VTRsurfer

A question mainly for original owners. How long did your factory installed battery go before you replaced it? Mine is 5 1/2 years old now, and I'm thinking of replacing it for preventive maintenance.

My experience with car batteries over the last 10 or so years has been that they often go out all at once with little or no warning, and I don't want to get stuck away from home.

I ride my bike several times a week when it's not raining, so I've never had to put it on a charger.

lazn

Depends on where you are and where you store your vehicle.

In AZ a battery tends to last about 2 years max if the car is parked outside. My bike battery lasted longer (pre A123), but it always lived inside when not ridden.

VTRsurfer

Car batteries here in Southern California go 4 to 5 years, on average. I hear what you're saying about AZ. Wet cell batteries don't like extreme heat or cold.

On previous motorcycles I've owned over the last 30 years, most wet cell batteries haven't gone more than 2 years or so, with one lasting about 5 years on my '83 BMW R100RS.

This is my first experience with a gel battery. My bike is garaged, and like I said, it's ridden regularly so I've never had a need to put my charger on it.

And I've always used Yuasa, except one time when a guy in an accessories shop talked me into an off brand that had a longer warranty, for my Beemer. It ended up leaking acid due to a crack in the case. Then the a-hole said the warranty didn't cover a cracked case. I left the leaking battery sitting on his counter and walked out. He was out of business a few months later.

So, I think I'm talking myself into buying a new one.

8541Hawk

Well my original battery was still going strong after about 6 1\2 years but then my R\R went and as it failed open I cooked the battery.

Of course I did ride it practically everyday.

Now if you only ride once in a while and let it sit without a tender for more than a week or so, I don't think you would get near that life span.

But as you ride it often, you should have good warning of it getting weak before it just fails on you.

Though a new battery never hurts........

So I guess my answer is "Hell if I know"........lol

matt365

I think I've got the original Yuasa YTZ-10S in my 929, and it's 10 years old. I've owned the bike since Sept. 2004, and thats the battery I got it with.

Its in the house on a charger periodically through the winter; I've been concerned with it too, but its never let me down.

smokinjoe73

I usually buy the new one when I am suspect of the old. You can always just wait & keep the new one charged at home. You will get a warning. It wont crank over quite as strong.Usually on the first start of the day. It is amazing that you got that long out of that battery.

E.Marquez

My 1998 SH (built in Japan Jun 1997) had the OEM Battery in it until DEC 2010. The Tender plug got pulled while the bike was in storage for my deployment. as such it sat for 7 months and drained it self to death. Did not recover upon my return and charging attempt.

VTRsurfer

Yeah, a complete drain over time is the worst for a battery. But 10 years is pretty phenomenal.

When I was teaching we had several shop cars that I used for various demonstrations, including a '95 Vette and an '82 Trans Am with manual trans. The batteries on those would go stone dead from sitting, then I'd put them on a slow charge for several hours. This happened several times a year, until I started doing a rotating charge every couple of weeks. But even then, with their limited use, if one of those batteries lasted 4 years it was a minor miracle. 2 to 3 years was more the norm.

Oh, and using a tender was out of the question, since students in the night classes, taught by a different instructor, would steal anything at times.