Battery questions

Hey guys, looks like I'm going to have to buy a new battery for my bike; current battery won't hold a charge after sitting in the shed untended over the winter. There are no stickers on it anywhere that I can find. How do I know which battery to get? How many CCA do I need for my 1100? Amp hours? I know Len has them, but it seems more convenient to buy one in town if I just knew which one I needed. Advance Auto Parts website says it has a maintenance free battery for $100, and another battery for $60 (another $10 for the acid). These two batteries supposedly are for my bike ('82 XJ100) but other than the size, they have basically nothing in common. One is 340CCA and 20 amp/hr and the other is 260CCA and 10amp/hr .... what do you guys think? Wallyworld's website won't let you filter easily, and their "battery finder" only goes as far back as 84.

 

when i needed a new battery i jsut went to advanced auto, and they were abel to look up the size i needed, i also didnt have any stickers. they also filled the acid and charged it up for no extra fees. id check out your local parts store. i also checked walmart but they book of batteries didnt go back to 81...

 

Nobody?

 

This is what u put in my Maxim;

http://www.batteriesplus.com/product_se ... --15L.aspx

Never again will I go back to a acid battery.

 

The 340 CCA will probably be better since its AGM type. Looks like it only has a top mount, but there's probably an adapter available for side mount.

I would try it, return if you don't like it:


http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp ... fragment-2

 

Looking at a new battery purchase as well. Went to Pep Boys... they were very nice and willing to look through their catalog, but I left there without answers. They had 3 batteries at different price points (1 @ $40, 1 @ $85 & 1 @ $100). The one @ $40 was the acid type... it comes empty and you have to fill and charge it yourself before install. The other two looked exactly the same. There were no markings at all and no one there could tell me what the difference was or why the price difference between the two. I also got the shrug when I asked about cold cranking amps...

I clicked on mtnbikecrazy55 's link above... Turns out there is a "Batteries & Bulbs" store pretty close to me. Three different batteries in stock... the listings say that they all will fit my 85 XJ700. Probably going with the Duracell (DURAGM-15L-US) @ $85.49 if the physical size does indeed fit in the bike. CCA:220.

 

You'll not regret getting an AGM battery instead of the lead/acid ones.
Keeping in mind you need a charger that's designed for them as well, with 3 or 4 stage charging.
I've been running one in my 81 Maxim for 3 years now - still going strong.

 

So then the standard float charger from Harbor Freight wont do? I have 2 of these little guys... both on car/boat batteries of course - See link: http://www.harborfreight.com/automatic-battery-float-charger-42292.html

 

the manual says for lead acid and agm batteries.

CN

 

MOTOBATT MB12U AGM



This is the best battery I've ever had - it's AGM, a perfect fit for the XJ650 Maxim and just bad-ass. Never put it on a tender - left the bike for 3 days once and it took a long time to fire up but the battery just kept cranking out the power till it fired. I've never had to charge it but I do ride at least every other day except the 3 day event mentioned above.

For $80-$90 it's the best investment on the bike I've made and six months later it's still just as strong.

http://www.amazon.com/MotoBatt-MB12U-Factory-Activated-QuadFlex/dp/B003YMSDJQ

If you have a BMW motorcycle dealer in your area then they should stock them too.

One thing to note that got me at first was all the picures you'll see of this battery show the positive terminal on the right and neg on the left which is wrong for our bikes - however - it's ok as the battery has terminals on all four corners so you just unscrew the connectors and move them and turn the battery around.

 

I have to agree. I work at AutoZone and the AGM batteries are just superior, especially for bikes because vibrations don’t bug 'em a bit.



We can look up the correct battery quick on our znet program. I’d fly into an AutoZone and get one of the batteries in the black/gold packaging; they’ll go a long, long time for ya.

 

bikemaster makes great bike batteries too. and they carry a 2 year warranty. I could not find any warranty info on the motobatt.

CN

 

Nuch, just purchased an AGM battery from these BatteryStuf.

http://www.batterystuff.com/powersports-batteries/sYTX14AHL-BS.html

They seem to have the best price on the Scorpion brand batteries. I am very happy with mine. I also bought a 4 state battery charger / tender 1.25 A from Homedepot on black Friday. Couldn't beat the price, not even on eBay. Unless, you ride ever two or three days, it is recommended to use the float charger. This may extend your battery life by two to three years.
Just keep it hooked up and leave it until the next ride.
As far as your charger, it will work. I have two of them but now only use my Battery Tender 1.25A. If the battery discharges for any reason, your charger should work, but it will take much longer to charge it since your charger is only a .5 A charger. It is better suited as maintainer than a charger. Another thing to keep in mind about these charger / float tenders, most have protection in case you hook the leads to the wrong poles. In order to do this, they have circuitry to test for a certain amount of positive voltage from the battery before any current is sent to the battery. I think the battery has to have at least 3 V of charge. Therefore, these chargers will not work on any dead battery having a charge below that threshold level. This has lead some people to erroneously think the charger is defective when they try to charge their completely dead battery.

 

Good and correct information.

 

battery questions............battery answers
http://batteryuniversity.com/

 

Awesome info! Thanks for the replys... Much appreciated.

 

Hey, that's a cool freaking page.

 

good price for a battery, but they only offer a one year warranty. they seem pretty proud of that fact too!

CN

 

Good point about the warranty. Hadn't noticed that before. I guess, like anything, you get what you pay for. I suppose with the other brands, you are paying more for the extra warranty. I'm sure they are all good batteries.

 

That's the one bad thing about autozone AGM batteries: they are only 90 day warranties. Sucks, but they are really good batteries.

 

i don't know if it would fit but
http://www.batteryspace.com/sealedleadacidbattery12v17ah204whs.aspx

 

even though I had a problem with a bikemaster right out of the box, I am fairly certain I won't need to use their two year warranty again. but if I do, I know it's covered.

CN

 

I bought an AGM for the FJR for just $42 off E-Bay 3 years ago - still going strong !