Battery Bubbling

[Kiwi]

So, when i last went to work on the vision, i had her charging from my battery tender junior. 
The green light was on saying it was charged and just maintaining a charge.
I happened to have my ear down near the battery and i heard it bubbling.
That cant be good right?  what do i do ?

Thanks

[67GTO]

My Battery Tender Jr did the samething, so I use a timer and have it charge for only 1 hour a day.

[Lucky]

put a meter on it & see what it's charging at, assuming it's charged up, it shouldn't be much more than 12.6 - 13ish, if the battery was low, it'll charge a bit higher, & could bubble (normal)  the BT jr is a float charger & isn't designed to recharge low batterys on a regular basis.

the regulator circut in the BT could be bad if it's overcharging a charged battery, or not switching to 'float' mode when the battery reaches full charge, or your bikes charging system could be bad if the BT is working hard to bring it back up.

also, if the battery is old, it may be time for a replacement...

[Kiwi]

The battery is a little over a year old.  Whats the lifespan of a battery?  ( it is the non sealed type )

[Lucky]

3-5 years

[fret not]

Motorcycle batteries like to be used, moderate discharge and gentle charge as in normal operation when all is healthy with your electrical system.  A battery CAN go bad in just a few months if it is left to sit unused.  Regular use (daily) will extend the life of the battery sometimes for years.  I have seen some last for as much as  7 years but only with daily use.  Batteries that are left to sit may not last much more than a year if that much.  Battery tenders are a help but the battery needs to be a bit discharged from time to time and then charged again.

I have sold a lot of batteries during the years I worked at dealerships and the ones that lasted the longest were those that were used year round.  Bikes that were garaged during the winters were the ones that more often required new batteries.  Battery quality is another consideration, as there are cheaply made  ones and higher quality ones.  Usually the original equipment batteries were of the better quality, and cheaper ones were from aftermarket sources.

[Rikugun]

I've never had one go 7 years but regularly have gotten 3-5 out of seasonally used batteries here in New Jersey. The Yuasa's they came with new are great but I've got 3 years on my autostore-bought GPz battery and it gives no indication it won't go another season.

I take it out of the bike and store it in the basement. I've had "floating -tender" type chargers slowly boil a battery nearly dry over a month to 8 weeks. So now I charge it initially and then for 6-8 hours (500 ma trickle charger) every few weeks.