Cheap Battery Alternative Options

[OG Z]

tried the walmart alternative for about 8 months. worked well at first but it started having a lot of problems. just replaced it with a ub12al-a2, which is a carbon copy of a yuasa yb12al-a2. i got it on ebay for 15 bookits. bike runs way way way better now. headlights are as bright as can be, no flickering when i have the signals on, idles very well. all around way better.

This post has been edited by OG Z: Dec 6 2010, 10:44 PM

[lambretta_ash]

AND
for a FZR400RR
a Yuasa YTX9-BS is needed
12 V Capacity 8 Ah Type Commonly Called a Sealed Gel Dry Dimentions 152mm x 88mm x 106mm

its great in mine thou the old owner put a 12v 3 Ah in hahaha

[lukapolean]

AND
for a FZR400RR
a Yuasa YTX9-BS is needed
12 V Capacity 8 Ah Type Commonly Called a Sealed Gel Dry Dimentions 152mm x 88mm x 106mm

its great in mine thou the old owner put a 12v 3 Ah in hahaha

lol 12v3ah is pro or what, my bike couldnt start properly with a 12v7ah one but i swear that just cuz its some chinese crap.

using a maintenance free spiral wound 12v8ah one atm. cost me around 30 dollars including shipping.

Old owner put in some fake HID headlights that eat the battery like shit. gonna get a stabilizer thing for my real HID bulbs soon. should be fine. other than that, the battery works great, no idea if you guys got it in the states though. I've only seen it in china, and can only be bought over the internet.

Any ideas if a 280CA is bad for the bike? The bike starts up in less than a second at the moment, lol.

[gsxridiot]

The Yuasa YTZ7S is a scooter battery with only 80 CCA. My daughters CH50 has one in it. It is toy sized.

As time goes by the options for a good replacement battery for our FZR400's has dwindled to almost nothing. (Yasaa YB12AL-A2)
The excelent Scorpian AGM batteries are discontinued. Bikemaster TruGel batteries are discontinued for the 400.
Whats's left is any one of several cheap lead acid YB12 AL knock offs, shipped with no acid. This leaves you the task of finding someone local to sell you battery acid, which is getting rare in the big city.

There are a couple of new alternatives that have come available for the FZR400.

First is the unconventional eBatt multi cell Lithium battery.
http://www.ebattonline.com/index.html
The eBatts (two models) draw back is the short duration of crank time available in the cold, and the rather high price tags.

The best new option for the FZR is the MotoBatt AGM batteries, that fit just about any bike with very few configurations.
http://www.motobatt.com/
They do this by clever multi-configurable terminals, and even four terminals for the battery for our bikes so the + / - terminals will be on the correct side.

I ordered the MotoBatt MB12U for $72, no tax and no shipping charges.

is this the "bikemaster" tru gel battery you were talking about?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200684069348?item=...123&vxp=mtr
its what i went with, need to get into my valves here soon- so i havent had a chance to try it
opinions?

[littlebr4d]

is this the "bikemaster" tru gel battery you were talking about?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/200684069348?item=...123&vxp=mtr
its what i went with, need to get into my valves here soon- so i havent had a chance to try it
opinions?

I think I would have gone with the Motobatt for $82 shipped, but the one you got is probably just as good.

http://www.amazon.com/MotoBatt-MB12U-Batte...7213&sr=1-1

[~JM~]

Has anyone tried Batteries Plus yet?

I have another bike that I wanted to eliminate the battery on. (1974 Honda MT250) Unfortunately this bike has a 6 volt lighting/charging system instead of a 12 volt system. I originally tried one of those battery eliminater Capacitors. The Cap was designed for 12v bikes & I was warned when I ordered it that it may not work. It almost worked except for a design feature on my bike. The wiring harness relies upon the battery to control voltage output to the tail-light. With the cap in place, everytime I turned the key to the on position, an uncontrolled power surge would blow the tail-light. Back to the drawing board.

I ended up at Batteries Plus & started looking at the sealed AGM type of batteries available for providing back up power to security/alarm systems. These batteries are very cool! They are very compact, lightweight & available in both 6V & 12V. Granted you will need to do some research & comparisons to try & match a battery that will provide enough performance. My 6V application was simple due to having a kick starter. The battery mostly provides for the lighting. I will attempt to include a pic of my new 6V battery to show how compact it is. I hooked up the battery & placed it inside a zip lock bag just in case I overcharged it or something that would cause it to leak. I doubt that a plastic bag would confine the mess for long, but its better than nothing I suppose. I then placed the battery in my tool tray & thats where it has been ever since. I've had it for over a year with zero problems so far.

Batteries Plus shows a listing for the FZR400.
http://www.batteriesplus.com/product/32686...88-to-1990.aspx

This appears to be a standard, unsealed, lead/acid battery.

I ran a search on the Batteries Plus site for "12V AGM" & only received 3 hits. Here is one of them for you to look at. I have no idea if this battery is suitable or not. I just posted the link to show an example.
http://www.batteriesplus.com/product_searc...-WKA12--5F.aspx
I noticed that this batt weighs about 5lbs. Not much advantage there. I know that they have 12V AGM batteries much smaller in the +/- 1lb. range. That's about all I have for info so far. If you have a local Batteries Plus, I recommend that you stop in and examine the security system back up batts & see if you can find a suitable alternative. These little batteries are priced reasonably & compare to a bike batt or less.

If someone else follows up on this idea. Would you please post up your findings?

Thank you & good luck
~JM~

Attached File(s)

 AGM_Battery.bmp ( 900.05K ) Number of downloads: 6

 

[Burtonrider10022]

Some great prices on AGM Batteries here. $63 shipped for an FZR400/600 AGM replacement: http://www.batterystuff.com/powersports-ba...es/sYT12CL.html

[rotortech]

I thought the topic was CHEAP Batteries. Try this: Battery on Ebay It is $39.99 plus $9.00 shipping. I have one of these and it works fine. Why spend more?

[fireman_343]

I just bought one of those $30 ones from Walmart and it works great! Thanks for the tip!!

[Burtonrider10022]

I thought the topic was CHEAP Batteries. Try this: Battery on Ebay It is $39.99 plus $9.00 shipping. I have one of these and it works fine. Why spend more?

That IS cheap for a quality battery. AGM allegedly last longer so in the end, the cost difference is almost the equal. Except the AGM has the benefit of coming charged, zero maintenance, and can be stored for longer periods of time without going dead.

[thatkid]

I just bought one of those $30 ones from Walmart and it works great! Thanks for the tip!!

Except you are slowly selling your soul to the devil by shopping at his house.

[~JM~]

I thought the topic was CHEAP Batteries. Try this: Battery on Ebay It is $39.99 plus $9.00 shipping. I have one of these and it works fine. Why spend more?

That's about $50 for a common lead acid battery & all the problems it brings with it. Such as off-gassing or possibly overflowing acid down the vent line & unto your bike, destroying the finish of whatever it comes in contact with. Plus they are heavy & usually mounted up high on the bike affecting the overall center of gravity. These batteries must be mounted upright so they won't spill. They usually don't last very long & are just plain messy to deal with.

The AGM type of battery that I'm suggesting does not have any of those problems. They are comparably priced or lower. They are sealed & can be mounted in any position without worry of spillage. They are much smaller & a fraction of the weight. They allow you the freedom to change the mounting position of the battery to a lower location on the bike or even under the bike, lowering the C of G.

I will see if I can't stop by Batteries Plus & find a suitable battery sometime next week. Does anyone know what is the minimum amount of power or amps that we need to start our bikes? Anything else I need to take into consideration?

Thanks
~JM~