Recommended Replacement Battery FJ1200 1985

[JedeyeJones]

Hi Guys, recently purchased my FJ but has no battery. Can anyone recommend one that will fit this pretty girl? Any tips or gotchas with battery size and fitment? Many thanks.

Jonesy (South Australia)

[FJ1100mjk]

My personal choice is the YUASA brand. Part number YTX14AHL-BS

Depending on how much you want to, or can spend on one, there's other choices too...

https://www.rpmracingca.com/products.asp?cat=39&filter=battery

If you're not versed on it yet, you'll also want to check on or perform some maintenance on your electrical system too. Such as: charging system, clean connections...

Good luck.

[ribbert]

Hi Guys, recently purchased my FJ but has no battery. Can anyone recommend one that will fit this pretty girl? Any tips or gotchas with battery size and fitment? Many thanks.

Jonesy (South Australia)

Hi Jonesy, I think you will find most battery sellers have a listing for the FJ (battery fitment charts generally go back a long way)
This will take care of size and location of posts. It is a very snug fit in all dimensions and needs to be the right one.
AGM batteries seem to be the most popular compromise of technology and cost at the moment but don't be stingy, get one with plenty of ooomph.

What model FJ do you have and did you hear it run before you bought it?

I love riding in SA. Went from Melbourne to Port Lincoln, Wilpena Pound,  Arkaroola and back through the Riverland last week. What a place!

Welcome, plenty of help here and we like pictures and an introduction, you know, a bit about the bike, a bit about you, inside leg measurement, that sort of thing.

Noel

[JedeyeJones]

Thanks Noel, that trip sounds awesome although my virgin bike-bum would not appreciate that distance just yet :-)

First up I'd like to say that finding this group is amazing! When I bought this bike I thought I was going to be on my own WRT rebuild and repairs. Low and behold a large group of FJ Owners are out there and enjoy sharing their experiences - awesome!

Bike is 12/85 so assume that means it's an '86 model. Was bought with no idea on it's state. Been sitting under a tarpaulin for at least 8 years - may be longer. Took it home and started looking her over. Love the shape and style of this thing. Throttle would not budge so pulled off the carbs and found everything gummed up. Slides, butterflys, choke so spent a few hours on them, gave her a huge dose of carb cleaner and pulled apart the main components then let them soak. Managed to break one of the float posts trying to remove the float pins with a hammer that was one size too big obviously :-)

After that repair I put her all back together and cranked her over with a car battery. She eventually fired up and after 15 mins of warming up and then some cobweb cleaning revs the motor sprung to life. Idles beautifully and no lag on a snatched throttle. No unsettling rattles from the motor. So far so good. So I need a battery and the signal flasher is not working. By-passed it, checked the switch, she is okay and all the indicators light up so has to be the flasher.

Remaining list at the moment is: tyres, front fork seals, tail-fin (ordered from US), handgrips and some rego :-). Some minor cracks in the plastics at the usual fixing points which will be simple to repair. I think a really good clean and polish and she should come up nicely. Undecided on how far I go with the bike. Time will tell. I'll get some photos tomorrow.

I haven't owned a bike for about 15 years (since leaving the military) so looking forward to making this girl pretty and newish and pottering through the Adelaide Hills

regards, Jonesy

[FJmonkey]

Hi and welcome Jonesy. After years of maintaining and keeping a regular Lead Acid (LA) battery on a tender I upgraded to an AGM battery from RPM. I could get 3 to 4 years out of the cheap battery, then it would quit on me, sometimes during a ride. I am much happier with the sealed AGM, no maintenance, holds a charge, no need to keep it on a battery tender, and it has plenty of juice to start. I am also on my 3rd year so the longevity is still being tested. Batteries are like chains, quality over price. Now imagine having to push start your FJ....

[vance2loud]

Ive had a good run with the ssb lithium batteries.
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/SSB-LFP14AHQ-BS-ULTRALITE-LITHIUM-CB14L-A2-CB14A-A1-YTX14L-BS-CB14A-A2-CB14-B2-/281158336145?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item417657be91
Quad terminals make it easy to add relay wiring and it has 50% more cca's than the original lead acid battery.
I am not affiliated with the seller but when I have purchased from them they normally land on my doorstep the following day which is unusual for anything being sent to Tassie, so you should have no problems with them being a bit more local for you.
They are a bit more expensive than the other options but so far (2 years) I have been happy with them and run them in quad bikes, dirt bikes and road bikes. I put a ytx14 version in a mates Triumph Rocket III to replace 2 x ytx20's and he feels that it starts better now than it did with the 2 batteries.
Just another option for you YMMV.
Vance

[Arnie]

I've bought 2 AGM batteries from the same Ebay seller that Vance2loud gave the link for (4WDExtreme).
He had the best prices and they arrived here in VIC (near Geelong) in about 3 days from Adelaide.
So, he's local to you.  However, look at his whole list of batteries because he has various prices for the same unit in different "buy-it-now" sales.
The SSB batteries were fine, btw.

Arnie