Bad Battery Warning

[1BigDog]

The picture didnt come out but this battery from Batteries Plus stores is plain crap. I bought my first one last year and right out of the box it had a bad cell. They replaced it and off I went. 8 Months later it dropped another cell. My charging system was working fine but I went ahead and repalced the starter solenoid just in case. Sat morning we headed out to Daytona and stopped for gas about 5 miles from the house. Went to start it and poof...nothing. Trailered it home, pulled the battery Sunday and took it to Batteries Plus today. Yep, dropped another cell. He also informed me that it was out of warranty but he will honor it since I had such bad luck with it. I had him credit me and special order a stock Yuasa, which will take a week to get in. Only cost me 10 bucks difference. Local Yammie dealer wants 135 for his.

 

Bottom line, while Batteries Plus bent over backwards to accomodate me, their batteries aint worth the plastic theyre wrapped in. Their Oddesy batteries were 169.00 so ill just stick with the Yuasas now.

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.batteriesplus.com/products/59-CC/5380-Motorcycle-Batteries/340611-Yamaha/2007-DASH--DASH-1996/XVZ1300-Royal-Star/images/Product/icon/32753.jpgXtreme Permaseal High Performance AGM Jet Ski, Powersport Battery - XTAX20HL-BS

[Tartan Terror]

Your better with the Yausa battery anyway. I had a Oddessy and it is junk. Others on here like it but when I sat down and actually looked at the cranking amps and other data the Yausa is a much better battery. Get the High Performance version.

 

 

I used to deal with batterweb.com and while they are good Ive had to warranty 2 batteries and its just a PITA. I got the last one locally and it was worth not having to play the UPS game and just call if there was a prob. Got the last one from Napa.

[Venturous Randy]

There are a lot better deals on Oddesy and other gel batteries than that, delivered to your door. I think I got mine from one of the hot rod catalogs for a little over $100.

RandyA

[LilBeaver]

I went with an Interstate battery that I picked up at my local Sam's club for ~60 bucks. It is an AGM; same specs as the OEM battery. It also has a 1 year warranty (I think).

 

Thanks for the heads up though Ruffy

[Snaggletooth]

Check out this thread on batteries. Good info and it turned up a great battery. The Deka ETX18L is for the 1st gens and the ETX20L is for 2nd gens. This is an AGM battery that out performs the Oddessy by quite a bit and far cheaper.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=33375&highlight=deka&page=4

 

I think it was $82.95 including shipping. I bought one, Condor and a few other have to. I got mine in April and it has been put through the wringer all summer. I ride my bike on my work route and it gets started 20 to 30 times a day. All weather.

 

The day it arrived it showed 12.8 volts right out of the box. Sat on a shelf for two weeks and still showed 12.8 the day I installed it. I installed a digital volt meter in the dash and every time I hit the key it shows 12.8 or better. Everytime.

 

The bike sat for the last 3 weeks in my garage with a problem and in temps down to 32 degrees. When I got it fixed up the volts still showed 12.8 and fired right up.

 

I'll say it's the best battery I ever bought and the by far the cheapest.

 

Get ahold of Josh at:

 

http://www.bohannonbattery.com/html/deka.html

 

He can fill you in on the details, but I got so say it's the best quality and price out there right now.

 

Tell him Snaggletooth sent ya. If you have any questions shoot me a PM.

Edited October 19, 2009 by Snaggletooth

[Condor]

DITTO ON WHAT SNAGGLETOOTH SAID.... I had problems with a couple of Odysseys and wasn't too happy the way the distributor handled the warantee. Ran acrosssed a post about the DEKA and decided to give one a try. Absolutely no complaints. I still have a couple of good Odysseys sitting in the office and will use them, but once they're gone....they're gone. I'll never buy another.

[footsie]

Have always had the best luck with the factory Yuasa batteries, my 97 Valkyrie and Karren 96 magna, have only had one battery each. I sold them to family or friends so I know about them.

 

The pervious owner put a different brand in my RSV, but I will change it back at the first sign of a weak start.

 

In the past I bought other brands thinking they were cheaper, but they onlt seemed to last a year or two and then you had to buy another one.

 

Put a Yuasa in and forget it for about five or six years.

 

Gregg

[Aussie Annie]

Yep, Yuasa over here too

[Bubber]

I have a question or multiple questions maybe.

 

I keep getting the impression that there are different styles of battery's

 

Gel..... I assume that they have a gelatin type liquid in them

 

Lead acid.... typical automotive lead with acid configuration.

 

AGM ....????????

 

Are there others???????

 

Does someone have a good handle on these to give a much better explanation than what I just did?

 

Thanks much!

Steve

[Condor]

I have a question or multiple questions maybe.

 

I keep getting the impression that there are different styles of battery's

 

Gel..... I assume that they have a gelatin type liquid in them

 

Lead acid.... typical automotive lead with acid configuration.

 

AGM ....????????

 

Are there others???????

 

Does someone have a good handle on these to give a much better explanation than what I just did?

 

Thanks much!

Steve

 

AGM stands for Absorbed Glass Mat, and sometimes mistaken for a Gel battery. So far the AGM's are the best affortable bang for the buck in battery technology.....

Here's a good explanation of the difference...

http://www.batterystuff.com/tutorial_battery_gel_agm.html

[Bubber]

So from what I gleamed from the threads is that motorcycles should use the AGM type battery, is that correct?

 

And you need the correct battery charger that matches the type of battery you have?

 

Steve

 

Copied from battery site:

Determine what type of battery or batteries you will be charging. Maintenance Free, Wet Cell (flooded), AGM (absorbed glass mat), Gel Cell or VRLA (valve regulated lead acid). In most cases one charger will work for all types except for Gel Cell. However, some of our Gel Cell chargers will work well with the other battery types.

[Condor]

So from what I gleamed from the threads is that motorcycles should use the AGM type battery, is that correct?

 

And you need the correct battery charger that matches the type of battery you have?

 

Steve

 

Copied from battery site:

Determine what type of battery or batteries you will be charging. Maintenance Free, Wet Cell (flooded), AGM (absorbed glass mat), Gel Cell or VRLA (valve regulated lead acid). In most cases one charger will work for all types except for Gel Cell. However, some of our Gel Cell chargers will work well with the other battery types.

 

Yep, On the charger you'll need is one that will never go above 13.4 VDC to prevent gassing...those tiny bubbles that appear when charging a wet cell.... What happens is the bubbles have no place to go in the gell because it's so thick, and end up suspended between the gel solution and the lead plates. When that happens the electical ions can't transfer from the plate to the electrolyte gel and the battery is basically FUBAR.

[Bubber]

Well I learned about a whole bunch of stuff today.

 

Now I can tell my wife I am not the "know-it-all" she said I am cause I am still learning stuff.

 

Will wonders never cease? Thanks Condor.

It is all your fault too! Now I could be more dangerous that she said I am!

 

 

Steve

[Condor]

Well I learned about a whole bunch of stuff today.

 

Now I can tell my wife I am not the "know-it-all" she said I am cause I am still learning stuff.

 

Will wonders never cease? Thanks Condor.

It is all your fault too! Now I could be more dangerous that she said I am!

 

 

Steve

 

Dang, what have I gone and done.......................

[pick]

I folowed the battery thread from a few months before and dealt with Bohannon battery. I think I paid around 82 bucks shipped to the door. About three days. so far I am very pleased with their service.......

[Snaggletooth]

From my experience the AGM technology is the way to go. I've had my Deka since April and have found no reason to even think about hooking up the battery tender. It sat for three weeks in temps dropping into the 30's and it never dropped below 12.8 on the meter.

[1BigDog]

Just ordered the Deka battery from Bohannan. Since they are in the same delivery area they said I should get it overnight. The Yuasa from Batteries Plus is still in transit and wont be here for at least another week and the weather here is picture perfect with temps in the 70's. Since it was a warranty claim and I only had to pay a 10.00 difference ill just hang on to it as a spare. Sure do hope this was the problem.

Thanks for the replies.

 

Heres the link again: http://www.bohannonbattery.com/html/deka.html

Edited October 22, 2009 by Ruffy

[aharbi]

Your better with the Yausa battery anyway...

 

I replaced mine this summer before an extended ride from Texas to Montana and back just to be safe. It was orginal with the bike and 5 years old but not a problem with it. I figured if it lasted that long why change? I went with another Yausa.

[Snaggletooth]

Hey Ruffy.

 

I know you will be be happy with the Deka. You can't believe the cranking power these things have. On my '84 I had replaced the cables with the 4 ga., rebuilt the starter, replaced the R/R and installed the upgrade stator from Buckeye and it was good to go. With all the drain I'd had on the battery I decided to replace it and ran into the thread that I posted. Josh posted some pretty impressive results in the thread and the battery lives up to his claims.

 

I installed a digital meter in the dash to keep an eye on things and I was getting readings like I'd never had before. One major improvement. Over time you will swear the battery recharges itself over night.

 

12.8.... the magic number.

[rcdoc]

my batteries which are agm have lasted me over 5 years and now i will get more life out of them with an upgrade that i performed. you will notice brighter lights a stronger running engine due to the battery being fully charged and a charging system that can stay up with power demands. check out this link. http://eviltwinsbk.com/forumz/index.php?topic=276.0

[1BigDog]

Deka battery came today as promised. 1st thing I noticed was the heavy duty connection points. Battery was at 12.50 out of the box. Installed it and it fired right up. Signal Dynamics led gauge went to green in a few seconds. DMM showed it at 13.71 at 2000 rpm. Same at 3000 rpm. 12.75 when shut off. 13.70 at idle. WOOHOO....

[Snaggletooth]

Well there ya go! I knew you would like it. Now take it for a long ride and warm that puppy up with a nice charge and never worry about it again.

 

Spins that motor nice don't it?

[1BigDog]

Well there ya go! I knew you would like it. Now take it for a long ride and warm that puppy up with a nice charge and never worry about it again.

 

Spins that motor nice don't it?

I knew you first genners were good for something.........

 

Thanks for the link....Josh is a man of his word.

[Snaggletooth]

Ouch! Somebody has to have a solid bike to to carry the tools and jump start the 2nd gens. I got jumper cables to!