(02-16-2026, 11:18 AM)Gone in 60 Wrote: Didn't do any riding over the weekend. It was Valentine's Day on Saturday, or what I roughly refer to as "Chick's Day", so Mrs. G was given free reign to determine what we'd be doing. We spent Saturday hiking along the coast, enjoyed a lovely lunch, and shopped for a nice pair of steaks to grill for dinner. However, I did get a little garage time Saturday evening before the dinner festivities started, and it led to a lesson learned and the possibility that I am a bad Moto-Parent.

In late January 2023, the Yuasa battery in my CB gave up the ghost after three years. With the increasing price of these batteries, I was miffed that something that cost so much only lasted three years, especially as i am careful to put the bike on a sophisticated Optimate 4 tender/charger when I can't ride for a while. I decided to try and experiment, and bought a $40 "Chrome" brand battery on Amazon that was pretty well rated, and figured if I could get three years out of it, I'd be money ahead.

That battery did a great job until a few weeks ago, when I had a no-start getting ready to ride. I put the bike on a charger overnight, and the next day it started fine and held a full charge. Three years, forty bucks, not bad. I ordered the same battery and put it on the shelf, intending to swap it in as a matter of precaution. Meanwhile, I've been starting and riding the bike with no problem up until my last ride on Thursday evening to meet up with some friends for dinner.

Saturday evening, while Mrs. G was tending to her plants, I pulled the seat and storage bin over the battery on my CB, and got a mild shock to see a crust of white powder on the negative battery terminal. I pulled the battery and it was weeping acid from the area around the terminal. Not enough to do damage to the bike's battery cable, but it was a slight mess of residue in the battery box area. Easily cleaned up with a rag dipped in vinegar and rinsed out.

Ok, the $40 battery was a bargain, but perhaps came at a cost of a minor leak. Not something I want to repeat. I had not opened the new battery yet, so I marked it for return on Amazon. Now, the quest to find a new battery of better quality. I did some shopping on my phone while the grille was warming up and I was seasoning our steaks, and found a new Yuasa to be over $150. That's more than I wanted to spend.

The rest of the evening was a bit of a blur. Mrs. G poured some very strong cocktails, and they were starting to take effect. I had to muster all of my waning ability to concentrate on not burning our very expensive ribeyes, and having cooked them to perfection, I relaxed a bit while we then enjoyed some wine with dinner while watching Thomas Crowne Affair. Mrs. wanted to watch a movie that had a bit of romance but wasn't schlocky. A perfect choice. The phone was still in my hands, and I was apparently still shopping.

I woke up Sunday morning to discover that I had ordered a Bike Master Tru-Gel battery. $70 on Parts Giant. Hmm. Pretty well rated. I could tell that I had watched a YouTube video review on it, so I apparently tried to do some good research. It arrives Wednesday, and we'll see how well it does.

(03-07-2026, 05:27 PM)peterbaron Wrote: If this were my bike, I would also use a litium battery charger to ensure safe and proper charging.
A lithium battery has a highr constant voltage vs lead-acid battery by about +- 1V

(03-10-2026, 07:08 AM)MagnaRider Wrote: Ordered my Delkevic exhaust headers yesterday, coming thursday! Excited to install