Help Needed Comparing Batteries

[swr1977]

The time has come for me to change the battery on my GL 1000. Prices vary a lot between brands and whether it's AMG or gel and I'm not sure which one to buy.

My questions are:
If I switch to a gel battery do I have to change my alternator or anything else?

What brands are good? Which brands are garbage?

With a gel battery, if it dies, can you get a jump-start without hurting the it like you can a standard battery?

Below are a few examples of what I have found:

KMG YTX24HL-BS AGM Battery $67
http://pages.ebay.com/motors/link/?nav= ... 61&alt=web

Caltric ?AGM/Gel? BATTERY $69
http://pages.ebay.com/motors/link/?nav= ... 36&alt=web

Mighty Max Gel Battery $90
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.vi ... 68&alt=web

Bikemaster TruGel Gel Battery $129
http://pages.ebay.com/motors/link/?nav= ... 28&alt=web

NAPA Power Sport Batteries $161
http://www.napaonline.com/napa/en/p/SBB ... 0360274945

Yuasa Batteries
http://www.yuasabatteries.com/vehicle_s ... howListing

[WingAdmin]

You can use an AGM battery in your bike with the existing stator, no problem - and in fact you'll likely get better performance and longer life.

My next battery will be a MotoBatt - based on the research I have done. I would recommend having a read through these two articles in the Reviews section:

What brand of AGM battery is best?

MotoBatt MBTX20U Review

[harvey01]

I would urge you to download and read a copy of the Technical Manual found on the Yuasa website. It is chock full of info on batteries in general. http://www.yuasabatteries.com/pdfs/TechManual_2014.pdf

As noted in Wing Admins post, the website for Yuasa can also guide you to the recommended battery for your bike. And any alternatives they recommend.

I bought a NAPA AGM battery for my Honda CBX about 6 years ago and the battery still works well. I realize it is near the end of its life but it has done well in a bike that was/is not run regularly. I have used a Battery Tender on it over that time but not constantly.

Yuasa batteries generally have lasted me 5 to 7 years so they are my battery of choice. I bought the NAPA battery when I worked there since I had a great discount---made it the cheapest.

[golden highway]

I have used Chrome in a few bikes. Great battery and if there is a problem the company will stand behind there product.

http://chromebattery.shopgate.com/item/3733

[swr1977]

Thank you very much WingAdmin, harvey01, & golden highway for your advise & links. I'll take a look at all of them and let you know what I decide in the coming week. Anyone else with advise/comments or other links please share!

SWR1977 (Shawn)

[dingdong]

Whatever you purchase it would be wise to purchase locally or a brand name that can be serviced locally in case of warranty problems. Good luck!

[harvey01]

I have not purchased a battery locally since 2003 at NAPA! I have maintained 3 bikes during that period and never had a warranty problem. Just keep the sales slip, initialize the battery correctly and buy from a responsible online supplier. I would be very wary of an ebay seller as opposed to an established online dealer.

[wing rider 2012]

From what I've researched about batteries, I think my next battery will be a MotoBatt also.

[swr1977]

You can use an AGM battery in your bike with the existing stator, no problem - and in fact you'll likely get better performance and longer life.

My next battery will be a MotoBatt - based on the research I have done. I would recommend having a read through these two articles in the Reviews section:

What brand of AGM battery is best?

MotoBatt MBTX20U Review

From what I've researched about batteries, I think my next battery will be a MotoBatt also.

From what I've read and your recommendations and being that there is a battery dealer storefront less them 1 hour away from where I live (in Granite Falls, WA) that carries the MotoBatt battery for my Wing ... http://www.motobatt.com/index.php?route ... del_id=447 I'll be going to purchase it tomorrow. I did get my battery to work today but after following the instructions in the Technical Manual http://www.yuasabatteries.com/pdfs/TechManual_2014.pdf that harvey01 posted I've determined that the battery in my Wing (purchased by the PO) {no idea how old it is} ... it's only at between 50-75% voltage. Also while trying to star my Wing this-morning it died (charged it before trying to complete Voltmeter Test)

If you are wondering about cost... Battery Systems of Everett quoted me $143.95 for the battery and $29.99 for there brand of batter tender.

Those of you who haven't purchased this brand before (like me) ... I'll post how it works out for me later this summer!

[Bluewaterhooker0]

I think you generally stick with what has provided you good service. I'm coming up on 4 years with a Yuasa AGM and the bike starts and runs just like the day it was new. That includes an episode of a dead alternator running the battery down to near zero, well, low enough that the bike just quit running. I put it on a battery tender within a few hours of the event, and it seemed to leave no lasting ill effects. That was over a year ago. As it seems most of these batteries only have a 1 year warranty, I'm not sure of the benefit of purchasing locally, over online. If it were a 3 year warranty, then I would definitely purchase locally.
Good luck with your new battery. That one seems highly rated.

[swr1977]

I think you generally stick with what has provided you good service. I'm coming up on 4 years with a Yuasa AGM and the bike starts and runs just like the day it was new. That includes an episode of a dead alternator running the battery down to near zero, well, low enough that the bike just quit running. I put it on a battery tender within a few hours of the event, and it seemed to leave no lasting ill effects. That was over a year ago. As it seems most of these batteries only have a 1 year warranty, I'm not sure of the benefit of purchasing locally, over online. If it were a 3 year warranty, then I would definitely purchase locally.
Good luck with your new battery. That one seems highly rated.

I'm purchasing locally for the convenience of returning it if I need the warranty (2 yrs) otherwise I could get it $30-40 less!

[Ed Brock]

I sure others know this bit of information. NAPA batteries have been made for the last 10 years by Excide. They use to be made by Interstate. Big Time Battery is an excellent company. They offer a 3 year guarantee on a lot of their batteries. Most places only offer a 1 year prorated warrantee. Yuasa makes an excellent battery, hard to beat their quality.

Think of a AGM battery as a update to what was common 20 years ago. A gel battery, depending extreme cold weather like 20 degrees, can be an issue if your bike is parked outside for several hours. I know the battery companies claim cold weather will not affect a gel battery. In some cases, it will. It depends on how long your bike has sat outside in 20 degrees AND the wind. Take the wind chill affect away and your gel battery will do much better.

I have only once bought a Lithium battery as an experiment for our Cavalcade. I bought the best battery at the time, about 6 years ago. In warm weather it worked great. Lithium batteries, if you get one made with lithium from South Korea, they have the best Lithium, are excellent and what I'm saying does not apply. I liked the VERY light weight of the battery as in the Cade, the battery sits up high in the right upper faring. My problem with the Lithium battery showed up about 6 months after I bought the battery. Again, per the manufacture, a Lithium battery, back then, was not suppose to be affected by cold weather. The manufacture had several warning on/in the battery that before attempting to start your bike in very cold weather you need to "warm" the battery up. You "warm" the battery up by turning on the electrical system, not cranking, for 2-3 minutes. THEN, you push the starter button. Well, in 20 or 35 degree weather, even blocking the wind you drain down the voltage by "warming" up the battery. Now you run into a low voltage situation and your bike will not crank fast enough to start. At 2-3am that is a serious problem.
Ed

[AZgl1800]

Lithium batteries are a No No for outdoor cold weather use. Not worth a damn for motorcycles as just previously mentioned.

My 1800 has an AGM on it, and a Battery Tender charge port connector peeking thru the side panel.
I very religiously plug that BT in when I put the bike away. Failure to do so, will result in a non-start condition in about 3-5 weeks depending on temperatures. ( I have an Analog Voltmeter wired direct to the Battery: need to move that to the Accessory Terminal )

My Suburban is used infrequently, I have a Solar Charger laying on the dash plugged into the Cigarette Lighter socket ( socket is hot always ) and that keeps that battery at around 12.6ish ....
I should get bigger Solar Charger so the battery is topped at 13.3 but it is what I have now.
I have a dedicated Battery Tender under the hood of that truck for cold weather, I plug it in religiously, that tops the battery to 13.x

I have a WindyNation Deep Cycle battery here that is meant for Off Grid Use.
( it is for my RV TT )
It can support huge cycles provided, that the battery temperature never drops below 70*F

Their documentation is excellent, these things are meant to be used in Series/Parallel configurations to achieve what whatever DC voltage you need to use. But, the maximum voltage is limited by what your Solar Cell bank can put out and the Power Manager device you choose.....
I have a 200 watt Solar Panel and the matching 10 amp Charge Controller.

I am using that battery everyday to water 30 new trees here on our acreage..... in lieu of the Solar charger, I am using a 1.25 amp Battery Tender.... it does the job, but it takes it about 12-18 hours to top off that battery.
Whereas the Solar Charger can put out 10 amps during full sun, and the Charge Controller controls how much current the battery gets, and when to top it off.

As we always water just before dark, the Solar Charger won't work
So, the BT fills the gap quite nicely.