Oldest Battery?

[CAJW]

I'm not having any issues with my almost 5 yr old battery, but wondering when I might. It spends it's off time on a battery tender, has never left me (knock on wood) and hasn't missed a beat since I bought the bike new. I'm wondering what is the average age most of you replace your OEM battery and if you've replaced it due to a failure or for preventative maintenance (read don't want to push your luck and end up stranded somewhere).

Thanks.

 

[RenoJohn]

2004, 67Kmiles with OEM battery. so I guess that is going on 7 years

Personally, my batteries usually last a long time, I believe because they rarely get battery tenders and when they do, only for short intervals. Even with the improved technology of today's tenders, IMO they still wear a battery if used for prolonged use. Great for gentle charging of dead batteries, but IMO more harm than good in prolonged use. For prolonged use I do a day or two a month, that's if I remember, more often it's zero days a month, then a overnight episode before the first ride.

I have a lot of dead batteries from leaving shit on ...hence a lot of push starts. I often think that because my batteries get their "legs stretched" by being run down on occasion, perhaps that is another reason they last so long.

Like oil and deodorant, everyone has their own way.

 

[timk]

Mine was 5 yrs last October. The bike sets in a heated garage when home. Only acc. are Hot Grips and GPS 40k miles now

 

[Sagebrush]

I have not replaced the FJR battery yet, but my other bikes usually hold a good charge for 5 years with good care. I had one that went 10 years in an old Honda ST1100 when I was too cheap to change it. I think the Battery Tender made it last. But it did cost me the hassel of looking for a battery at 1 am in the morning. I was leaving early from an out of state job and hit the button getting nothing. Walmart saved me that night, I was on a trip home and near the store thankfully and bought a battery charger for the initial charge. Even found power to charge it. Put the acid in and gave it a charge..... and it worked. I don't wait till the bike won't start anymore though. Its best to load test the suckers and check them out or at least put a volt meter on them to check charge level after sitting. Low voltage starts due to weak batteries are no good for starters etc..

Go load test yours and if it checks out leave it in there if you want to take it all the way, I would check it more often though. The auto parts stores will test it for free. There is no need to guess at battery condition, I haven't had to do a push start yet just an early morning parkling lot battery change in down town Charlotte, NC. I would change a 5 year old battery if you have the money and go places far away from battery dealers, they usually fail when there is no replacement around. 5 years is very good for such a small hard working battery.

 

[Patriot]

Last year, I traveled alot. I consider the battery a maintenance item.

It's on a tender whenever the bike is in my garage...I notice that it always goes from red to green in 5 minutes on the tender.

That's an indication to me that the battery is fine.

I kinda like to replace mine every 3 years or so. I think it's good insurance. Maybe it is, maybe it's not. Makes me feel better.

<a degree of mine is mech engr...I know squat about stuff I can't see, touch, or grab like electrons!!!> :blink:

 

[Afast03nNJ]

Got 6 years out of the original battery in my 03. It sat all winter in NJ and never once saw a battery tender or charger.

It died peacefully in the spring of 09.

 

[Zorlac]

Still using the original Yuasa in my 05, the PO sold me his BT with the bike and I use it most of the time when I'm not riding it.

I got paranoid about a year ago and installed a Datel, also bought a Westco replacement that is yet to be needed.

 

[FJRAL]

Mine's an '04 on the original battery, spends off time on Battery Tender Jr. Time and money says that it only has a bit over 20k on the clock, sad but true. But when I ride it is for quite a few miles, day trips, more often than not.

Reason I write is one of my cycle mags had a fellow asking for input on his ELEVEN year old battery. Said he also used a "tender" type product, was wondering about getting a new one. The mag guy said give the battery a break! Its been ELEVEN years, pop for a new battery! Not word for word, but it was an interesting read.

I've been thinking of a new battery, but hasn't happened.

 

[RED]

This will be year number 4 on the OEM battery. During the winter, the bike sits in a non climate controlled storage with the battery still hooked up. So far, so good.

 

[Leskid]

You dont' have a poll option for '7 years - never changed'

03 still running on original battery without issue (anymore). No charger or tender and it fired right up coming out of winter storage the other week.

I almost changed it last year because when very hot, re-starting was just flaky enough to reset the clock & tripmeter. Then I realized I always use the killswitch for short stops, which leaves the headlights on. Now, I make sure to actually turn the key to 'off' to kill headlights, then back on to start.

Solved all problems.

 

[Checkswrecks]

I refuse to answer.

Writing that everything's fine would be bad ju-ju.

 

[sportrider]

05 with 19,000 miles, original battery, sits on battery tender when not riding.

 

[Karl]

I guess I like throwing money away and change the darn things about every 2 years (20K miles). I mean for $65 locally for a new Westco, I would rather have the piece of mind. I just combine the job with the Iridium plug change every 20K or so and its all good.

 

[Peter_MA]

'05 with 26K miles. No tender. No problems with the performance of the battery, but I'm changing it because the lead post/caged bolt holder on the negative post broke free from battery. I drove a screw through the bottom of the cage into the post in the battery while my new one was coming from Bike Effects.

 

[Zorlac]

Shit, that'd been good for another 2yrs. at least!

 

[gainsi]

I have a 2001 built Australian spec bike that I've had for 8 years.......still with the original battery. It's ridden at least once most weeks, & 'we' don't have your cold winters to kill the battery.

I've had 3 spells of about 12 weeks at a time off the bike, so I let it discharge for 6 weeks & then put it on an Optimate III tender. Repeated this procedure just before commencing riding again & it's good to go.

What is my prize ?! :good:

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

Poll needs more years...?

I just replaced my original (2002 installed) GS brand battery with one I picked-up at Batteries Plus (Xtreme brand, made in China).

My origanal battery has always started the bike -- but lately (last few months), on cool morning start-ups, it doesn't spin the motor (slower cranking). And, when checked, its 'at rest' voltage doesn't exceed 12.6V anymore. The new battery's voltage is 13.0V. The alt/reg puts out 14.3V.

I've never put the battery on a 'maintainer' (don't own one) -- but, instead, check the battery voltage from-time-to-time (every 2~3 months, for the last year) and if it's low (less than 12.8V) I put it on a 1 A charger for for a couple hours.

The old GS still starts the bike fine but I'm "tired of tempting fate" and it'll become the workbench 12V supply.

We'll see how the Xtreme does -- :huh:

 

[user 213]

'04 w/120k on the original battery and showing some minor signs that it's getting due. It's been on a Optimate III battery tender since about '05 when ever I'm not riding it, (in a garage heated ambiently by the house furnace).

Unlike RenoJohn, I think a quality battery tender makes a positive difference in battery life. The Optimate has a desulfate cycle for example, and has chosen to do this cycle twice on my batter during the last 5 years. Once when I first hooked it up, and once again a couple of months ago. The difference afterward was noticeable when I was out of town for a ride for a few days and no tender at night. Cold morning starts are better now after the desulfate cycle.

 

[RenoJohn]

'04 w/120k on the original battery and showing some minor signs that it's getting due. It's been on a Optimate III battery tender since about '05 when ever I'm not riding it, (in a garage heated ambiently by the house furnace).
Unlike RenoJohn, I think a quality battery tender makes a positive difference in battery life. The Optimate has a desulfate cycle for example, and has chosen to do this cycle twice on my batter during the last 5 years. Once when I first hooked it up, and once again a couple of months ago. The difference afterward was noticeable when I was out of town for a ride for a few days and no tender at night. Cold morning starts are better now after the desulfate cycle.

E,

I'll have to learn more on the desulfate cycle. Sounds awesome and perhaps there are some really groovy chargers out there that I'm not familiar with.

My comments are from my generic experience of seeing folks thinking that they're helping their battery by hooking it up for extended periods -IMO *most* of the time the harm is more than the good. Even trickle chargers seem to always throw a current. Me, if I was going to have a prolonged storage, I'd have a trickle charger on a timer and maybe have it kick on couple times a month for say 12 to 24 hours. But perhaps there are fancy chargers that do better than what I've seen.

My old bike was manufactured in July of 2003 and as of this morning, still had the OEM battery .....so coming up on seven years. Never extended charging, and subject to a lot of hot and cold uhhhh, and one fair-weather day too.

Also, i'm sure everyone knows that minimal brake and turn-signal use is the key to long battery life.