New Battery Today

[Motogeezer1949_imp]

My battery on the DLX died earlier this year and I replaced it with the one out of the '13 salvage I brought back from Ohio. Haven't given it another thought since.
I'm getting ready to leave with a bunch of my buds for 10 days or so in the mountains Saturday, ending up at Barber Vintage Days.
I got to thinking that the older battery might be getting close to kicking it so I ordered a MotoBatt off eBay. Price was reasonable, fit like a glove and arrived fully charged. The cool thing is a second set of terminals on the other corners that make hooking up my Tender and Power Commander leads a lot easier job. I made all the connections with the battery half way installed, sliding it in the rest of the way afterward, which made it much easier than trying to work down in the depths of the deep, dark hole in which it resides.
Happy with it so far, we'll see how she goes from here
The new batt spun the starter motor with renewed vigor, so I'm thinking this might have been a smart preventative move.

[Lord Popgun]

Moto, I'd say that WAS a good move. This Summer I noticed, but didn't think much about it, that my starter didn't seem to be spinning the engine quite as fast. Not must difference, but some. Anyway, rode someplace and stopped. Later I rode home and parked the bike. Then went to start it to put it in the garage and NOTHING.

I think you were smart to change the battery. I was lucky mine failed at home and not on the road.

My ST did a similar thing and got a new battery this Summer too. Only warning was that feeling that the starter wasn't spinning quite as fast.

[4 Paws_imp]

Much easier to do maintenance at home.

[flynrider]

Smart move, Jim! The stock AGM battery gives little to no warning that its life is nearing the end. Mine died two years to the day I bought the bike. It started fine one morning, I rode it 10 miles and got nothing when I tried to start it the second time.

My older bikes that used conventional flooded cell batteries always cranked slower for quite awhile before getting to the point that they wouldn't turn the engine over.

[kmoney_imp]

Does the CB use an AGM battery from the factory? I always though it was a zero maintenance wet cell, but I never looked that close.

[curlyjoe]

Jim and popgun. did you do a [url=https://www.batterystuff.com/blog/how-to-tell-if-your-battery-is-bad.html]battery load test with a voltmeter before you swapped in new batteries? I'm just wondering how useful this test is.

I have a 2008 ST that I picked up this summer and I have no idea how old the battery is. It definitely cranks slower than my CB when I start it but I assume every motorcycle is a bit different when it comes to "crank speed".

[Lord Popgun]

I did not even though I have a number of DVOMs and a cheap load tester. The dealer has a nice digital load tester and it showed both batteries bad.

With a new battery my '12 ST1300 spins pretty quick. If yours is spinning slower than the CB I would start thinking about a new battery for that too.

Kmoney, the OEM CB battery is an AGM Yuasa YTZ14S

[curlyjoe]

I did not even though I have a number of DVOMs and a cheap load tester. The dealer has a nice digital load tester and it showed both batteries bad.

With a new battery my '12 ST1300 spins pretty quick. If yours is spinning slower than the CB I would start thinking about a new battery for that too.

Kmoney, the OEM CB battery is an AGM Yuasa YTZ14S

Thanks popgun! I almost ordered a new battery but I think I'll test it first.

[the Ferret]

I have a little gizmo that plugs into my battery tender jr lead. Digital that reads voltage. Cost $16. Problem is I don't know what it's supposed to read lol. If I get a few mins I will check both bikes and report. The batt in my CB is 2 1/2 years old. The one in my ST will soon be 5 years old (Bought and installed Nov 2011)

here's a thread I did on it

http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=6880

[Lord Popgun]

I have that too. It usually reads 11.8 with the ignition on, engine not running. This due to the lights, etc. being on. Never tried it on the ST.