Team, need your help. As i recently put my 1991 900 ss back on the road, i noticed that the "no maintenance" 10ah yuasa battery struggles to start the bike even after a good few hours of charge. My thought on it is that the battery is simply underpowered being only a 10ah. I begin by saying that i am on original leads and therefore i wanted to buy a new battery but i am a bit confused on what to get and therefore any suggestion will be appreciated. i had a look at a similar yuasa 12ah but i am aware some of you may use lithium batteries or old acid ones. Has anyone else fitted one of these Halford available yuasa no maintenance? will 12ah be good or should i look into getting something in the region of 14/16ah? I am also not sure the battery casing will accept anything with a greater width of 86mm (but i may be wrong).
you're a bit confused!? - i'm a bit confused as lacking in confidence after reading all your post, but have just confirmed (as charging two in the living room!) that YB16AL-A2 is the std battery for your bike, the "16" bit is in Ampere hours, not sure where you got the 10ah bit from..
...and 'cold cranking amps' (CCA - higher the better) is what you really need to look at for starting performance, not the continuous drain or charging rating of 'Ah'... I'd be grabbing some of Exact's finest battery/starter leads or equivalent to help things along as well....
Sorry, i really don't follow what your are saying. I bought the bike second hand and it has a Yuasa battery fitted, displaying 10ah. It is NOT the YB16AL-A2 but a YT12A, that struggles to start the bike. The rest of my topic is clear i believe?
Thanks Keith, i am also looking into replacing the leads. I admit i suck when it comes to electronics but it shouldn't be that difficult to replace.
I personally opted for lithium as these batteries provide a serious amount of extra CCA compared to « standard » batteries (not so much after the weight gains, myself, given the road only use I have of my bikes). That and Mosfet regulator/rectifier and bigger starter leads and cold starts become considerably easier.
I've used Odessey battery's, and they have bags of power. Thinks it's the PC680 you would need. Lead acid but much better cranking. Upgrade cables too
i've looked without success for a picture of a 1991 SS with the tank removed but the above is very similar and the standard battery box shown is identical apart from side extension mouldings trimmed off either side at factory. The standard battery for the above, and your 900SS, is a 16 Ampere Hour type, albeit an old-fashioned lead type, and there is adequate room for a similar 16 Ah battery of a later type. i.e., the change from 10Ah to 16Ah you suggest is just re-instating what was already there as std unless your bike has been modified as regards the battery box?
Hi Chris and thanks for your reply. That looks very similar to what I have on my SS (battery box). I am at work at the moment but I will try to take a picture this evening once home. I agree with you that by fitting a 16ah I would just go back to what it was recommended and probably standard battery on my SS. The problem is that the previous owner fitted a smaller yuasa, showing 10ah which makes me believe it is underpowered considering the struggle to start the engine. I am only trying to understand if I am better off buying directly his original 16ah yuasa, or if there are better options with stock leads. I am a bit paranoid with acid filled ones as I had a leak in 2006 on my ducati M900 and it corroded the frame as I did not spot the leak straight away.
I don't blame you for being concerned after an acid leak like that but from my own experience, i've not yet had a battery that's been to blame for this. It's never happened to me in person although I was lucky enough to catch an overcharging regulator on a Monster once. I've bought many Monster/SS with acid-stained frame tubes and the first thing I do is either improve upon or totally remove* the inline connectors for regulator and alternator that live near the front, lower, L/H side of the bike frame. I'm sure members will add their recommendations for Lithium/Gel etc modern replacements. Watch out for the yellow Motobatt type regarding leaks, because unless they've improved the casing spec, they were prone to fracture damage resulting in leakage when first on the market. *Removal is drastic, and wouldn't do this now, but it worked in removing the main problem where both of these can become corroded and/or overheated creating a current/voltage-carrying problem that can result in the regulator failing by under or overcharging the battery.
agree about the moto batt batterys put one on my ss ie was great power turning over etc never had a problem luckily when it split it wasnt on the bike at the time or would have caused quite a bit of damage performance yes would buy another casing issue really is an issue though
