7 Motorcycle Battery Chargers

It's essential to keep your battery in good condition but you don't need to take it down the gym. Here are 7 chargers that'll do the hard work for you

A flat battery is one of those things that always seems to happen when you need your bike the most. If you keep your battery on a trickle-charger then you'll ensure your bike's ready to go when you are - especially if you keep it laid-up over the winter.

Batteries use small metal plates bathed in acid, the chemical reaction between the two causes electrons to flow, therefore creating electricity. Your battery will go flat when the metal plates get coated in a layer of lead sulphate and during this process, the acid turns to water. A charger will reverse this issue and bring your battery back from the dead. Once charged, a trickle-charging mode will keep it topped-up and in reliable condition. Here are seven motorcycle battery chargers that will keep your battery healthy throughout the year.

Accumate 6-12V

Accumate 6/12V

Accumate’s 6/12V charger will charge 6V and 12V batteries, so that’ll cover classic bikes, cars and your motorcycle too. It features a 4-stage charge which boasts no danger of overcharging, so you can use it as a trickle-charger to keep your battery topped up, as well as bring it back from the dead. Its lights show you if you’ve connected the polarity up the wrong way, what stage of charge you’re at and what voltage you’ve selected. The only gripe is its 6V/12V switch which sits really recessed and is fiddly to change, but if you’ve only got one vehicle, it’s not like you’ll be needing the switch that often.

Price: £47.99
What's in the box: Charger, cable with crocodile clips and quick connect trickle-charge wiring
Max amp output: 1.2A
Cable length: 465cm

Battery Tender Waterproof 800

Popular in America, the Battery Tender’s big sell is that it’s waterproof and insulated against cold temperatures, so ideal if you keep your bike outside. It features a 3-stage charge including a trickle chargers. At 800mA it has one of the lowest outputs here which would mean a car battery would take time but it won’t struggle to charge a bike’s battery . It has reverse polarity protection, so it won’t spark or be damaged if you hook it up the wrong way. One drawback is that it won’t recover a battery with a voltage under 3V, but that’s way past the decline of a normal ‘flat’ battery.

Price: £44.99
What's in the box: Charger, cable with crocodile clips and quick connect trickle-charge wiring
Max amp output: 0.8A
Cable length: 465cm

Datatool Battery Conditioner

Datatool’s Battery Conditioner is a three-stage charger with built-in trickle charge once the battery is fully charged. It will detect and guard against reverse polarity. Its lights show that power is on, when reverse polarity is detected and the three levels of charge.

Price: £49.99
What's in the box: Charger, cable with crocodile clips and quick connect trickle-charge wiring
Max amp output: 1.2A
Cable length: 455cm

Halfords Fully Automatic Battery Charger

Halfords Fully Automatic Battery Charger

This one’s a bit of a bruiser in both size and output; the Halfords Fully Automatic Battery Charger weighs a hefty 3.7kg and has a maximum output of 7.5A, the second highest on test. It has two modes, one at 1.5A and one at 7.5A so it’ll work for bikes and larger capacity batteries too. You can also switch between sealed and standard batteries. It’s a 2-stage charger and will trickle-charge once the battery is fully charged. Although there’s no reverse polarity indicator, it won’t apply power until both terminals are correctly wired up. It’ll charge your car well too but its biggest shortfall is its cable length, at 2.75metres it’s just too short.

Price: £39.99
What's in the box: Charger with hard-wired crocodile clips
Max amp output: 7.5A
Cable length: 275cm

Optimate 4

The Optimate 4 is billed at being rainproof but not waterproof. It features a test stage when the battery is first connected to see if a really flat battery can be recovered. When charging the three modes are Standard, Turbo and Pulse, depending on the battery’s level of charge. The Pulse mode will break down the build-up of lead-sulphate crystals which can cause a battery to die. When charged, the system will trickle-charge. The lights on the charger indicate reverse polarity, the amp level currently being applied and the charging stage. The charger will automatically switch off after 48-hours of charge.

Price: £54.99
What's in the box: Charger, cable with crocodile clips and quick connect trickle charge wiring
Max amp output: 0.8A
Cable length: 420cm

Oxford Oximiser 900

Oxford Oximiser 900

This is Oxford’s most popular charger. It has a 900mA output which will cope with small car batteries but nothing larger. It features a 3-stage charging mode, including a trickle charger once the battery is fully charged. Its digital display shows the current amps and voltage being applied and the battery’s current level of charge. It also features a warning light should you connect the battery up the wrong way. At 3.1m, it could do with having another metre of cable but is does come with a wall-mounting bracket.

Price: £39.99
What's in the box: Charger, cable with crocodile clips and quick connect trickle charge wiring, wall-mount bracket
Max amp output: 0.9A
Cable length: 310cm

Ring RSC508

Ring RSC508

This is the test’s big bruiser; the Ring RSC508 is not only physically large but it also has the largest output at 8A, and will charge batteries up to 220Ah, so it’ll cover everything from motorcycles to lorries. It features 7-stage charging, from desulphation to trickle charging. Its basic LED display shows the current amps and volts being applied, as well as the battery’s current charge level. Built-in fans keep the charger cool while it’s applying the maximum charge. It has a built-in hook, handy to help keep it off the floor when charging or when storing. Although it doesn’t have a fly-lead to easily hook it up to your bike, it’s definitely the one to get if you’re charging a range of batteries.

Price: £54.99
What's in the box: Charger with hard-wired crocodile clips
Max amp output: 8A
Cable length: 350cm