1) Regulator was mismatched to the battery, basically. That particular model Honda ran at too high a voltage in hot weather. A recognized problem with certain model Hondas. But the wet-cell batteries common for many decades in almost all automotive uses had to be fed water at fairly regular intervals, as nobody put temperature compensation in the voltage-regulation circuit.2) You see plenty of reports here on this forum of early-death "proven" batteries. May be (or have been) more common in lithium right now, but all new technologies take time to mature. Anyway the point of my statement is that, even though the battery starts your bike, it could fail while you're riding it. It has to continue to function thereafter.
3) Yes, it's a 28 volt AGM. Unlike a car, in an airplane like mine it has to be able to provide power after alternator failure in IMC for enough time to be able to communicate and navigate to the ground. The ability to start the engine is not deemed sufficient proof of its current state of capability. So I get the best one I can.
As an update, I'm now into the second cold-weather season with the EarthX. Started the bike just fine a week or so back at 26 DegF.
