, and these pants have a lot of space for using knee guards. 

Motorbike Riding Helmet:

Throughout my riding life, I used several helmets, and almost all helmets protect your head well. Still, I personally prefer YM- 929 Yema helmets as it comes with Bluetooth and aerodynamic ABS shells (check the latest price on Amazon.com).

And suppose you want an eye-appealing and yet effective helmet. In that case, you can go with Icon Airform Sacrosanct Helmet (check the latest price on Revzilla). 

Motorbike Riding Jacket:

Jackets are crucial to protect your upper body. Honestly, every rider has a dream to have an affordable yet best riding jacket. And that’s why I personally recommend the Alpinestars T faster motorbike jacket because of the protection and comfort it offers (check the latest price on Amazon.com). 

Motorbike Riding Gloves:

Almost all riding gloves perform well by protecting your hands from sunburn and cool nights. And if you’re a serious rider, then you should go with Alpinestars SMX-1 Air v2 Glove, which is lightweight and offers you excellent protection. (check the latest price on Revzilla). 

Almost all riding gloves perform well by protecting your hands from sunburn and cool nights. And if you’re a serious rider, then you should go with Alpinestars SMX-1 Air v2 Glove, which is lightweight and offers you excellent protection. (check the latest pierce on Revzilla).