Hi Antonye,thanks for the reply.
To answer your questions,yes the battery had been on charge,it lives on an optimate! But i don't think it could be down to that,as it has been on the optimate for the 6 years that i've owned the bike(from new)! I had taken the optimate off,unlocked the chains/locks,put the bike on the drive(good airflow),gone to put my leathers etc on before going to start the bike! All of this means there was about 15-20 minutes between removing the charger & starting the bike,enough time for any gases to disperse? Also i've done exactly the same loads of times before!
The battery level was on the maximum line & the vent pipe is clear!
I've spoken to Jeff at JHP(they maintain my bikes),he says that he's seen batteries distort but he's never seen or heard of one exploding in such a way!
I'm going to fit the later gel type battery(along with regulator etc)to try to prevent a repeat performance!
18-May-2004, 15:06 
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