Battery help needed

tadcan

I have a honda XL600V '99 and over the past few months I've had some battery problems. The battery is only a year old after the previous one got knackered after an attempted robbery.

With the cold weather it completely drained after I hadn't driven for a few days. It would run for awhile, then need another boast. Today it charged in an hour or so, but wasn't able to tick over. It has a YB14-B2, doing a search on batteryworld.ie it says I need a YB12A-B. It has a numex for sale at €70. I think my current battery €40.

Is there a difference between the battery manufacturers?

While doing a search I came across Lithium Ion Batteries for bikes. Probably overkill for what I need, but curious if anybody had used them.
http://www.skyrichbattery.com/p586/HJB12-FP%3Cbr-/%3ELithium-Ion-Battery-YB12A-A/product_info.html

CJhaughey

tadcan wrote: »

Is there a difference between the battery manufacturers?

Yes, and more importantly the way you maintain your battery is critical.
Personally I would go for a Motobatt or Oddyssey.
AGM batteries self discharge less than conventional free acid batteries.
If you want to buy a conventional battery Yuasa is OEM on most Japanese bikes.

If you aren't riding it every day then get a smart charger and use it.
I have had an Optimate for over 10years now and it still gets used all the time.
Other people have had good success with different brands of smart charger, except the Lidl and Aldi ones.
I would stay away from Lithium batteries unless weight is absolutely critical, they need special chargers to make them work well,conventional chargers don't work very well at all with them.

tadcan

Thanks CJhaughey. I've ordered a Motobatt battery, and an Optimate Accumate charger. I had been using a Lidl charger, so the combo with that and a cheap battery wasn't doing me any favours. Had ordered new oil and air filter which is due in a few days. So with any luck I can have trouble free driving.

So if the bike is not being used for a few days I should take it out and leave it on trickle charge?

CJhaughey

tadcan wrote: »

Thanks CJhaughey. I've ordered a Motobatt battery, and an Optimate Accumate charger. I had been using a Lidl charger, so the combo with that and a cheap battery wasn't doing me any favours. Had ordered new oil and air filter which is due in a few days. So with any luck I can have trouble free driving.

So if the bike is not being used for a few days I should take it out and leave it on trickle charge?

The Optimate can be left connected all the time, they won't overcharge the battery.
You should get a set of leads that you can connect to the battery permanently and just plug the charger in as you need to.

Hotblack Desiato

Nothing at all wrong with the 10 euro Lidl charger, I've been using one for 2 or 3 years now. It can be left connected to the bike.