What is the best battery charger?

[alexhumber]

Seeing as my 1994 NC29 has been tucked up in bed all winter, and it has a nasty habit of eating regulator/rectifiers, I'd though I'd better invest in a decent battery charger rather than bump starting it down the road like I usually do once a year in spring.

There is a wealth of chargers out there to buy and I wanted an Optimate, but the name seems to be used by many different manufacturers.

Any advice on the best charger to get? I'd like to get in the habit of trickle charging and being able to diagnose the condition of the battery.

[Yakama]

I have a tech 7 battery optimiser. Its a trickle charger that you can leave on and its great. Can recover deeply discharged batteries.

Liam

[vfrman]

I think these are pretty awesome...
http://www.xcmotorcycle.com/default.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I am going to get the one that can charge two at once.

[justmartyn]

I've got an oxford one, no complaints at all.

[PARUS]

What you say about this ? http://global.ebay.com/Trickle_Battery_ ... 23038/item

[richhemmings]

I've just bought an Optimate 4 ..
General concensus I've found is that the Optimate 4 is the one to have.
The Optimate 3 does about the same, but is less pricey at around 30-40 quid.
The 4 is around £40-50, but I found this one
http://www.thegreenreaper.co.uk/ShowDetails.asp?id=2003" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
For £39.95 inc VAT + P&P its cheapest I've found, but you might have a weeks wait or so as they are in really high demad due to the competitve price I assume!

This will sort you out if the battery as sulphidized over the winter and will automagically analyse and charge it accordingly (needs removing from the bike first)
After that, it has in-place leads so that you can trickle-charge the battery without any dissassembly!

I'm yet to review the product myself, but you can find LOADS of testimonials online - just do a Google search for 'Optimate 4'
E.G:
http://www.webbikeworld.com/r3/motorcyc ... ptimate-4/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Oh.. and you can use it to restore and charge car batteries etc too.

Cheers

[firebeast]

aldi or lidl(pretty sure its aldi) have sold one in the past thats better than my optimate and does cars plus fast charge for winter.£10! a bloody bargain.german made so tuv appproved and has done a better job than anything else i have used.

[alexhumber]

Thanks guys for the plethora of information.

I thought I'd release the moths from my wallet and as a result I have ordered an Optimate 4 from M&P for £45.