While I keep my '06 999S battery topped up on an Optimate 4 I think I will go for a new battery soon and since these bikes can be a struggle to turn over at start up I was wondering if anyone knows of a battery they could recommend which has high starting crank power and is maintenance free? Thanks.
Odysseybatteriesonline - Home These guys are a decent weight, but very high Cold Cranking Amps. I have them on my Darmah and aslo the 900SS - no problems - but the comments re earth and live straps are the thing to check first !!
I have an Odyssey battery and heavy duty cables on my Imola, it spins over lovely even with Hi-Comp pistons. A far cry from when I got it with a stock battery and thin leads!
Noooo....... They all start first stab of the button......don't they. That's what I tell all my JILF owning m8's anyway. ;-) Anth
Thanks, I see that Odyssey do a PC 680 which has 680 cranking amps. I haven't checked that the physical size is right for my 999S but I'll take the fairing off tomorrow and check.
+1 on fitting a big lead set... I have the same battery I've always had, but now the bike starts instantly first push of the button, hot or cold, hi-comps & all! Upgrading your battery will only improve things if you can get those amps to the starter.
I checked the space available for the battery on the 999 and it's 150x130x73mm so the Odyssey is much too large.
Varta LF series YT12B-BS 190 CCA 151 x 70 x 131 mm Had one on my ST4S for ages & that plus bigger c/a cable spun it up like a goodun. Tayna batteries are a good place to go, very quick mail order and excellent customer service if you have any issues.
Plus one here for Tayna used them a few time and they price match ! If you order online go on facebook click like and get the promo code and save an extra £4.50 !!
I'v had one of these for two years now and I can't fault it. MOTOBAT *AGM* UPGRADE GEL BATTERY DUCATI 748 2000 >02 | eBay Steve.
Just fitted a shorai 18 amp battery to my 999R . Expensive but has a 3 year guarantee and it cranks it excellent , very quick , just left it for a week with no charge and it fired up straight away . I have a tracker on that uses power . The shorai is much smaller than OE but comes with loads of packing to fill the gap . The best bit is it is 7lbs lighter weighing in at 1.9 lbs as opposed to over 9 lbs on the OE battery. CARROT CYCLES - SHORAI LFX18A1-BS12 (18AH 12V) (CASE SIZE 1). Bought the charger, now just in case, as the optimate de-sulphates and the shorai cant take that.
I've a Motobatt AGM on my 748 and it's the best battery i have had on the bike. Needs about one charge on the Optimate over winter and its' raring to go again.
Thanks for your assistance everyone. First of all I took off the side fairing to get access to the battery and starter cables with a view to possibly upgarding the cables. I used the 749 service manual I have on my pc to delve into this. However, when it came to remove the cover which the battery sits in there were so many electrical parts attached to the back of it and it resisted lifting off the bike, it didn't seem too easy to get to the cables so I gave up. I checked out possible batteries available which would fit the space available, 150 x 130 x 73 'ish, and have quite high cranking amps and with the help of the responses and further searching I have come up with the following :- Yuasa YT12B-BS 10ah - 215 cranking amps, Shorai LFX18A1-BS12 18ah - 270 c.amps (very powerful, expensive, smaller than space available, lighter, can't be Optimate trickle charged) Westco YT12B-BS 12ah - 200 c.amps Motobat MBT12-B$ (AGM) 12ah 175 c.amps I would have gone for the Shorai except for it's cost so, in the first instance I have gone for the relatively cheaper Yuasa from Tanya. I'll let you know how it works out. Thanks again.
Thanks guys. Mine is dead so had to do some searching but already done for me Tanya replacement ordered.
All I use is a Yuasa OE spec battery with upgraded earth lead (Its off a VW Golf), YZF R1 rectifier and upgraded charging wiring. She starts first time, this little lot makes cranking pretty painless tbh. I have heard lots comments from my local dealer ref the lightweight batteries and their long life potential (or not according to their returns!) but could not justify changing. If it aint broke etc...
I must admit, up to when I put the bike away last May I never had a battery problem. So not being switched on for 10 months and being 5 years old, I can forgive it dying. So it's OE for me.
Just seen Pablo Pirate's post showing his much modified super light and checked the battery brand he used which I hadn't heard of before and Ballistic make a similar battery to Shorai, i.e. 275 cranking amps and much much lighter than the normal Yuasa. The new Yuasa I've just fitted seems to spin up the motor well, so will leave it in and see how it performs over this coming riding season.
Just put a second battery on my 998s, and it does spin up much easier, even with lights on (which was previously a definite no no). Weight addition may be an issue for some, but as I am carrying an extra5-6kg, then I will look to lose it there first. Only question woul be whether the alternator would be happy charging up twice the Ah capacity - we will see Pete
