Battery

To the battery industry a battery that reads 12v or less is considered a battery at serious risk (internal sulphation) and should be replaced.

 

Yuasa batteries are supposed to be good, well rated.

I think I'd be tempted by a gel battery next time. Currently got a motobatt in my Sprint, it's about 2 yrs old, and needs to be on the optimate when the engine isn't running, as the clock running kills it over a few days. Lol.

But, yeah... Your current battery is fookayed. (ha. Current! See what I did there?)

 

I put a lithium battery in mine saves a few kg and starts well !

 

i have had 2 mottobatts as I had heard good reports. both of them were knackered just after 2yrs old.
I have now purchased a yuasa hopefully will last better.
As for lithium unless space Is at a premium. I would just stick with the original as the cost vs benefits aren't good.
I have one on my harrier as it has been fitted with Estart so needed good CCA .
basically it a ytz7 size but licks out the same power as ytz14

 

If you have a mate with a smart charger that can desulfurization, i have had a 67% success rate reviving dead batteries, 6 years on my last yuasa after it went flat a couple of times. When it finally totally died i replaced the 10 lb battery with a 1 lb lithium ion, about $40 more.

 

unfortunately the price difference in the UK between Lead & Lithium batteries is much greater

 

I have two charger/maintainers. One is an optimate, and is for the Triumph. Never have a flat battery, as its on a support charge always, it cycles between standby and a quick top up. Bike is fitted with a clock which will kill the battery over time. So keeping it on charge is good. Similarly if you had a tracker/alarm fitted. Will constantly drain your battery.

The other one I got earlier this week, will do bike and car batteries, and is a C-tek 5. Really pleased with both chargers. Money well spent.

Look for the cca on the new battery. Amp hours is good, 14 is better than 12, but the cold cranking amps are important too.

 

I think one of the online sellers had a sale on on chargers, think it was M&P? Might be worth a look. I sign up for all the emails, never know when there's something I want. (and sometimes it corresponds with something I can afford.)

 

Interesting ....I've been agonising ( a little bit anyhow)....my Tiger 955i is still running well and showing decent charge on voltmeter.... but I don't know when it was fitted( bought this bike last spring) and it's my winter bike plus I'm off to Belgium in December...it can be bloody cold.
Looked at bigger capacity and also motobatt..but in the the end just replaced with the OEM yuasa.
I'm probably not understanding electrickery properly but I worried about stressing that sprag clutch with a bigger kick in the electric boot.
And my last Tiger was perfectly happy with the the standard yuasa.
But then I'm probably not understanding these spark things correctly.

 

Easiest way to explain amp hour is, an amp hour is the amount of charge in a battery that will allow one amp of current to flow for one hour. So, in theory a 100ah battery should provide 1 amp for 100 hours, 2 amps for 50 hours, 3 amps for 33 hours and so on, but there are limits to how much current you can draw, without killing the battery. So it makes sense that a higher AH battery will give you power for longer.

Cca, or cold cranking amps, is the amount of amps the battery can give at 0°F over a 30 second starting cycle, without dropping below a certain voltage (which I think is 8v, which sounds wrong given its a 12v battery). Its a manufacturer spec thing, but again more cca is always good.

If you have a battery fitted that gives, say, 100 ah, it will do no harm to fit one that is higher rated, and the same goes for the cca rating. The higher ah rating the longer it will provide a current, the higher the cca the more it will give you for cold starting. At the end of the day, it's still a 12v battery.

However, if you have a 100ah battery, don't go fitting a 400ah battery, as you would then need a bigger alternator or generator.

For example, my Land Rover is specced to have an 85 ah battery. I have a standard 16acr alternator. But as its bloody cold here in winter (as low as minus 20 pretty often, and been down to minus 27 in the last decade) I fitted a bigger battery, a 110ah one, with no issues at all.

It's not a problem with Tori (my Sprint) as she lives in a heated shed but I still have battery maintainence charger running. Keeping the battery warm helps a lot too... Dead cold flattens batteries.

If a battery tells you it is 12v when you test it with your meter, it's flat. Ideally it should show around 13v, and when the engine is running it should show around 14.5v at the terminals. If you don't see 14.5 (ish)v then suspect your charging circuits/alternator.

Does that make any sense at all? I'm not an auto sparky by any ways or means, it's just what I have picked up over years of owning old vehicles that need convincing to keep going! Hope it helps!

 

Its that time of year soon as the colder weather starts battery's start to give up the ghost once they have a couple of years on them and combine that with today's modern ECUs and its goodby starting.

 

I have a yussa on my 865 as well now I need a bit of wood. Its been on there now coming for nine years and still good. The thing I say over and over again get a battery charge it on tickler till fully optimised before fitting. Makes all the difference as your bike will mark battery level on fitting and only ever charge to that level.
Regards
Joe.

 

Where did you get your battery from Bassy?