[Spacecoast]

My 2007 is still on the original battery. It hasn't given my any problems and I usually hook my battery tender on it if I'm not riding. I'm thinking of replacing the battery soon, but curious as to when folks are changing out batteries. Also, any suggestions for a replacement? Thanks

 

[RMAN]

I changed out my original Yuasa after 7yrs. Never gave me any problems. It lasted longer than my Battery Tender. I bought another Yuasa.

 

[neimis]

I changed out my original Yuasa after 7yrs. Never gave me any problems. It lasted longer than my Battery Tender. I bought another Yuasa.

+1

 

[LKB3rd]

I've had good luck with Yuasa too.

 

[Spacecoast]

If the battery was to fail during a ride, can the bike be bumped started in order to get home?

 

[Rock Dodger]

If the battery was to fail during a ride, can the bike be bumped started in order to get home?

If the battery truly takes a dump, it won't make enough power to make the fuel injection work, so it won't bump start.

 

[TeeRiver]

The stock Yuasa in my '03 lasted 8 years. Any brand that can do that, I will buy again.

If the battery was to fail during a ride, can the bike be bumped started in order to get home?

It depends on the way the battery fails. As Rock said, sudden battery failure to zero volts (unusual, but can happen), you will be stuck. More common though is gradual failure, where the battery will not be able to supply 60amps to the starter, but will be able to send 5amps to the ignition and fuel injection. In that case, yes, you can bump start. If you get into this trouble, put the headlights on high beam and remove the high beam fuse to conserve power. Once running, switch to low beam if you need lights.

If you plan on finding yourself in a bump start situation (and I highly recommend it so you can report to SVR how long your battery lasts :evil6 it would be good to do some practice bumps. The SV will skid the tire in 1st gear; I have bump started in 2nd, and some folks recommend 3rd. Find a slight hill if you can, and give it your best shot on the first try because it sucks to try again after you are winded! ;D

 

[ym42]

I think that a scenario where your battery suddenly fails while you are riding somewhere is quite unlikely. What's more likely is if the temperatures get colder in the fall it might not start one cold night/morning, or if for some reason the bike does not immediately start it might not have enough juice to keep cranking. You can test the battery capacity by discharging it off the bike through a headlight bulb while watching the voltage, whe it starts dropping sharply you disconnect the battery and multiply the amp flow ( bulb approx amperage) by the amount of hours it was discharging until depleted. Then compare the battery original amp hours with the actual, and I'd say if it is drastically less, it might need to be replaced. My battery had only 45% a year ago but it's still working fine in my bike.

 

[Spacecoast]

If you plan on finding yourself in a bump start situation (and I highly recommend it so you can report to SVR how long your battery lasts )

Humm....something seems fishy here...

If you plan on finding yourself in a bump start situation (and I highly recommend it so you can report to SVR how long your battery lasts ) it would be good to do some practice bumps. The SV will skid the tire in 1st gear; I have bump started in 2nd, and some folks recommend 3rd. Find a slight hill if you can, and give it your best shot on the first try because it sucks to try again after you are winded!

I can imagine; its hard enough to back out of the garage...quick story...years ago (well, a long long time ago) I was trying to start a flooded 90cc dirt bike. When it started it immediately went into an upright position, full throttle. Somehow I managed to get it back under control and get back on. I could just imagine what the SV would do...

 

[TeeRiver]

it immediately went into an upright position, full throttle ...

Sounds like when I let Dianne Koerner ride my Yammie 100 when we were 11yo, no innuendo intended, lol!

 

[bcj]

OEM battery still in my k3. Not broke yet.

Kind of temperate out here in WA though.
Not a lot of really extreme changes in climate.

 

[Desmo Demon]

If you plan on finding yourself in a bump start situation (and I highly recommend it so you can report to SVR how long your battery lasts :evil6

I fried a stator and the bike died on me about 160 miles from the house. The wife's R1 and my ST2 use the same sixe battery, so as my bike drained the battery, the R1 (carb'ed) would recharge the drained battery. I pulled the headlight fuse from the bike to make the battery last longer, and I made it 155 miles before the bike started to cough and sputter, and we swapped batteries, again.

The original Yuasa is still in my wife's 2000 R1 with 56k miles on it. I've had el cheapo (Adventure) gel batteries last more than 8 years without an issue. As others have stated, every battery I've had go bad on me was gradual, as turning the bike over to start it got slower and slower, and FI bikes had real difficulties in starting - so then I pass it over to a carb'ed bike for a few more miles before finally trashing it.

I used to work for Yuasa-Exide making forklift, golf cart, and emergency backup batteries. We sold our batteries under at least four different names, and they were all made on the exact same assembly lines and of the exact same materials and processes. The only difference was how they rated in a drawdown test and then we slapped the logo of the brand based on the results......which would differ depending n which battery you started taking voltage readings within the circuit. I wouldn't doubt it if I wrote another battery response on this forum before that went into a lot more detail on the testing and rating of batteries during a drawdown test....I typically buy the cheapest battery I can find.

 

[TeeRiver]

... I made it 155 miles before the bike started to cough and sputter, and we swapped batteries, again.

That is a clever way to get home.