From:Harry McGill e-mail:Two-Wheeler-Harry-A-juno.com
Subject:RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: Batteries Date:Fri Aug 17 12:29:14 2012
Response to:17712
Indian Battery. Haven't tried the 4.5 ah here yet may be able to incase 3 for 13.5 ah. However the PW 9.5 has served us well over the last 20 or so years.

Harry

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Indian Battery

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Power Wheel 6 v, 9.5ah (RED) batteries can usually be found at "Toys R US" however I use Google and search Power Wheel 6 volt battery and get a array of locations and prices. Same for other Gel Cell batteries.

Use the various MFGs find their Web site to get a listof all their Gel Cells and complete details of phyiscal sizes, ah and voltage.

For the Hummer H-3 I use a different battery, found at our local Electronics Supply (photo) two of these fit perfectly in a H-3 Case, connected in parallel for 9 ah. Photo

Harry

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Harry,

Back in the day, there were all sizes of batteries - Indian used short fat ones, while Harley used tall skinny ones. If all the motorcycle manufacturers could have agreed upon a few standard sizes back in the 30's-40's-50's, we might be able to get real batteries today. But they didn't, so we can't.

So where can you buy this "Power Wheels" gel-cell that will fit a Model125/165 ?

Dave


P.S. Harry and I go way back. Harry lives in San Diego, and I lived in Maryland. The first bi-coastal Hummer Happy Hour was held in Pacific Beach, CA back in 2000 at - of all places - Hennessey's Tavern! Kim Traicoff, Harry McGill and I met there for food and drinks, and then Harry invited my girlfriend and I into his home to check out his Indian 4 and various Hummers.

Afterwards, we drove from TJ down to Ensenada, Mexico on the coastal road - some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever seen - the road snaking between the lush green mountains and the blue-green ocean - if only we had been riding a motorcycle instead of a rental car.

Heck, if I could afford a home on Coronado, I'd move to San Diego today...


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On 8/16/2012 7:18 PM, Hummer Exchange wrote:
> NAME: Harry McGill
> EMAIL: Two-Wheeler-Harry-A-juno.com
> DATE: Thu Aug 16 19:18:20 2012
> SUBJECT: RE: RE: Batteries
>
> Actually there are quite a few 6 volt Gel Cell batteries available in various sizss and amp ratings. I use a Power Wheels 6 V. 9.5 ah inside my old Indian cases and they work great. Four to five years with little to no maintenance. It is the same height and length as the H-3, the width is a little smaller. So it will not fit in a H-3 case but someone could figure something to do with it.
>
> Harry
>


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Actually there are quite a few 6 volt Gel Cell batteries available in various sizss and amp ratings. I use a Power Wheels 6 V. 9.5 ah inside my old Indian cases and they work great. Four to five years with little to no maintenance. It is the same height and length as the H-3, the width is a little smaller. So it will not fit in a H-3 case but someone could figure something to do with it.

Harry



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How many amp-hours?

The original H-3 batteries were probably 12 amp-hour. But like Backyard Bob (and John Fairgrieve in a different thread) says, the battery is only used to give you enough juice to get the bike started***, and to run the lights when the bike is not running.

6-volt batteries are pretty rare now. Years ago, you could find a suitably-sized 6v lead-acid battery for your bike at the "battery warehouse", but since almost everything converted from 6v to 12v back in the 1950's and 1960's, today nobody makes any lead-acid batteries of the proper size.

Fortunately, many of the "Exit" signs in commercial buildings have a 6v gel-cell battery to keep the sign lit when the power goes off. Why 6v? No idea, but thankfully they are. So that's what we're using in our antique bikes - "Exit" sign batteries - because that's about all that is available today in 6 volts.

The gel-cells don't last very long, but they're cheap to replace and readily available. And they fit. Another alternative is the 6v "lantern" batteries, but they're getting harder to find (and more expensive).

I use a gel-cell in my Henderson - magneto ignition and battery-generator lighting. I think it's a 4 amp-hour. We're all pretty much in the same boat.

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*** Even with a totally dead battery, a generator will make enough juice when spinning to start the bike IF there's enough residual magnetism left in the generator's field coils/pole shoes. Kick-starting may not get the generator spinning fast enough, but often push-starting will work.

Alternators don't have "residual magnetism". You can push-start an alternator-equipped bike only if there's some juice left in the battery.

Dave



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Batteries used to be a simple thing.
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