Triumphrat

keithk

well, i am was getting ready for spring riding tonight and noticed that i forgot to put the battery on the tender over the winter. i went ahead and put it on the tender to see if it is still any good. my question is this, the battery is over 2 years old now and i wonder if i should just go ahead and replace it? the second question is, if i do replace it what is the best battery to get? thanks, keith

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2008 Bonneville T100: A.I. Removed, Bellacorse Air Removal Kit, Nology ProCoil, NGK Iridium IX, Epco Low Pipes, Ikon Springs, Ikon 7610 Shocks, Superbars, Mains:140's, Pilots:42's, Thruxton needle , 2 turns out

DrX

I would just charge it up with the battery tender and see what happens, the battery should last more than two years.

Catenaccio

My 2000 Speed Triple has its original battery. I charged it yesterday for the second time in five years.

My son's 2003 Speed Four requires a new battery every two years. It's a crap shoot whether it will start.

My 2002 CBRXX is on it's second battery since new. It starts every time.

My wife's 2007 is on it's third battery. The Battery Tender Jr. has solved its battery appetite problem. It now starts easily and every time.

I haven't seen a reliable pattern yet.

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I like to reminisce with people I don't know.

TB-T100

I hope Jimi_X (http://www.triumphrat.net/2522-jimi_x.html) think it's okay for me to repost this (that he has previously contributed):

"BATTERIES,

I have read many threads about batteries. I have found a few that were accurate but many are out to lunch. Some are so far out that it would probably damage a battery using some of the suggestions.

A new 12 V lead acid battery should read approx. 12.75 VDC in peak condition. This is the voltage a battery in excellent condition should maintain. Some may be slightly higher, some a little lower.

Modern lead acid batteries are built to be "Maintenance Free", that means you don't have to top up the cells occasionally with distilled water to maintain plate coverage. The modern batteries are sealed sufficiently to maintain plate coverage throughout the normal expected life of the battery.

I had a battery when new that maintained 12.76 VDC for its entire first season. This was due to the fact, that for the first time I invested in a battery tender. This relatively cheap little box will extend and maintain battery health. If you are storing a battery or not riding your bike for more than a week, plug in your tender. Usually it will come with a little tail that you can attach to your battery terminals and extend the connector out under the edge of your seat. This makes connecting and disconnecting the tender a snap. It also makes it easy to take a voltage measurement with a meter without removing your seat. Sometimes the tender will come with a (cigarette lighter) adapter for charging a cell phone or other devices.

Voltage readings on a 12 V battery should be taken before attaching a charger or tender to establish a starting point. If the battery is connected, in the bike, and there isn't a problem, then this method can be used. But if you have a dead battery issue then disconnect the battery cables as there may be a short circuit which is draining your battery. If you test in the "OHMS" scale, across the battery cables with the bike turned off, your meter should indicate an open circuit. If it indicates a resistance in the K OHMS or lower, you have a short somewhere in your wiring which is draining your battery after your ignition is turned off.

As your battery gets older it will loose a little every year. You will notice, as I have, that my battery that held at 12.76 for its first year now maintains a solid 12.67 on year 3.

Readings on a 12 V battery can be misleading to the unfamiliar. A 12 V battery reading 12.00 VDC on a digital multimeter is, for all intentional purposes, DEAD. If you have a battery testing at that level or lower a tender may not bring it back to a full charge. A battery charger is the gadget your looking for now. If the charger is a newer model it may be able to indicate if the battery can recover or it may indicate a battery fault.

Testing a battery immediately after disconnecting it from the charger will also give you a misleading reading. This is not a true indicator of the batteries charge. Actually , if you connect a meter you can watch the numbers drop over a short period of time. The battery, if in good condition should become stable, depending on age, at a reading over 12.55 VDC. If your battery is close to the limit and is 4 or 5 years old, you might need to consider a new battery,.... But first let the battery sit overnight without charging or tending and take another reading in the morning. If the voltage has continued to drop replace your battery. Many auto shops/motorcycle shops will test your battery for free if you are in doubt.

The voltage a battery will hold at is an indicator of the life left in your battery but not the end all, 100% for sure guarantee. I've had batteries that were great one day, be dead in the morning and no matter how much charging, tending, cursing or kicking,...........make the sign of the cross and take your battery in to be recycled.

If the battery was assembled correctly with quality parts and you attach a tender when it is not being used, I suspect 5 to 7 years would be reasonable to expect for a batteries service life."

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'04 T100 Black and White (because it matches a dinner jacket)
904, 813, port&polish, Pieman igniter TORS, rebuilt front (valves, springs, etc), Öhlins shocks, tubeless alu rims, JMC alu swingarm, 520 conversion, Ti nuts and bolts
- Ringer

Billbikes

I was pretty good about tendering my battery, but I got less than 2 years out of it. I now have a DEKA AGM that blows away the origonal in performance!

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09 Sprint ST-Trident exhaust,rear fender tidy.
You can take the boy out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the boy.

M.Guy.Vig.

The battery on my Guzzi will have been on for 16 years, this July!!!!!! Mind you, it is enormous, doesn't have to spin a starter motor, and is fed by a Bosch dynamo, so it has a fairly easy life. It also lives pretty much in the open air, sitting under the single saddle, and it never seems to get warm. It's also never been hooked up to a tender! It shows no sign of giving up the ghost, so here's to the next 16 years! I hope my Tiger battery lasts half as long!

Geimer

My 2005 T100 has the original battery with never a hint of starting problems. A few weeks ago, merely out of curiosity, I put it on a battery tender that my son owns for the first time. The battery voltage was 12.45 before and 13.1 after a half hour of charging when the thing indicated it was "fully charged". I'm not convinced that it wasn't overcharged.

I would consider changing a battery every two years to be a waste of lead plastic and acid... unless some other problem was ruining the battery or course.

RICHW

due to the hot weather (Miami, FL) I don't like to go more than 2-3 years on a battery. It's really not that much money for the benefit of knowing you won't get stranded out there on the road one day.

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RSMike

I have used the Westco Batteries as a replacement on my BMW in the past, I found the spec was very good compared to others e.g. high CCA (Cold Cranking Amps).

Not sure what the CCA spec on the standard OEM battery is ( manual just gives Ah rating (10), but the Westco replacement is 180 CCA, which seems decent.

PS: The Westco is a selaed AGM battery.

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'Triumph over Conformity'

M.Guy.Vig.

I fitted a Westco battery to my wife's 900 T'bird. There is no comparison with the OEM battery. The starter motor now spins over much faster, and the engine always starts, which wasn't the case before, believe me! A very worthwhile upgrade, if you ask me!