[gcribbs]

I'm refurbishing an 05 SV650s and need a new battery. Can anyone
recommend a better than average battery?

 

[jbswear]

The best battery on the market is the cheapest you can find + a battery tender. This cheap battery will outlast the "best", most expensive one you can buy if you don't use a battery tender on it.

 

[Currently]

Yuasa ... same that came with the bike.

 

[sdobbs20]

i'd go with a Yuasa. that's what goes in most bikes.

 

[Anger]

I'm refurbishing an 05 SV650s and need a new battery. Can anyone
recommend a better than average battery?

Call your local NAPA. Seriously.

 

[FatCat]

Napa 740-1866 is a Yuasa YTX12-BS

 

[Desmo Demon]

The topic of batteries comes up fairly often, so I have a response that I simply cut-and-paste instead of having to retype everything....

I'll waste my breath, as I seem to do on every forum when the topic of batteries come up.....

From 1987-1993 I worked to Yuasa-Exide Battery in Sumter, SC as a production operator in several departments and then as an Engineering Technician the last two years I was there. We manufactured batteries with the brands of "Yuasa" and "Exide" but also *lesser quality* brands as Challenger. The thing is, all of these batteries came from the exact same batch of batteries. They went through every aspect of the manufacturing process, side-by-side, until the "Formation Room". In this department, the cells were filled with acid, charged, and then put through at least one discharge test that determined their quality.

The discharge test was a quick draw-down of the cells, and every few minutes, the operator would go through the circuit with a hand-held multimeter and check the voltage across each battery. Depending on the battery's voltage at a given time, it would be deemed as good enough quality for Brand A, Brand B, Brand C, Brand D, or as scrap.

Now, most circuits of batteries that were being charged consisted of 18-96 batteries. The operator started at one end and worked their way through each cell, calling out the voltages, as another operator wrote down the numbers. The draw-dawn tests were a short period of time, such as fifteen minutes, so if the operator started on one end of a 96-battery circuit, by the time he reached the 96th battery, it would naturally be much lower than the voltage of the first battery he read. Now, take into account illegible hand-writing and water smearing the ink on the paper (there are shower heads constantly spraying water on the batteries to keep them cool), and you have a lot of good batteries being started as bad, when in fact they may have been better quality than the better branded ones. After the ranking of these batteries from the draw-down tests, they were separated after being recharged and sent to shipping where they were cleaned, had labels slapped on them, and boxed for shipping.

So, I tend to buy the cheapest battery I can find and often buy off-brand batteries from places such as www.ebatteriestogo.com . I've owned and seen a LOT of crap Yuasa, Exide, and Interstate batteries that couldn't hold a candle to most of the cheaper batteries I've owned. If not anything else, for the going price of an OEM Yuasa battery, I can easily buy 2-3 cheaper brands that will far outlast the life of that one Yuasa battery.

Ok, continue preaching how great OEM and Yuasa batteries are. I'll go back to surfing....

 

[jbswear]

Nice.

Likewise, I stick with the cheapest I can find and keep it on a battery tender.

 

[02SVSRIDER]

When my battery finally dies I'm going to replace it with another YUSA.

Bike is a 02 with 38,000 miles and the original battery.

I've never put it on a tender, bike is stored winters with the battery in it and every spring it starts right up. I've drained it several times by turning on my parking lights by mistake. I've only had to charge it once and it was my own fault (parking lights again) Other times I just jump it and the 30 min ride home is enough to charge it.

 

[ironguy]

I had to get a new battery too, after getting some advice from this group I went with motocross...its made by yuasa...but less expensive...no issues so far (knock on wood)

 

[SDRider]

When my battery finally dies I'm going to replace it with another YUSA.

Bike is a 02 with 38,000 miles and the original battery.

I've never put it on a tender, bike is stored winters with the battery in it and every spring it starts right up. I've drained it several times by turning on my parking lights by mistake. I've only had to charge it once and it was my own fault (parking lights again) Other times I just jump it and the 30 min ride home is enough to charge it.

I find this hard to believe...

I use a battery tender on my bike about once a month and it never takes more than about an hour to return it to full charge. I had an old Honda prior to this bike and ran it for almost a year without ever putting a battery tender on it and when I did finally get one it took almost 12 hours to bring it up to a full charge (I had replaced the battery shortly after I bought the bike).

For the $30-40 a battery tender costs it is cheap insurance that I will get the most out of my battery.

 

[Zach]

The topic of batteries comes up fairly often, so I have a response that I simply cut-and-paste instead of having to retype everything....

2 problems

a: 15 minutes is not that long of a time for a charged battery

b: the odds of finding a "good" battery by a discount brand is much lower than getting a "bad" battery from a name brand retailer.


2 battery options for the SV: Yuasa or Yuotta

as in, yuotta bought a yuasa.

My battery is the original yuasa. never seen a battery tender or charger in 6 seasons. Been run dead on multiple occasions, jumped, and charged right back up. Stored every Oct/Nov and starts the bike up just fine come march.

guess I got a "good" one

 

[daviddowns2000]

Now, most circuits of batteries that were being charged consisted of 18-96 batteries. The operator started at one end and worked their way through each cell, calling out the voltages, as another operator wrote down the numbers. The draw-dawn tests were a short period of time, such as fifteen minutes, so if the operator started on one end of a 96-battery circuit, by the time he reached the 96th battery, it would naturally be much lower than the voltage of the first battery he read. Now, take into account illegible hand-writing and water smearing the ink on the paper (there are shower heads constantly spraying water on the batteries to keep them cool), and you have a lot of good batteries being started as bad, when in fact they may have been better quality than the better branded ones...

Pretty scary! You would think someone in QC or management would have realized the stupidity of doing it that way....do you know if they still test them like that and is that the standard procedure for the industry? I guess the really bad ones would be obvious regardless of where they were in the sequence, but not a good way to separate the good/better/best.

 

[dan46n2]

My battery is the original yuasa. never seen a battery tender or charger in 6 seasons. Been run dead on multiple occasions, jumped, and charged right back up. Stored every Oct/Nov and starts the bike up just fine come march.

guess I got a "good" one

I had a very similar experience with my first (stock) battery. It finally died after 6yrs, never saw a tender once.
With what I put it through, I was happy with paying my local dealer for another Yuasa battery- and now I use a tender (although its more for the DRZ).

 

[Tweeksta]

My orig. battery took a **** so I bought a yusa and a tender. I hard wired the tender to the battery so everytime my baby girl gets parked, I hook her right up. Never had a problem since. Battery + tender.........priceless!

 

[tcl]

My original yuasa lasted me 4.5 years, sitting in the NY cold over the winter, never on a tender. I bought the same to replace it.

 

[SVSmiles]

Haven't had to replace my bike battery yet but being it is the original one from '03 I'm sure I will do sometime soon. As far as batteries for vehicles, I usually go to the Interstate house and ask for a blem battery. They are way cheaper and my mechanic and I have not had a problem with them lasting for years.