As much as I'd like to, I can't agree with this.

Those cheap Ebay jobs are junk. They will last 1/3 of the time as a properly maintained Yuasa or Odyssey. I'd never had a cheap battery that has lasted or performed well and I've tried LOADS. The only time I buy them is when I need a new battery to sell a bike.

Batteries are really one of those 'You get what you pay for' items. A proper Yuasa will probably cost about £70 and an Odyssey about £100 if you really shop about.

Of course. You have to look after any battery. Letting it go flat or kept for extending periods in the bitter cold without being used, will ruin one.

USE It, OR LOSE IT !!

Yuasa are made in China as well now. :thumbdown:

The Odyssey is made in the USA & Wales.

Mezo.

ahhh come on. Just because something is made in China, doesn't mean it's crap. It's just cheaper labour. China can and does make a lot of quality stuff. They have the technology, skilled workers and industrial might to out do most countries now. Hence while we'll all be speaking Cantonese in 50 years :innocent:

I think Yuasa actually make two varieties of the same battery. You will often find that they have a cheaper and full price version of the same battery. Just with a slightly different code.I think the difference is where it is made....

The quality control is probably the same. Yuasa have a strong product reputation to protect. "Billy bad ass batteries LTD" selling his Generic black bricks on Ebay doesn't :rolleyes2:

Surly you mean "Birry Ba Ass Battarees" Ted. :mchappy:

Anything coming out of China is absolute utter crap, end of story.

Mezo.

Funny thread this one is turning out to be. lol :clap:

I have to agree with Touring Ted on the China thing - It's clearly unfair to say that every single thing manufactured there is crap! This is clearly not the case. There are many items made in China that are as good if not better than European made stuff. As Ted said, it's all about wage levels nothing else.

The thing I do get riled up about with the Chinese is that they blantently pinch ideas of others and copy manufacturing processes without regard to the inventor. This is out of order. :nono:

As for the battery - My £30 Ebay jobby is currently hooked up to my battery conditioner/maintainer on one of my XT's over winter. It will be interesting to see just how long it lasts compared to the standard OEM Yausa battery it replaced. The budget battery was NOT my first choice, I actually ordered a Yausa but the supplier messed the order up and sent the budget one (charging me a Yuasa price). I sorted it out and got a refund (but will never again get one on Ebay again). Some (normally foriegn it must be said) retailers just don't understand the principal of compensation when they mess things up - they think it's all okay just to refund a proportion of your money. It infuriates me....

I went to a tradesman expo few months back, there was a couple of Chinese larrikins with a stall set up selling knock off Paslode nailer`s right next door to the official Paslode stall.

These things were identical in every way, even the orange was an exact match, the cheeky sods even informed us Paslode nails & batteries fit straight in.

The difference? (apart form the build quality) $1200 for the original & $300 for the copy, and there's nothing Paslode could do or say about it.

Back to the topic, you said "My £30 Ebay jobby is currently hooked up to my battery conditioner/maintainer on one of my XT's over winter"

Chinese battery conditioner to a Chinese battery? make sure your house insurance is up to date. :innocent:

Mezo.

Luckily I use one of these things -

http://www.datatool.co.uk/consumer/p...roduct=battery

The "Datatool" is a re-badged Accumate and that is a re-badged Optimate 3 and if you page right down to the bottom it says,,,,

Made in,,,go on guess :mchappy::chinese:

Mezo.

The Motobatt is a Chinese knock of of the Odessy, and in Oz it costs less than half the price of a Odessy.

There is a good comparision test somewhere online and the Motobatt comes out top in the things that matter.

My dealer now stocks them exclusivly, and claims he has has had no warrenty claims in over a year.

The Chinese can make whatever you ask, to any spec and quality you are prepared to pay for - just dont expect them to make top quality for a junk price!

I have Motobatts in my G/S and XT600 and in both cases they have transformed them from reluctant starters into first time starters - while they have around a modest 25% more CCA than a SLA battery they are able to supply this and still supply a full 12 1/2 volts to the ignition/ electronics, and this is a great to starting, particularly on an older bike with a bit more voltage drop on the old harness, etc.

Never tried a motobatt but it's good to hear they're are performing well. :thumbup1: