gel battery

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My bike is an '08. I ride only on the street, in a rural coastal setting of small towns and secondary highways. Because I ride only on the street, I use street-tire pressures of 30 front, 33 rear. The factory front tire lasted about 3300 miles. I replaced both factory tires with Mefo's. The Mefo front lasted about 5500 miles. The rear still has good tread. The tires have performed well on both dry and wet pavement, so I just now repaced the front with another Mefo. The Mefo supply chain is spotty. If you are thinking of buying Mefo's, you might start looking for them a while before you need them. One distributor with Mefo's consistently on hand is Twisted Throttle. If your dealer orders, they ship free. If you order, you pay shipping. A note: I use motorcycles as primary transportation: the KLR and an '04 BMW1150RT. I've a street bar on the KLR-- from a Yamaha 650XS-- and a Laminar Lip. The rear sprocket is one tooth down from factory. Those changes produced a bike that cruises happily at 60-65 mph, even in the wind that we live with during the Oregon coast summers. Increasingly, the BMW has stayed in the garage, and its expensive periodic servicings empty my wallet less frequently. (Because the BMW has a 6,000-mile service interval and now 88,500 miles on its odometer, there have been rather a lot of those.) Tom Burke All

[Fred Hink]

The maintenance free battery will keep it's water level for the life of the battery where a maintenance type of battery may need to be checked every few weeks during hot weather.  All batteries need to be kept charged up through the winter or with a discharged battery you risk the battery being damaged by freezing.   If you don't mind checking your water level in your battery once in a while, the maintenance type of battery will save you some money.  If you want the best battery and don't want the hassle of checking the water level, then go with a maintenance free type.  They cost more but you get what you pay for. Fred http://www.arrowheadmotorsports.com     [b]From:[/b] nomad59@... [b]Sent:[/b] Sunday, August 08, 2010 1:20 PM [b]To:[/b] ckahleer@... ; dsn_klr650@yahoogroups.com [b]Subject:[/b] Re: [DSN_KLR650] Gel Battery   [b]GOOD! Question,[/b] with so many terms at times for the same things. I have been wondering about the battery differances for when My time comes to replace it. The Three W's What, to use, where, (hot south, frezzing North) and why. [b]From:[/b] Craig Kahler [b]To:[/b] dsn_klr650@yahoogroups.com [b]Sent:[/b] Sun, August 8, 2010 2:22:02 PM [b]Subject:[/b] [DSN_KLR650] Gel Battery  

My 07's stock battery needs to be replaced. I definitely will be going with a maintenance free battery, but am confused by the terminology. Which batteries are OK to be laid on its side? Is an AGM battery the same as a GEL battery. Are dry cell batteries gel batteries? Do I have 5 choices: 1. lead acid maintenance 2. lead acid maintenance free 3. lead acid AGM maintenance free. 4. Gel maintenance free. 5. dry cell maintenance free. Craig Kahler