WTF - Watt the fock?

[popsbengo]

Rob is 100% correct. All the regulator does is switch at a target voltage. My standard regulator switches at 13.92V on bench test. The 'police regulator' ELA44410-2 will switch at a higher voltage which I believe to be 14.2 ± 0.1 V. Until the alternator rotor is spinning fast enough to create sufficient stator output there's no difference. What will happen is the alternator output will be higher voltage and that will drive more charging current into the battery so shorter bursts of higher revs will charge faster, however at close to idle there's no advantage. AGM batteries will benefit from an initial higher charge voltage when below 100% charged however there's the risk of overcharging as there's no 'smart' regulation to reduce the terminal voltage when the charge current/time is reached (unlike sophisticated chargers and regulators). Gel batteries are the Devils work for these motorbikes unless you think they are short term disposable items! BMW chose 14.0 volts as a good compromise between battery drain and overcharge gassing leading to battery damage.
PS; I'm an electronics engineer with many years of battery installation design experience on boats and industrial plant.

[barryh]

Gel batteries are the Devils work for these motorbikes unless you think they are short term disposable items!

True for a normal Gel battery but not so for Gel/AGM hybrids. I have such a battery that has so far lasted 8 years with the VR set to 14.5 volts. My battery was very clearly marketed as a Gel/AGM hybrid but I know that some other motorcycle batteries are labelled as Gel when in fact they are of hybrid construction if you dig deeper in the manufacturers information. I wonder if many Gel batteries marketed for motorcycle use are a plain old fashioned voltage sensitive Gel type these days.