Yuasa batteries suck!!!

[moelarrycurly]

Doing some electrical testing. Charged my 1.5 year yuasa battery (which has been on a battery tender) to do a compression test and the voltage drops so much after just a few cranks that I have to wait several minutes to check the next cylinder. Come to think of it, I don't think I have had a good experience with yuasa batteries, barely get two years out of them...Yuasa, you suck!

[rktmanfj]

Conventional, or AGM?   

[PaulG]

I've had a conventional Yuasa for three yrs with no problems.  Maybe a crappy battery tender?   

BTW - is there a thread or a website that explains the pros/cons and operating paramaters of Conventional vs. AGM vs. Lithium?  I'm not up to speed on anything that doesn't have lead.   

[rktmanfj]

BTW - is there a thread or a website that explains the pros/cons and operating paramaters of Conventional vs. AGM vs. Lithium?  I'm not up to speed on anything that doesn't have lead.   

Here's a decent one, for starters;

[PaulG]

Here's a decent one, for starters;

Thanks.     Now all I have to do is trudge through the 104 pages  of this thread to bring me up to speed.  Well, I've got all night anyhow...

[fj1289]

I've had a conventional Yuasa for three yrs with no problems.  Maybe a crappy battery tender?   

BTW - is there a thread or a website that explains the pros/cons and operating paramaters of Conventional vs. AGM vs. Lithium?  I'm not up to speed on anything that doesn't have lead.   

For lithium batteries I can recommend EarthX.  Exceptional customer support and they incorporate some excellent features for longevity and safety.  I purchased one for the race bike  - it wouldn't hold a charge.  They told me to send it back and they'd replace it.  I wished I had ordered the next larger size - called and they had no issue with letting me pay the difference for the replacement.  EarthX caters to the experimental (as well as some certified) aircraft market - and the quality shows.   

I was really impressed with the first generation (shrink wrapped) ballistic battery - but I don't have any experience with the newer plastic cased versions. 

[gumby302ho]

I find that with batteries it seems to be luck of the draw, I have bought cheap motorcycle batteries that never seem to last and I have been through a couple yuasa's, one was short lived and the other lasted 5 seasons (agm type). I never keep my batteries on constant battery tender, if they sit for a while I check battery voltage and if they need a charge I charge them, this way you can gauge how much voltage drops per amount of time the battery has sat idle, when battery is on a tender you dont have a clue of the rate of discharge(health) over a short period of time. Thats just my backyard butchery opinion.

[moelarrycurly]

Conventional, or AGM?   


[/quote
It's a conventional lead acid. I think I'm going to go with a lithium ion battery... Any experience with those??
]

[FJmonkey]

The difference between a conventional lead acid battery and an AGM is night and day for me. It holds a charge so well I no longer use a tender. When my battery crapped out on my truck I paid the extra $$$ for an AGM. They are sealed so no maintenance. Just make sure you test your charging voltage and it is no more than 14.5VDC at 4 to 5K RPM. AGM batteries don't like over voltage at all. Other than that, really good value for the price. Lithium batteries are a bit more pricey but give you weight savings. They also need special chargers/tenders.

[rktmanfj]

Just make sure you test your charging voltage and it is no more than 14.5VDC at 4 to 5K RPM. AGM batteries don't like over voltage at all. Other than that, really good value for the price.

I keep seeing that pop up from time to time, but my personal experience is otherwise.

My '89 would boil off a conventional battery in short order, so I stuck an AGM in there, without even checking anything else.  The first one lasted almost nine years, and the current one is four years old.

As you say, they require little to no maintenance.  I also stopped using a tender through the long Indiana winter.  Riding it once or twice on warm days is enough.

[FeralRdr]

I typically got anywhere from 18-30 months out of my Yuasa lead acid (OEM) batteries.  Despite my best efforts in maintaining them (battery tender, topping off with either distilled water or electrolyte, keeping things clean as possible), they never seamed to last much past 24 months on average,  I've always suspected that vibration was part of the problem.  As the plates would naturally deteriorate, I figured that they would eventually reach a point that the engine vibration would eventually cause one of the inner plates to crack sooner than they would on other bikes.  At the last battery replacement on the FJ, I put in a gel-type battery and it lasted for a little over 5 years.  It was almost twice the cost, but lasted over twice the time.

[biggo]

I have had great reliability from Yuasa Batteries. I currently have a AGM battery fitted on my FJ1200 This was fitted on January 15th 2010 and has never let me down. The bike get used most weeks through the year.
I also have a Lead Acid Yuasa on my XJ900 this was fitted July 5th 2009, again never an issue not used as ofton so battery disconected when not using the bike then charged every couple of months.
The climate in NZ is not as harsh as some but I have no complaints

[Yamahammer1200]

Why doesn't anyone talk up lithium ferrous  LiFe. batteries? The are 10 lbs lighter, much smaller, and can be mounted in any orientation, because there is no acid or gel to leak out.  I paid $135 to replace the Yuasa and I think it's worth it.

[FJmonkey]

Why doesn't anyone talk up lithium ferrous  LiFe. batteries? The are 10 lbs lighter, much smaller, and can be mounted in any orientation, because there is no acid or gel to leak out.  I paid $135 to replace the Yuasa and I think it's worth it.

I think little mention of them is due to not many having experience with them. You have helped by tossing your hat in the ring. I know of a few that have switched to Li and are very surprised at how small and light they are. Simi_Ed installed two on his punched out FJ. He did some clever wiring with relays so when he hits the starter button 24VDC goes to the starter. He used to have hard starting issues, worse when hot. Not any more, with the starter spinning that fast it is like an instant on for the engine. When not spinning the starter the batteries are delivering 12VDC and charging normally.

Anyone else switch to Li or LiFe?

[racerrad8]

I sell a fair amount of Li batteries.

I originally was selling the Shorai batteries, but the failure rate was fairly high. The other issue was I was not able to deal with the warranty directly. The customer had to deal with it directly with Shorai. I think Frank went through two, we had several in the race car, which has less electrical load than the bikes (no lights) and they also died as well.

I then started selling the WPS Li batteries a couple of years ago and have not had one failure to date.

84-90 WPS Lithium Battery
91-93 WPS Lithium Battery

Randy - RPM