Battery Over

az_slynch · Post by **az_slynch** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 5:47 am

With the goofy temp swings we have experience in southern Arizona lately, the battery on my Kymco gave up the ghost. I got 26 months of perfect service out of it, so I won't complain...batteries have the lifespan of mayflies here.

I was a bit surprised to see that the AGM battery had ruptured around the negative terminal. Didn't think they'd fail like that. The escaped acidic ooze did a number on some of the fasteners and paint on the rear frame so Kymco will get more money from me.

Still trying to decide on a new battery. I wanted a MotoBatt for it, but they don't offer a comparable size. Neither does Odyessy. Considering a Scorpion AGM or a Yuasa for the short term. As nice and light as the Shorai lithium batteries are, I'm skeptical that one would suit my current riding style of short commutes and demanding starts with the draw of the EFI, fuel pump, lights and starter. Wish Kymco had put a load relay in to kill the lights when starting.

Anyone else out there using something other than the stock battery? Any suggestions?

Syd · Post by **Syd** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 6:29 am

There used to be an auto mechanic on the Saturday morning radio up here. I heard him say more than a few times that he only used the cheapest Lead-Acid battery he could buy, since they were only going to last a couple years anyway.

I've never experienced a low battery since I moved to the Phoenix area. Start start start start dead. That always seems the way they go. For me it seems it's always in a parking lot in the middle of June 20 miles from home and miles from an AutoZone. Wah!

az_slynch · Post by **az_slynch** » Sat Jan 10, 2015 6:52 am

True. The battery in my '13 Frontier died after fourteen months and 12K miles. I have the gold-level warranty (because even I get tired of fixing crap) so it was replaced with no questions. Sad bit is, Nissan does their first scheduled battery inspection at 15K miles. . D'oh!

I bought Optima Red tops for the other two Nissan's. We got seven years out of one and six out of the other. Not too bad. Now we have a pair of X2 Power Premiums. I don't like the idea of having family stuck out in the heat with a toasted battery. We've been pretty lucky with the timing and location of the failures so far.

When I moved out here, the DieHard International in my Audi GT perished from the heat. The local Sears people didn't recognize the markings at first, but an old-timer did...the battery was 11 years old! You'd think they were seeing the Rosetta Stone or something.

az_slynch · Post by **az_slynch** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 8:39 pm

Turns out that MotoBatt makes a battery that fits. The trick was to look for a battery by listing the bike as a Burgie 400 or a Bandit 1250S.

The only caveat is that the MotoBatt offering is rated for 160CCA, where the original battery and similar AGMs are rated for 175CCA. Trying to decide if the loss of capacity is worth the perceived reliability (and two-year warranty).

skully93 · Post by **skully93** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:13 pm

The Yuasa that came with my buddy was replaced, but still shows as a good hot spare! After 34 months....

I bought this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00915 ... UTF8&psc=1 late last summer. We've had a lot of temp dips, even into the negatives. My scoots live outside. It shows as fine, and it was priced right.

GregsBuddy · Post by **GregsBuddy** » Mon Jan 12, 2015 10:14 pm

Shorai, LiIon batteries may out last lead-acid in your area...

Tocsik · Post by **Tocsik** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 6:54 pm

Like Skully, I've had great service my Chrome battery and the reviews are very good. For the price, I don't think you can beat it. My scooter is a 2008 and I replaced the stock battery with this one when it was time. So, it's only my second battery and I run heated grips. I do use a tender religiously, though so YMMV.

az_slynch · Post by **az_slynch** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 3:40 am

Thanks for the input. I got my parts in so I'll be rebuilding the tail section this weekend. Then I'll go battery shopping.

EvilNerdLord · Post by **EvilNerdLord** » Fri Jan 23, 2015 5:07 pm

I just had to replace mine, went with standard lead acid, check wally-world (ie, wal-mart).

mine was about $40 with old battey.

sc00ter · Post by **sc00ter** » Sun Jan 25, 2015 2:18 am

How we love winter, the great battery tester. I run either the Wal Mart batteries OR a BatteriesPlus house brand. Have had good luck with both, and a fair price and easy warranty exchange also help. Did try the "new" Duracel high output from BatteriesPlus but have been less than impressed, as it gets kinda boggy in the 'teens. I rotate out the bikes and keep them moving and no longer use any battery charger/tender products.

az_slynch · Post by **az_slynch** » Sun Jan 25, 2015 3:59 pm

Bought an XTAZ10S AGM battery for the Yager. Slightly smaller and slightly more power (185CCA versus 175CCA for stock). Turned the bike right over with no trouble. Was almost able to fit an XTAZ12S in, but it was about 1/8" too tall to fit the battery box. That was rated for 205CCA and would have given me about 17% extra capacity in lieu of the 6-ish% I get from the XTAZ10S.

Bottom line, the scooter is running again and I'm glad the original battery died in my driveway rather than the middle of nowhere.