"mm" wrote in message
...
In terms of not damaging my motorcycle battery, which must remain
outside but unused this winter, is there a real difference between my
1 amp battery charger that I got used from my 80-year old cousin in
1967 versus the new ones they sell now that say they regulate the
voltage as the battery reaches full charge?

Is there a benefit to me to buy one of the new ones, when the old one
still works fine.

snip

Get an Optimate II, it also includes a de-sulphate charging mode and
constantly checks battery condition when left on charge.

My spare bike didn't get used since the previous MOT, and although the
battery was new for that MOT the bike had not been started once in a whole
year, when I got the bike out for the last MOT the battery was nearly flat
and just starting to sulphate - a couple of days on the Optimate and the
bike started first time.

Any good battery maintenance charger should do something similar, the
Optimate uses a combination of current limiting and voltage limiting to
recover sulphated batteries and continually charge without excessive gassing
(electrolyte loss).