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Author Topic: Evaluating battery life of a used bike.  (Read 1201 times)

dkw12002

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Evaluating battery life of a used bike.
« on: May 26, 2012, 05:58:47 AM »

Other than knowing the age of the battery and no. of miles on the bike, is there a way to determine the health of the battery....how much of the life is used up and how much more there is to go as well as if it is functioning properly? We kind of touched on this issue before, but not this question exactly. Since a big portion of the value of a Zero is in the battery, if you were going to buy a used Zero without any warranty, how would you know it was functioning properly and should work for many more miles?
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protomech

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Re: Evaluating battery life of a used bike.
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2012, 09:18:47 AM »

Verify that the battery has been properly maintained - ie charged periodically. A riding log would be a good first step. Talk to the owner. A bike that's been ridden regularly is going to be healthier in general than a bike that's been sitting for long periods of time.

You may be able to take it to a Zero dealer and have them pull logs .. at least the 2012 bikes have an internal log. Older bikes may as well.

Even with a warranty, problems with the battery as a result of abuse or neglect may show up years down the line .. well after the warranty expires.

Evaluate how confident you are of the battery condition after all of the above, and build that into the price you're offering (or willing to settle at).
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Lipo423

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Re: Evaluating battery life of a used bike.
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2012, 05:34:17 PM »

I would check the following:

- Battery manufacturing date, and manufacturer name (if possible), if not, bike age (anything above 4-5 years should be paid less than 60% IPV)
- If you could ride it it would be perfect (you could see how fast the bars dissapeared...)
- If you could open the battery box, I would look at "fatty elements" or damage ones (you should definitely request this). If you can do it, check different voltage elements/groups.

You may take a look at the link below.

http://www.mpoweruk.com/soc.htm

Good luck!
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Bikes: Kawa GPX 600, Suzuki GSX 750-R, Yamaha FZR 1000, Suzuki Lido 75, Peugeot SV 125, Suzuki Burgman 400, Suzuki Burgman 650, KTM EXC 250, 2012 Zero ZF9 - All of them sold -
2014 Zero SR 11.4, BMW C1 125, BMW R 850R
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