Well after the issues the other week seemingly the duke needs a replacement battery? well at least its looking that way. Just wondered what battery you are running your 748 on, or if anyone has any recommendations?
Not necessarily. The later 748's were fitted with the smaller YT12B-BS sealed lead acid. Although somebody will be along shortly to recommend a LiFePO4 battery, Shorai etc.
Well I have one of these ( MOTOBAT *AGM* UPGRADE GEL BATTERY DUCATI 748 2000 >02 | eBay ) on my 748, had it on now for 18 months and never been on charge, plenty of power to start first time every time. It is slightly larger than the standard one so it will need the top clamp altering slightly but no problem. Steve
Also on my 916. Lightweight batteries have their place but big twins need good cranking power and I'm happy to carry that little more weight for the first-time start ability. I made a new clamp from stainless steel and had to take out the rubber tray to get a good fit.
Pixie, go for an AGM one but don't be fooled by the ebay adds that state AGM/Gel. AGM batteries are not Gel batteries they are simply sealed no/low maintenance lead acid batteries which contain a glass fibre sponge to absorb the acid. This holds the acid in contact with the plates better and improves the performance. The late model 748s had them fitted as standard. I had a battery damaged by a reg/rec failure, it ended up with a hole melted in the bottom of the case. As it was AGM it hardly leaked any acid but what came out left permanent speckled marks on the engine and frame. If it was a conventional one it would have caused a whole bunch of damage. All the decent manufacturers like Varta, Yuasa make AGMs and they are widely available. If you get the AGM specified for your bike most battery manufacturers supply them so they do not require mods to the clamp or battery box and should connect straight to the terminals on the bike. Also the battery box on the late models is the same as early ones except it has a inserted molding to fit the later smaller size AGM spec batteries. When you install it give it a full charge before you use it and keep its charge topped up with regular use of an appropriate charger.
I can recommend the Yuasa as fitted to late model 748. Mine is 10 years old next month and still going strong, never given any trouble at all and as said it will fit straight in with no modding of retaining brackets.
Anyone tried one of these? I have a larger one on my racecar, and its great.lightweight and really high starting power. I need one for my 748. Best selling Lithium battery - Ducati 748 748 S Biposto/Monoposto- 2001 - YT12B | eBay
I just put a the recommend Battery from Halfords @ about £40-ish, think it was a YUASA BATTERY YT12B - BS < would need to check - they have a chart in store. They were in stock. My 998 has been tuned so more compression etc and it works fine. If the 748 uses the same battery? I am sure it will be adequate. I was worried it would struggle. I did follow the instructions to a the letter, fill it then charge over night on a trickle charge (apparently) first charge is the most important. I've used the Odyssey Extreme Racing batteries on a (bike engine) race car which had raised compression (lots of ancillaries extra fuel pump, water pump etc... Not sure if they do an appropriate one for the Duke but they are much better at coming back to life than a stock battery when they go flat or left uncharged for a while. I think it was quite a different shape to the stock battery and was not actually that light. No real benefit. I think it would crank for longer. I do know someone who uses a lithium battery on a bike engine race car and he seems ok with it.. although it's possible some of these guys use slave batteries to start. I will stick with the cheap battery for now. I may re evaluate after winter when I go round the bike.
I have a lithium on my 848. That one states the "Best selling Lithium" but I have never heard of them, and when people make doubtful claims like that then I won't deal with them. The one I fitted was 3kgs lighter than the standard battery and has performed perfectly so far. I fitted it to try the technology and not to save the weight of 4 litres of fuel.
I have an odyssey battery on my formula ford and Elise, but they are the wrong size for the duke. The advantage of a Lipo battery for me is they recover if you let them go flat by mistake. If halfords do a £40 battery, I may get one just so I can go for a ride.
That was my thought, I needed to fire it up and ride it so it was a case of.where can I get a battery from that evening.. I think the odysey in the bike engine cars is a similar size to the dukes < may be wrong. They defo come back to life after being stood along time. I just hook my bikes up to an optomizer every so often now. Where did u race the formula Ford.. was it a turbo duratec version or? mono / historic Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
I have a 95 Zetec Van diemen which has been rebuilt over the last 4 years and it competes in a few sprints in the south. The lotus has taken over my racing and its currently winning the Lotus Cup Uk Speed Championship. I also have a classic Hawke DL15 formula ford in boxes awaiting a build up one day. Therefore my 748 has to remain a rolling project.
Congrats with the Lotus. I was talking to Bradley Hobday at Rockingham earlier this year. Nice guy. I recall he did quite well in Sprinting, Regional & British Champion single seaters?
Just picked up a yuasa yt12b-bs and its too small for my bike:-( The old one is a cb16al-a2, anyone know the equivalent yuasa number?
That is defo same part no as my 988 I'd be suprised if you physically needed a bigger one? If it does not fit, that's a pain. Halfords did have a check list near the batteries > model & year vs battery... My bike has had head work and starts fine with that battery. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk
Just get the riser from any ducati parts counter. Its the correct battery for your bike and later 748s had it from the factory and rather than change battery box ducati used a riser. You can see the part in the online parts catalogue
Should be a Yuasa YB16 AL-A2 (this is a normal lead acid battery that weighs plenty), not sure if the lugs are fully compatible with the later spec battery fitted with the 3ph 520w generators from 1999. Btw be very wary of lithium batteries, if they don't have an internal voltage control circuit you are likely to experience serious damage if the inevitable regulator failure occurs (I don't know of any 748/9xx that has not had a reg/rec failure). An uncontrolled lithium battery subjected to voltages over its charge voltage is liable to explode and/or catch fire. Lithium batteries are great if your bike has a charging system designed for them and the battery is a properly designed one with voltage control circuitry within the case. 748/916/996/998s need no excuse for the charging system to go wrong and they can fail to high or low voltage depending on what part of the reg/rec breaks down first
