Clarke BC1 6/12V Intelligent 1A Battery Charger
An affordable charger and battery maintainer that turns dead-battery panic into a problem of the past.
There is no such thing as a magic wand when it comes to motorcycle repairs. A trained, experienced technician is the closest you’ll get, but even they can be stumped with today’s electrics. IMU, ECU, Canbus and other electrickery… I’ll be honest here and say I understand these as much as I do elementary particle physics. What I do know is they all need an electric supply to make them work. And yes, I also know that on a bike that means a 6 or 12-volt battery. A working charged battery.
As winter forms, life in general gets cold. Bikes, too. The cold can kill a battery very quickly. Let’s not forget that even if your bike is stored safely for winter, batteries will drain without any charge being put into them but especially tired, old batteries. Alarms, trackers and other accessories will speed up this battery-flattening process.
If your worst dry spring morning begins and ends with a drained battery, the Clarke BC1 Clarke BC1 6/12V Intelligent 1A Battery Charger might just be your unsung two-wheeled saviour.
The compact but rugged BC1 is built for trickle charging all types of 6V/12V lead acid (WET, MF, EFB, STD, GEL, AGM) batteries. For the racing folk and track day junkies who have swapped out their stock batteries for low weight lithium-type units, walk away; the BC1 is not for you. Machine Mart claims it’s suitable for charging lead acid batteries up to 30Ah rating and maintaining batteries up to 120Ah – pretty much all 2-wheelers.
You might not think 1-amp charging is hard hitting, but it is when its six-stage charging cycle gets to work. When it’s completed charging and left undisturbed for days/weeks/months on end, the maintenance side takes over to automatically keep the charge, er, charged!
Is it really safe to leave trickle chargers running unattended. The answer is yes – if it’s a quality item like the Clarke CB1. We’re talking inline fuse, thermal overload, reverse polarity and short circuit protection.
From a rider’s perspective, the BC1 is a garage/shed essential. You connect to the battery with the supplied removeable clamps or terminal rings, switch on and leave the bike idle over winter while the battery gets charged/maintained. Easy! What’s more, if you are the proud owner of two or more bikes, the CB1’s £17.99 price means you could afford a couple or more of these beauties to rotate amongst your collection.
To find out more or to buy, head to the Machine Mart website.
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Chris Cope is a fourth-generation journalist, originally from Texas. He has lived in the UK for roughly two decades and has been writing about motorcycles for most of that time. He has written for dozens of publications and websites in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia.
