Tested by Richard Newland for 4 months. Quality 5/5, Value 3/5. Bike batteries are getting smaller and lighter – but the stress our bikes put on them with ever-more powerful electronics systems and auxiliary add-ons is getting greater than ever. It doesn't take much to find you're out of juice when you hit the magic starter button. But if you don't have bike storage with mains electricity, what do you do? You get one of these. The whole unit is also IP65 rated, which means total protection from dust and low-pressure water from any direction. Safe to say you could leave the unit outside on the wall of your garage without worry. Charge the unit, and then take it on tour. Once charged, it'll hold its power for a year and will recover a dead bike battery enough to start your engine in around 15 minutes. The charge is delivered to your battery progressively, too – reducing the risk of jump-start damage. It's absolutely superb and really works. Yes, it's a pricey solution, but it works brilliantly and is invaluable if you're off the grid where your bike lives.

The O-ring connectors are a little useless for most modern cars, as they’re either too small, or you have nowhere easy to connect the negative too as there’s only a positive terminal. But the crocodile clips are well made and feel of high quality. However, they require very different charging characteristics, and as such, you should be careful not to pair the wrong charger with the battery, as this can have a negative effect on the battery and can even be dangerous.Tested by Richard Newland for five months across six vehicles. Quality 5/5, Value 3/5. Dead batteries are like flat tyres – utterly infuriating and one of the least glamourous replacement parts in biking. But critical to your riding pleasure. While you can't prevent punctures, you can prevent dead cells with a motorcycle battery charger and conditioner. A nicely sized, mains-powered device, you can indicate if it’s cold weather and the device will manage power delivery more intelligently to protect the battery. What’s more, there’s a choice of eyelet or crocodile connectors.

Once full, the charger adjusts automatically to 'long-term maintenance mode' and keeps the battery conditioned and topped up, ready to go next time the sun's out. It has reverse polarity and short-circuit protection to assist non-experts like me, and is even IP65 rated for all-weather use, which is reassuring if your garage or shed gets damp.Key specs – Size : 16.8 x 6.5 x 3,8cm (LWH); Weight: 0.6kg; Voltage : 12V; Max current: 5A; IP rating: IP65; Crocodile clips: Yes; Eyelet connectors: Yes; Mains or portable: Mains; Battery compliant: Lead-acid/gel/Lithium+; Stop/start compliant: Yes; Maintaining: Yes; Jumpstarting: No; Operating temp: 10-40°C The RSC806 is literally a plug-and-play sort of deal. All you have to do is connect it and the charger will regulate itself and adjust automatically to a long-term maintenance mode once the battery is full. STOP/START Supported FREE UK delivery applies to Zone A, UK Mainland England, Wales and Southern Scotland (Central Belt of Scotland) and Excludes surcharge post codes and areas. This smart charger from Ring does basically all batteries except lithium and features a seven-stage charging process that's supposed to be kinder on your battery. With that said, read on for our buying guide on how to buy the right car battery charger for you, alongside our roundup of some of the best options available.

Express delivery option to offshore, highlands and remote postcodes may take longer than the usual one working day. The surcharge may not apply to small items being sent via Royal mail or MyHermes etc... Where possible we will try our best to avoid courier service for surcharge areas.Instead of just putting a fixed rate of charge into the battery, the Ring RSC806 uses a seven stage process to look after your battery. Now low-power functions, such as the immobiliser, won’t have such a frustrating effect when you do come to start the car (after disconnecting first). What’s more, it switches into maintenance mode to protect the battery once it has been fully charged. From traditional car battery chargers to portable and solar-powered ones, there are options available to suit a range of budgets. However, buying the cheapest doesn’t always mean bagging a bargain. If you’re caught with a flat battery, the very last thing you want to find out is that the tool you’ve invested in to remedy the matter is a dud. Finally, you’ll want to consider the maximum current the charger can support (the higher the current, the faster the charge) and what IP (ingress protection) rating it has. This basically tells you how dust- and waterproof the device and device casing is. For instance, IP68 is a great rating: it’s a completely sealed unit that can tolerate being submerged in up to one metre of water. IP44 can protect against dust particles bigger than 1mm and a light splash of water. Can’t I just replace my car battery? But buying a car battery charger isn’t the most straightforward task. First, there are different types of car battery chargers to choose from. There’s also a choice of connectors, depending on whether you’re regularly maintaining your car battery or just recharging as a one-off.

The solution, of course, is to leave your bike with its battery on charge when it’s not being used. This is particularly true for bikes that are laid up for winter, and in this case, a battery optimiser/maintainer can be useful, as it not only charges the battery but it carries out a series of conditioning cycles. That sinking feeling when your engine won’t turn over is one of the most unwelcome of emotions, but almost every driver has been there at some point or another. While a call to your breakdown service wll fix the issue, the best car battery chargers can help you mitigate the disruption to your day, at your own will. It has a 6a output, which gives it a decent amount of punch when it comes to topping up low batteries in a pinch. My bike wouldn't start after a month of autumn inactivity, but a 30-minute top-up from the Ring charger had it firing on the button again. Lesson learned - just leave it plugged in.One point you should consider is what kind of battery your motorcycle uses. Lithium batteries are becoming more popular as they can offer better performance than traditional lead-acid ones.