Hi everyone:

Writing to you from beautiful Mancora Peru!

Before the border with Peru, I went ahead and changed my oil as well as decided my failing Yuasa battery was due for a replacement.

I ended up replacing it with a 12V 10-AmpHour battery from a manufacturer named Yoko (Chinese). This is one of those "add acid every so often; but it'll be hard to check the levels when its in the bike, and maybe you should have bought a nice new maintenance-free AGM battery before you had left the USA; but you didn't and now you're stuck with me" models.

In any case, I waited the 3 hours recommended by the shop owner after adding the acid to take off. Rode about 3 hours. I have a Datatel voltmeter and while riding, I saw the battery hitting 14.1-14.4V. This new battery measures 12.7V without key inserted, and 12.0-12.1 when key is inserted and turned to ON.

I arrived in Mancora, Peru, a beautiful stop along the coast. When I was checking out places to camp, I was turning off the battery a few times (I recall 3-4 times). On the 4th or 5th start, the battery seemed to struggle mightily to start and I feel if I asked it to start again without riding much... it would be the end to the battery. This little problem could be quite annoying if I want to check out a few places before staying somewhere, or if I want to run a few small errands around town.

I'm concerned about the bike as I'm about to get to the really remote sections of the trip (Bolivia, northern Argentina, Chile). I'm thinking I should just buy a new AGM battery for a ridiculous premium down here, but at least know that I have a good battery.

1) Shouldn't I be able to get 7-10 cold starts on a good battery?
2) Where can I find a AGM or at the minimum a Yuasa battery between here in Mancora and Lima (I think I'll be fine at least to Lima).
3) Any recommendations of a good electrical mechanic in Lima? I'd like to verify that it's the battery and not something funky with my charging system.
4) Bonus: Any recommendations on where to buy a 150/70R-17 dual sport tire in Lima?

Many thanks in advance!
=David

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Hi I'm David; headed to South America via a Suzuki V-Strom 650.
http://www.davidparkinson.com