Two-Wheeler Batteries

I've owned motorcycles since 2003. Twenty-two years. Four bikes total. I've replaced maybe forty batteries in that time. Lead-acid, AGM, lithium. They all die eventually. Some just die faster.

The first battery I killed was my own fault. Left the key on overnight. 1987 Honda Rebel 250. The battery was already five years old when I bought the bike used. It never recovered from that drain.

Lead-Acid

The standard. Flooded lead-acid batteries. The kind with caps you can open to add distilled water.

My first three bikes all came with flooded lead-acid. The Rebel. A 1994 Kawasaki Ninja 500. A 2001 Suzuki SV650. I replaced the batteries in all of them at least twice.

Flooded batteries need maintenance. Check the water level every few months. Top off with distilled water only. Tap water has minerals that destroy the plates.

I didn't know any of this in 2003. I never checked water levels. I never added water. The batteries lasted maybe two years each. Should have lasted three or four.

The SV650 battery died in a grocery store parking lot in 2006. February. Cold day. I'd ridden twenty minutes to get there. Came out with my groceries. The bike clicked once and nothing.

Jump started it from a stranger's car. Rode home. Ordered a new battery that night. $48 from BikeBandit. Yuasa YTX12-BS. AGM, not flooded. I didn't want to deal with water levels anymore.

AGM

Absorbed Glass Mat. The electrolyte is held in fiberglass separators instead of sloshing around as liquid. Sealed. Maintenance-free. Can be mounted at angles.

The YTX12-BS lasted four years in the SV650. No maintenance. Just worked.

After that I only bought AGM. Every bike from 2006 on. Yuasa, mostly. Some Shorai batteries when I tried lithium.

Current prices are different. AGM batteries run $80 to $150 for most bikes. The Yuasa YTX14-BS for my current bike lists at $129. I paid $94 on sale last year.

The Lithium Experiment

I bought a Shorai LFX18A1-BS12 for my Triumph Street Triple. $189. Lithium iron phosphate. Weighed 2.1 pounds. The AGM it replaced weighed 9 pounds.

The Shorai worked fine for two years. Started the bike every time. No issues.

Then winter 2016. I parked the bike for three weeks. December into January. Temperatures dropped to the teens.

The lithium battery was dead. Completely dead. The charger couldn't revive it. Shorai's warranty process required sending the battery back to California. I shipped it. They tested it. They said it was damaged from being discharged below 10.5 volts.

I had no battery tender on it. My fault.

They denied the warranty. I bought another AGM.

Cold Weather

Lithium batteries don't like cold. Below 40 degrees they lose significant cranking power. Below freezing they can be damaged if you try to charge them while the cells are cold.

Most lithium motorcycle batteries have a built-in heating system now. You press the starter button, it warms the cells for a few seconds, then engages the starter motor. The Antigravity batteries do this. So do the newer Shorais.

I haven't tried them. Once burned.

AGM works fine in cold. I've started bikes at 15 degrees on a Yuasa AGM. Cranking is slower. The bike still starts.

I keep a battery tender on all my bikes now. CTEK MXS 5.0. $89. Bought four of them over the years. One for each bike in the garage. The batteries last longer when they're maintained at full charge.

What Actually Kills Batteries

Sitting. Sitting kills batteries.

A motorcycle that gets ridden every day can go five years on the same battery. A motorcycle that sits for months at a time kills a battery in two years.

The SV650 sat for eight months in 2009. I was traveling for work. When I came back the battery was sulfated. Wouldn't hold a charge. Eighteen months old.

My Triumph Bonneville sat for a year during Covid. 2020 into 2021. I had a tender on it. The battery survived. Five years old when I finally sold the bike. Still working.

Current Setup

Three bikes in the garage right now. 2019 Ducati Monster 821. 2015 BMW R1200GS. 1982 Honda CB750 project that hasn't run in two years.

The Ducati has a Yuasa YT12B-BS. Factory original. Bought the bike used in 2021 with 4,000 miles. The battery is at least five years old. Still works. I ride the Ducati twice a week minimum. The regular use keeps it healthy.

The BMW has an Odyssey PC680. $159. Bought it in 2022 when the original battery died at seven years old. The Odyssey is overkill for a motorcycle. It's an automotive battery in a smaller form factor. Massive cranking amps. Starts the 1200cc boxer twin like it's nothing.

The CB750 has a dead battery. Some no-name thing from Amazon. $35. It was dead when I bought the project bike. It's still dead. I'll buy a proper battery when I finish the carb rebuild. Whenever that is.

The Math

A good AGM battery costs $100. Lasts four to five years with proper maintenance.

A cheap battery costs $45. Lasts two years. Maybe less.

Two cheap batteries over four years: $90. One good battery over four years: $100. The difference is $10 and the hassle of replacement.

I've stranded myself twice with cheap batteries. Both times I was too cheap to replace batteries that were getting weak. Both times I regretted it.

What I Buy Now

Yuasa or Odyssey. That's it.

Yuasa is the OEM supplier for most Japanese bikes. The batteries are made in Japan or Taiwan. Quality is consistent. Prices are reasonable.

Odyssey is American-made, premium pricing, built like industrial equipment. I use them on bikes with hard-starting big twins or bikes that sit for longer periods.

I don't buy Walmart batteries. I don't buy Amazon house brands. I don't buy anything without a clear manufacturing origin.

A motorcycle battery failing means being stranded. Stranded on a motorcycle is worse than stranded in a car. No climate control. No place to sit comfortably. No AAA flatbed coming in twenty minutes.

The Point

Batteries are boring. Nobody buys a motorcycle because of the battery. Nobody posts on forums about their great battery experiences.

But a dead battery ruins a ride. A weak battery causes starting problems. A sulfated battery means money wasted.

I check battery voltage every spring now. Should be 12.6 volts or higher at rest. Below 12.4 means it's going. Below 12.0 means it's gone.

The voltmeter cost $15. Takes thirty seconds to check.