jay956

well its that time of year again. nights are getting into the low 50s high 40s. and trying to start the hawk up in the morning is getting harder and harder. 100% sure there is no other electrical problems so lets just stick with the battery. my battery is one from batteries plus thats supposedly rated at 230cca, looks like most batteries are even lower than that, so maybe i just got a bad one. its also only about a year old (went through this issue last winter also).

anyway, im sure there are better batteries out there for cold weather. looks like the lithium ones work well, but dont want to spend $200. suggestions?

8541Hawk

Do you keep it on a battery tender?

RobtheDrummer

Get a maintainer, and keep it hooked up when not in use.

jay956

wish i could but thats not an option, i live in an apartment.

Tweety

Why spend $200 for something that costs $75? This thing will start your bike unless the oil is frosen solid...

lazn

QFT! seriously next motorcycle battery I get will be one of these.. I had a home made one on my VTR and it rocked. (and cost more to build than Jamie charges for his)

jay956

didnt know jamie was doing batteries. gonna look into that. wonder if the bigger one would be better if i plan on running accesories liked heated grips and such.

lazn

Do you plan on running them when the engine is off? Because while running the Stator - R/R do the work, not the battery.

But I'd get the "big" one just to hear the starter spin at a million RPM. lol

RobtheDrummer

You could always take it inside....but that might be a pain.

jay956

especially when you have 3 leads on each terminal....

Tweety

SB® Family

A set of short leads on the battery, and one bolted to the leads on the bike... Doesn't matter if it's a (S)LA/GEL type or a LiFePo type pack... It's still very usefull...

jay956

i have no idea what i am looking at here. could you elaborate on how those connectors work? or have pics of them setup?

Tweety

Well... The SB50 in the picture is rated for 250 Volts 50 Ampere, ie more than enough to handle the ~12V 25-30A current our batteries need to pump through on start-up... It's a battery connector, so it's non-reversable... Ie once you have gotten the polarity right on installation, it's impossible to screw it up on usage...

The image shows the connector on the battery, the "other end" is just an identical connector and two very short leads with ring connectors... Slide a piece of heatshrink tube over each, bolt it to the bike's connections and heat the tube... Now you can disconnect the battery in just the time that it takes to pop open the seat and battery tray...

On the batteries you buy from Jamie D, cut off the ringconnectors and replace with these, and get the same wire gauge for "the other end" and it's done... Or ask nice and it's probably possible to have them delivered with them installed all ready...

jay956

just ordered some. got 4 since it was the same shipping for 2, so if anyone wants a couple let me know.

mikstr

maybe look at a block heater

altosuperhawk

I finally replaced the OE Yuasa YTX12-BS in my '98 SH with a YTX14H-BS after a decade. The YTX12 is rated at 180CCA while the YTX14 is rated at 240CCA. Bike turns over with real authority now. Be forewarned that the YTX14 stands 5.75" tall vs. the OE YTX12 5.12" tall dimension- the width of 3.43" is the same as is the length at 6". I removed the pivoting plastic lid that covers the OE battery for added clearance- works fine with my Sargent seat. Another consideration is going to a lower viscosity oil- maybe a 5-40 like Shell Rotella Synthetic. As mentioned earlier a smart charger like a Battery Tender would also be VERY helpful.

VTRsurfer

For about 12 years I lived in an apartment, then a condo with no garage. I had the same problem. My batteries never went more than 2 years or so.

As Tweety mentioned, "unless your oil is frozen". You are using 10w40, aren't you? Anything heavier will be like glue at cold temps.

jay956

tweety, what gauge wire do you suggest i use with those connectors?

Tweety

Well, since you guys over on that side of the pond use an arcaic measuring system, which I cannot memorise, and since I'm to lazy to look up the equivalent size, you get ballpark size...

Basically the size of the existing connecting wires is about right... They are actually slightly oversized, but not to the point where it starts to cause parasitic loads... So whatever closest in size to the two wires to the stock battery ears are, or one size smaller...

And I really do recommend using multistranded copper wire, usually marketed as battery wiring or for car audio purposes since those are much easier to bend and curve than the coarser one's... Makes for a much simpler and nicer installation...

jay956

ahh yes after i typed my post i realized what i had asked was silly. us americans feel compelled to measure eveything differently for some reason.

good idea with the car audio stuff, the systems i have put into my cars do have very flexible wiring. i was wondering about fitting everything under there, with the stiffness of the wire and the connectors being a bit bigger than i had thought.

smokinjoe73

You could use a solar charger, they are simple & cheap. HF has a 1.5amp on sale right now. I dont think a bike battery will last long without periodic charging. You could get a 2nd battery & swap it bi-weekly keeping the other on a tender.

jay956

like vtrsurfer said, they usually last me 1-2 years.

smokinjoe73

Where do you park it? Street you could do a solar charger. In garages I have covertly tapped into light fixtures to run a descrete charging line. Or do the balance battery thing, one on charge, one in bike & swap. A bit of work but better than constant disappointment.

jay956

its just in the parking lot, and between the building and the trees it doesnt get much sun. once i get these connectors put on ill be able to pop the battery out and put it on the tender when im not riding.

smokinjoe73

You are gonna want to put some kind of strap or nylon webbing under the battery to yank it out each time since it is a bitch and a half to pull this battery with cold fingers without it.