Need to buy a motorcycle battery in Tunisia - but from who?
 

Hello All:

In early April 2020, I evacuated from Tunis, Tunisia during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, and I left my Honda ST 1100 motorcycle behind in secure storage in Tunis.

I doubt that I will be able to get back to Tunis before October this year (at the earliest), and it is probable that the battery on my moto will have perished because it has been sitting for more than half a year without being hooked up to a battery maintainer.

I've done some research to try and figure out how to buy a replacement battery (a Yuasa YTX14H-BS) for this moto in Tunisia, and have come up empty-handed. I doubt very much if I would be able to carry a new battery with me when I fly into the country - even if I purchased a newer-type sealed or gel battery, I doubt that the airline (Tunisair) would accept it on board the aircraft, even if DGR permitted it and I provided all the appropriate paperwork.

Does anyone know of a motorcycle dealer or parts supply organization in Tunisia - preferably in Tunis - that I could contact to order ahead of time and pick up when I arrive a Yuasa YTX14H-BS battery? This is an uncommon battery size for North Africa, the Honda ST 1100 (PanEuropean) being an uncommon motorcycle in north Africa. I doubt that anyone would stock it, but I am hoping to find an organization that could order one for me.

Michael

Would you have a better chance of travelling with just the lead and not the acid part of the battery, expecting that you could get battery acid more easily than the battery itself in Tunisia?

Or fly into Sicily and buy it there. Only a short and cheap ferry ride from Tunis.

About ten years ago, I put my ST1100 in storage for about five summer months. Didn't disconnect the battery. Didn't put it on a tender.

Came home, turned the key, pressed the starter. It turned a little more slowly than normal, but fired up and ran fine.

It was a Yuasa battery which was about a year old at the time, to the best of my memory.

Jamie

Michael, happy to hear you managed to find a secure place for your vehicle.

i can help buying the battery, PM me and i will try to find the right battery for you here in Tunisia.

My suggestion would be to put the battery in your check-in luggage, why should there be a problem ? As suggested here already, just don´t fill in the acid before travel, there is absolutely no danger involved which would be also easy to explain to the staff at the airline.



Another option would be to buy any random battery with the right capacity in tunesia and improvise to attach it somewhere on the bike + install longer cables to get you home. You could even strap and regular car batterie on the rear rack, there is always a way. There are plenty motobike shops in Tunis, if I were you I´d just show up there and let them figure out a solution. I bet a crate of beers that they will find one, don´t worry !



Greetings
Chris

Hi Saharansky:

Thanks very much for your kind offer of help!

I'm not sure when I will be able to return to Tunisia. I'd like to visit again this fall, but it appears that Canada is on the list of countries that the Tunisian health authorities require visitors arriving from to quarantine for up to 14 days (7 days if you take an optional test a week after arrival). I'm not sure why this is, because we have a very low infection rate in Canada, but I do respect the decisions of the Tunisian health authorities - Tunisia also has a very low infection rate.

As soon as I know when I plan to return, I'll contact you by PM. It would also be great if we could meet up for a coffee (2 meters apart, and wearing masks :) ) when I return. FYI my moto is in Tunis.

Michael