A question about AGM`s

[tkent02]

If it lasts ten or twelve years where an old fashioned lead acid battery only lasts six or seven, who cares?

If you know so little about your motorcycle that a dead battery will leave you stranded, you aren't ready for long distance travel anyway.

[Killer2600]

If it lasts ten or twelve years where an old fashioned lead acid battery only lasts six or seven, who cares?

If you know so little about your motorcycle that a dead battery will leave you stranded, you aren't ready for long distance travel anyway.

A battery is a possible failure point all by itself, I could have NASA engineers rebuild the entire bike and a cheap chinese battery that cost me $20 and probably made for $5 could leave me stranded. You may carry tools on a long trip but do you care a spare charged battery and maybe a spare regulator and stator? Probably not, at least no one I know carries a spare battery with them let alone ensures the spare is fully charged before they head out. That leaves most to tools and the local wal-mart or auto parts where they can buy another battery at full retail which puts their total battery expense at the price I paid for my motobatt but I've only had to install it once and it's a better battery than either of the others.

YMMV and your take on risk may be different but the math is the same. Just one failure away from home throws all your savings out the window. I am making the assumption that cheap chinese mass produced stuff will have bad quality and a high failure rate but there's a reason why we all have japanese bikes and not one of the many very affordable chinese bikes.

[srg]

I have a battery picked out from BatteryMart: http://www.batterymart.com/p-mb10u-m...m-battery.html

$80 and I'll buy a tender to go with it too. Should last a long time.

[tkent02]

It would last longer without the battery tender.

[tom203]

It would last longer without the battery tender.

Well, you wouldn't want it to sit in storage all winter with no charging.

[tkent02]

No, I'd charge it up once a month or so, if it needed it.
Leaving it plugged in all winter does it NO good.

Hell, a good AGM won't even be low after a couple months.

I just pulled one from a bike that had sat four years with no charging, it was only a little bit down. Charged it up and put it back in, it's working just fine.

[tom203]

Hey, we sorta agree ! I charge my seasonal batteries every other month with my 2 amp battery maintainer. AGMs seem to loose little compared to older style batteries.

[tkent02]

Yes, I couldn't believe the battery after four years sitting in the bike was still good, let alone still mostly charged up. But I parked it there myself, couldn't get a title for the bike, and forgot about it. Four years later it's working fine. Amazing.

[srg]

Alright, yous just talked me out of spending $50 for a Tender :-P

[GS1150Pilot]

I've got an Odyssey in my 1150.

[tkent02]

That should last twenty years.

[bccap]

Hmm... I'll have to look into this. On their site they look to be around $170-$200....

[michaelj_444]

So I ended up getting the top one at this link. For some reason I can`t upload the pic to Photobucket. $10.00 core and a $10.00 coupon off the web and I`m riding with a new AGM for $74.99. No shipping, no waiting and a 2 year warranty. I`ll let you know how she lasts. Did I mention 205 cca?

http://www.batteriesplus.com/products/558-CC/5171-Motorcycle-Batteries/127991-Suzuki/GS1000G/1000CC-1978-to-1981/1.aspx

Mike

[Old guy]

I'm going to update on the battery I bought from Amazon.

left it hooked up for the last 3-4 months over winter, no trickle charger, kicked the bike right over.

I'd buy one of these again in a heart beat.

[mikerophone]

This item is no longer in stock on Amazon. There's one that appears to be similar (out of town right now and don't have a bike to measure the battery on nearby) on Amazon, but $20 more and not all that highly rated:

Amazon - $52.71

Batterymart $79.95 w free shipping

or locally as suggested at Batteries+for $65