I'm sure this has been brought up many times but battery technology is moving along all the time, as well as everybody's experience, so what are the latest battery recommendations for our bikes?
I'm getting a Shorai LFX18A1-BS12 next spring. Stock vs. Shorai 10Ah vs. 18Ah CCA 215A vs. 270A 4kg vs. 1kg
Tried a couple of brands on my 999 over the years and have gone back to Yausa. Cheapest I found was MDS batteries at Enfield, they also sell through Amazon who don't charge £7 p+p, cheaper than ordering direct from MDS.
So Yuasa is still the default, value for money, dependable choice. Enormous weight saving with that Shorai though...
Ive used the shorai for a couple of years now . When I first got it I couldn't believe how light it was I was actually surprised when it started my bike up . Needs a dedicated charger to go with it though . There more than the shorai on the market now. Though Lipo is the way ahead for lightness .
I thought you just had to avoid using pulse charging with a Shorai, otherwise any ordinary smart charger is ok. Is that wrong?? After all, it's still going to get charged by the alternator in the same way as any other battery...
Q. Can I use Lead-Acid battery chargers or charger/tenders? A. Yes. HOWEVER, you may NOT use a charger/tender if it has an automatic "desulfation mode", which cannot be turned off. If you are storing your vehicle and want to check the remaining capacity, or you're a racer with a constant-loss system, you'll want to know how resting voltage (i.e. with no load or load under 200mA) maps to remaining capacity. LFX batteries should be maintained such that 20% capacity remains at minimum, as best practice. Use a good-quality voltmeter to check remaining capacity, and consider recharge whenever the battery capacity falls to about 50% remaining. Of course, if you get the Shorai dedicated BMS01 charger, you can just hit the "Store Mode" button and leave it to do the work for you. The above is taken from the Shorai website.
Theres always a more difficult way to do it . Ill stick with the dedicated charger that way it wont end up fu**ed. Japanese engineering and components. Can be charged with standard Lead-acid battery charger (must not be used with a 'maintenance' or trickle charger) Alternatively, use Shorai's dedicated Charger
For what it's worth, I've just fitted my 749 with a Motobatt MBT12B4, £49. Can't comment on how well it performs over the years
I got a yausa from MDS battery's in Enfield too. You simply poor the water (acid) in yourself which is dead easy to do and leave to stand for a while as this will warm the battery up. I left mine over night and fitted to the bike the next day and all has been well ever since. Small tip I picked up over the years is not to stand a battery for long periods of time on a cold concrete floor as this will discharge it.
I thought the main reason for leaving the battery to stand upright for 24 hours is for the acid to absorb fully into the glass fibre, so it doesn't leak when you stick it in its side. No?
Plus one for mds. Be uber carful after filling up the acid and sealing the battery. I put one on too early and it leaked acid all over the swing arm and it was a right mess. To be fair it was a gsxr so it got what it deserved!!
I ended up getting a Yuasa. Had a strong recommendation for Motobatt but they seem to be the Marmite of batteries. People seem to love them or hate them with quite a few reports of them dying for no reason. Similar problem with LiIon, lots of people say they are great but a bit fragile if not cared for well and also poor performance when cold is a common complaint. Yuasa seem to be the boring but safe option and I could buy one locally for less than 52 quid. Motobatt are 11 ah and 150 cca but Yuasa are 10.5 ah and 220 cca, which is great. Strangely, the advertised Yuasa specs are 10ah and 180 cca but the packaging tells a different story. It was simple to load the battery with acid, which comes in a multi-nozzle container you just stick in the top, leave it for a while and then seal it up. Job done. Hardest part is getting the battery back in the holder! The rubber liner just wants to fold up all the time, making it impossible to get the battery back in properly. I gave up in the end and used a couple of sections of bicycle inner tube as a substitute. Anyway, the Yuasa and piggybacked cables combined did the business and the motor fired up immediately and I can use my existing charger! Btw, after firing it up, I ran the motor till the fans cut in and then a little longer, in order to try and make sure it was all nice and hot
I'm also thinking about replacing my (999S) battery with the Yuasa, my existing battery has shown a couple of faults through the trickle charger lately and is only showing 11.7V before starting ,is this normal?...,always seems to start though and once started voltage jumps up to 13.6, not sure of its age but its been on the bike at least for the 3 years I've owned it,is it just a case of swapping batteries in the usual way?...ie. nothing needs resetting after fitting except the clock time.
Just the clock. When I've taken the battery out, I've had terrible trouble getting it back in though. There's a rubber insert in the battery box and it won't allow the battery to slide in without catching, distorting and folding up, so the battery fails to go back properly. I tried using thin metal blades and all sorts but to no avail, so I ended up leaving the insert out and using a couple of lengths of bicycle inner tube, slit down their length, with one vertical, one horizontal. Seems to work... Maybe the last person to take the battery out managed to distort the insert and I'm unlucky. What I didn't try was using grease or other lubricant, like soapy water - maybe that would be the answer. 11.7 doesn't sound quite enough after charging but if it starts ok...
