6 volt battery box
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The original Lucas battery was mounted in full-view just under the front of the seat on the left side of the bike. If you have a later model bike where the battery was safely hidden away in the larger ‘tool boxes’ then you can probably skip this bit. However, the externally mounted battery on the Matchless and AJS models up until the mid-fifties is such an integral part of the way the bike looks that it is important to get right. Now looks aren’t usually the first thing I consider when working on my old bike as there are many more practical considerations and limitations to keeping it on the road that usually get in the way first. Absorbed glass mat (AGM) VRLA batteries.Valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) batteries.The article contains the following topics (click to jump straight to a particular section): It is written with specific regard to my 1951 Matchless G3LS, but as the same batteries and carriers were fitted to many British bikes of the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s it will equally well apply to most other makes and models. This article is a summary of what I found, some of the possible options and what you should look for if you’re also replacing your classic motorcycle’s battery. I would also be able to order one of the dummy battery boxes from a supplier back home in the UK so that I could get the bike looking a little bit more original without the bright red modern Exide battery box on its left side.Īs it turned out there are actually quite a few different battery options and selecting the most appropriate requires a little knowledge of batteries and of the original Lucas types fitted to such classic motorbikes. Here in Hong Kong I figured I would have access to a greater range of batteries. There wasn’t exactly much choice in batteries and whilst converting to 12 volts helped, it was really just a case of finding something that would just about fit within the battery carrier. I bought the Exide unit a year or two ago when I was back in India after the previous custom-made 6v unit failed after only 6 months. The existing Exide motorcycle battery I have installed on my Matchless G3LS doesn’t seem to be holding charge as well as it did, so I figured it was about time I replaced it with something that looked a little more in keeping with the rest of the bike.