Should I replace it or not?

[Billy]

My bike is a 2006 with the original battery in it still and I'm on a fence about replacing the battery. The battery has to be at least 5 years old. Now my car battery went last summer and I got 5 years out of it. Because of that i'm thinking the same thing might happen with my bike's battery. I'd like to avoid a "stranded in the middle of nowhere" type situation because my battery died. Do you guys think I should go ahead and proactively replace it or do you think I got plenty of life in the battery?

1) Battery has always been kept inside my garage which is kind of temperature controlled (never seen it go below freezing in my garage).

2) During off season it stays connected to a battery tender so that it always has a full charge.

[stoinkythepig]

I kept my original until it died, in a hotel parking lot 300 miles from home. That sucked.

Change it. Don't get a new one at Wal-Mart.

[Billy]

And that's exactily what I want to avoid!

[KingCast 650R]

Change it yesterday. In point of fact some bikes can self destruct if you try to start them with a weak battery.

Is $100 worth your piece of mind on getting home

[Billy]

gonna pull the trigger and order one up. Cheap money spent that can prevent a very costly tow home.

[CBR929RE]

I'm on the original battery in my 929, 10 years old still good. I thought it went bad last year but turned out to be the stator.

[Stromper]

NOT MODEL SPECIFIC

It certainly possible for the vehicle to treat a battery much nicer than past regulators etc. My OEM Van battery lasted 9 years

I think that the battery would announce weakness etc. Most auto stores will do a load test on car batteries so maybe bike batteries too.

I get them from Walmart for like $67 for the better one.

[KingCast 650R]

I'm on the original battery in my 929, 10 years old still good. I thought it went bad last year but turned out to be the stator.

Wow. That I would find almost remarkable. But do you expose it to huge temperature fluctuations or is it kept in a heated garage for storage and ridden during the nic(er) months here?

[TheIglu]

I've had solid luck with cheap Wal-Mart batteries.....

[DuncanMoto]

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Get a new AGM, Gel or Lithium Iron battery.

[Awesome]

Learn how to jump start a bike. I rode half a season on a dead battery.

[Stoneman]

I've run on the stock battery from '94 until I wadded the bike in 2000 (almost 50K miles). Never kept in a heated garage, but always removed it from the bike & used a trickle charger when in storage...

[Jaynnus]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[CBR929RE]

Wow. That I would find almost remarkable. But do you expose it to huge temperature fluctuations or is it kept in a heated garage for storage and ridden during the nic(er) months here?

I can only speak for the 6 years I've had it, last 2 being entirely track at 10-12 days each year but more than half were on back to back days so it sat for a few weeks at a time or up to a month in the summer. in the winter I always bring the battery inside and put it on a Yuasa Holeshot battery charger/tender.

[Billy]

OK dumb question. I got my replacement battery but I have to add in the acid and then pop on the seal. Once I add in the acid I'm assuming I need to hook the battery up to a battery tender to charge it?

[Eric Baker]

What kind of battery? I would not use a wet battery that is not fully sealed in a sportbike. Always use the proper gel/AGM type made to fit the bike. Can be had for short money in the $50-$70 range.

That being said, yes you need to charge the battery upon adding acid.

[Billy]

Bought the exact same make/model battery that came with the bike when I bought it new from the dealer. It's a Yuasa. I'm guessing it came with the acid not in the battery to prolong life while it sits in a box waiting to be used?

[ZX11D]

Yes you do need to charge it. If you don`t you will shorten the life of the battery quite a bit. Glad to see you opted to get a battery.It really sucks trying to bump start a bike with a crowd watching nearby. Good Luck.

[Billy]

Thanks for confirming guys.

[Rossco]

I've had solid luck with cheap Wal-Mart batteries.....

Learn how to jump start a bike. I rode half a season on a dead battery.

That's a good trick to know, but it gets old quick.

[rolker]

I just replaced a Yuasa battery for my EX250 and I had to pour the acid in like you described. I was told by the dealer to then charge it for an hour at 2 amps then it should be ready to go.

[stoinkythepig]

The manaul that comes with the battery will give specific guidelines for pre-charging. Just follow them. You need to bring it up to a specific voltage and the time it takes to do so will vary with the size of the battery and the capacity of the charger.

[Billy]

OK so I decided to get the new battery ready to go. I added in the acid into the new battery and right away I heard a sizzling type noise coming from the battery. I gave it about 45 mins for the acid to get into the battery and settle. It still was making a slight sizzling noise but not as loud as when I first added the acid.

Anyways I hooked it up to a battery tender and charging it up. It's still making a slight sizzling noise. Should I be concerned? I don't think it's an overcharging issue because it was making the sizzling noise right when I poured the acid into the battery before I even hooked it up to a tender. The loudness of the sizzling has died down quite a bit since I first added it.

Should I keep it connected to the battery tender to continue charging until the tender shows it fully charged or should I disconnect immediately?

[Billy]

actually it seems to be somewhat normal I guess:

http://www.ibmwr.org/otech/newbattery.html

[smokinjoe]

I ride year round & depend on my bike for basic transport. One question; why not throw it on the tender a couple nights a week when you are not on it.
I do city riding so the battle between the regulator and the fan always running is tough on batteries.
I always buy the new one but wait for the old one to die of natural causes. I have gotten a couple years til that happens sometimes, but you can keep the new one at home & charge it one night every week or two to keep it fresh.

It isnt going to cease to work all at once, you will be warned by weak cranking. If you go on a trip swap to the new one then swap back. I have push started my bike many times & it will keep a weak battery charged enuff to get you home.
Dont trash a still living battery. I have heard true stories of 10-15 years out of one.