I need to replace the battery on my Yam Ten. Is Lead/Acid still the way to go or has the tech on Lithium/Ion (Iron?) improved enough to make them essential? Brands?
Ta.

This ought to be an interesting thread!

Good question - there are pluses and minuses to either. Lithium-Ion's are getting much better fast.
FWIW - I recently bought a new battery for my R1200GSA - sealed lead acid = AGM or gel. Wet cells? WHY on earth would you do that?

Will this be the discussion that makes a third item in the Which Oil / Which Tire endless debate?
Let the Which Battery war begin!

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

I have used Odyssey batteries in my BMWs for years and would not go back to lead acid, they maintain their charge for months even when left outside through the winter, have far more power for their size and last a lot longer.

AGM batteries if you ever plan to crash your bike--or drop it hard--and/or aren't very good at watching water levels in multiple cells while trickle-charging all winter. I'm never going back to wet cell batteries, and haven't seen any reason to try gel batteries.

About brands, I haven't a clue.

Edit to add: Forgot about the Li-ion issue. I haven't yet been convinced of the need to spend extra money on a battery which I can so easily destroy (by running it down) and which forces me to buy yet another battery charger as well. But that's just me, and I need the extra calorie burn from hauling a heavy battery around with me.

Using gel, very satisfied compared to wet lead - acid.

Looking at Li - ion for next change. saving in weight / power, I hope!

We have a winter lay-up, the salt on our roads eats bikes, esp. electrics.

Peter, in Oslo

Just like an oil thread: depends on use.

If you use a charger check it's compatible with your choice of battery.
Look at what deals are on offer.
No point buying something fancy if you'll sell the bike next year.

I ride the CB500 all year (only charges off the engine, never topped up, just key and go) and can't see how saving a few pounds in weight will change very much. Lead acid is cheap and cheerful as far as I'm concerned. The battery on the CL is just a buffer between the alternator and electrics!

Off road I might be tempted by AGM for less worry when dropped.

Andy

Another vote for Odyssey. I've had one for about six or seven years and never had an issue with it. Keeps its charge when forgotten about over the winter, cranks the engine over faster than regular lead-acid and doesn't need any special chargers or warm up or anything. Ok, it's a bit more pricey than most of the rest - and on that basis alone I took some convincing to buy it - but it's been worth it.

Downside is they're only available in a number of physical sizes and on two of my bikes there isn't one that'll fit the battery box, but for the others it's the way to go.

Thanks for the replies so far. Unfortunately, Odyssey don't do a straight swap for the Ten. I've read mixed reviews on Motobatt: any thoughts on those? They are about half the price of Yuasa, are they half as good?

Well, this thread went nowhere!! I guess that's the pernicious influence of Facebook. Anyway, I went for the Motobatt in the end; half the price of the Yuasa and working great so far. Early days, but I'm a convert. Happy trails...........

Well there you go - I'd never heard of Motobatt - and they look good!
AGM I assume? Or did you do one of their Lithium batteries?

thanks for reporting back!

__________________
Grant Johnson
Seek, and ye shall find.
------------------------
Inspiring, Informing and Connecting travellers since 1997!
www.HorizonsUnlimited.com

Well I hope the OP and his Motobatt live happily ever after. Years ago the bike battery world used to be a fairly simple place to navigate - avoid anything made by Lucas or Exide and buy Japanese, which back then used to mean Yuasa. These were all wet cell lead acid tech as that was all there was.

Now though the market has expanded so there's a whole load more choice - wet cell, gel, AGM, and recently lithium in its various forms - ion, iron etc. How you chose between these is beyond me so my fallback position is to choose based on a whole bunch of prejudices built up over time and experience. With batteries it comes down to something like:

1. My bikes are all quite elderly so cutting edge tech such as anything with lithium in the name is out. I seem to vaguely remember that they cost a fortune, need specialised charging both on and off the bike and don't perform well in cold weather so I don't want any of that.

2. Wet cell lead acid is cheap which is good, and a known quantity which is also good but need topping up and can also boil dry, thereby dumping acid all over various bits of the bike. As I currently have two exhaust systems with acid stains on the chrome I'd prefer to avoid that, so not my first choice.

3. AGM and Gel. 'Middle tech' in my mind. Other than a sticker on the side is there any functional difference between them? There probably is but whether it matters I'm not certain. They're all just sealed boxes with a couple of terminals. Sealed is good though as no topping up and, as yet, I've not had any leaks from any battery of this type I've bought. They are more expensive than wet cell though, plus I've had two of them fail instantly - i.e. start the bike fine and be completely dead a mile later. Was that down to just buying cheap as the Odyssey battery seems to soldier on. How much of the difference is down to construction standards. Again Odyssey stands out but the rest of them could just be different 'manufacturers' stickers on the same Chinese internals for all I know.

So how do I choose? Firstly I suppose, find something that actually fits - both physically and with regard to electrical characteristics (cranking amps etc). Then look at cost and juggle that with whatever prejudices I have for or against a particular manufacturer and supply company. Do I perceive them as producing quality or tat or having good / bad after sales? Warranty isn't that much of a factor as within a couple of weeks I've usually lost the receipt. That's where Motobatt falls down for me. I perceive them as producing a poor product. Whether they do or not I don't really know but that's what's in my head. Should I have mentioned that to the OP? I chose not to as I don't have any evidence, just opinion.

So now I've got to practice what I preach as I need to buy batteries for at least two bikes over the next month or so - one here and one in the US. Who are the go-to battery suppliers in the US like Tayna (and others) are here (UK). I've no idea. Any opinion, ill informed or not, welcomed.

I installed a Motobatt after the original Yuasa gave up on my Tenere660 year 2011 upon arriving in Darwin - Australia during a RTW trip. It lasted 4 years, approx 125 k kms, and 3 continents. It even started the bike after 3 month sin a container while shipped from Sydney to Valparaiso - Chile. Not a bad battery at all....

I now have installed a Motobatt on my Crf250L too. No problems so far, 1 year, 3 months and 20 k kms.

__________________
In the end everything will be fine. If its not fine its not the end....

I don't think that the advantages offered by Lithium-Ion outweigh the disadvantages (high cost, not always a straight swap for the OEM installation, difficult and expensive to keep them trickle-charged in the off season, etc.)

I've got two motorcycles to take care of - a Honda ST 1100 that I keep in Europe and use only occasionally, and a ST 1300 home in Canada that is used in the summer months.

I buy plain old-fashioned OEM-spec Yuasa lead-acid batteries for both of them. Yuasa is the high-end brand of lead-acid, they are reliable and last about 4 to 5 years. All good quality lead-acid batteries nowadays are "sealed units", meaning, the acid is already inside them when they ship from the factory, it stays there for the life of the battery and there is no provision (or need) to ever add water to them.

AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat) batteries are just a variation on the lead-acid theme. Same with gel. If you buy a high quality wet-cell battery, it won't spill or leak if you drop the bike (unless the battery is physically damaged, which is a whole different issue altogether... physically damage a lithium-ion and you get a fire).

Lithium-Ion batteries offer greater capacity in a smaller package, which translates to less weight, but honest to goodness, I don't think that saving a few pounds of battery weight is worth the significant price difference and the additional cost of buying specialized trickle-charging equipment.

I had to specify a battery to be fitted as standard equipment in a 19 passenger aircraft that went into production 10 years ago. I spent a lot of time evaluating lead-acid vs. nickle-cadmium vs. lithium-ion, and consulted with many aircraft operators about their preferences. Overwhelmingly, everyone wanted lead-acid for reasons of cost and reliability, even though lithium-ion would have given a significant weight saving, which is far more important in an aircraft application than on a motorcycle.

Why gild the lily? Just buy another (high-quality) sealed lead acid battery. What is most important is that you stay away from el-cheapo, off-brand lead acid batteries. They fail quickly, not because of the technology, but because of poor manufacturing practices and poor quality components inside.

Michael