Dealer battery VS Walmart Special?

Well I knew my battery was weak at the end of last year but it seems to be
officially dead this year. A biker at work said he goes to Walmart to get
his batteries and they seem to last him a season or two vs a dealership
battery that is twice as expensive and lasts perhaps a bit longer. Any
comments? I dont mind spending the extra to avoid being stranded but if
they are the same thing with different labelling that wouldnt make sense.
Anyone been through the battery cycle?

Thanks,

Falc.

 

Check the price for your bike first. Walmart was a buck more than the
dealer's price for my battery. I got 4 years out of my last HD battery,
which breaks down to something like a whopping $15/year. Skip taking the
old lady to some crappy flic you didn't want to see anyway onnce a year,
and you've got it covered.

 

Why keep the battery in the basement? A nice cold garage is the best
place for your battery, assuming you keep it charged occasionally, it
won't freeze. Self-discharge rates go down as temperature drop, and
there is nothing harmful at all about keeping a battery in the cold.

 

At -25F, it's a lot nicer to do the occasional charching it the cellar.

 

Things can go wrong if you use a substandard battery. One instance is on a Hayabusa, using a weak
battery to start it up can cause kick-back in the starter gear and causes very expensive damage to
the gear and it's casing. This is well documented. Another problem is if you try to bump-start a
dead Hayabusa. This can cause damage to the crankshaft pinion, which is extremely expensive to
resolve. This is also well documented.

Get a battery that is equal or better than the stock item.

 

Well, I am in my garage at least twice a day getting into or out of
the car. It's not a lot of extra bother to walk over and hit the
battery charger switch as I walk into the house.

 

Dealer battery VS Walmart Special?

Group: rec.motorcycles.tech Date: Tue, Mar 2, 2004, 8:49pm From:
(Falc)
    >Well I knew my battery was weak at

2-3 years is average. I wouldn't keep any battery longer than that.
Brand isn't as important as type. Get a sealed maintenance free. It
will last longer, have more cranking power, and hold a charge longer.
It eliminates a lot of hassle. Why put up with the 1950's technology
of adding water?

 

It's like anything else in life, you get what you pay for. A maintenance
free battery is better, but if you have a hot spell and a hot charger unit
(voltage regulator that is blown or set too high), you can boil it off,
regardless of maintenance or none maintenance type. A maintenance free has
pressure caps that will allow venting, a potential for boil off.

Get CCA, the more the better. Stuff as much in your vehicle as you can get.

It is much more important to pay attention to your battery in the heat (as
effective internal resistance lowers and thus self-discharge increases).
Make sure you trickle charge it or ride your bike at least once a week in
the heat. For that matter, leave it on the trickle charger any time you're
not riding it daily. If the trickle charger is working properly, it will
not harm your bike.

Also, if you have the option on your bike to turn your lights off (one of my
old bikes I could do that), leave it on. The drain will keep the charge
voltage down to a non-boiling level (hopefully).

Robert

p.s. By the way, Walmart is not always the cheapest! Shop around any
you'll find out for yourself.


Dealer battery VS Walmart Special?

Group: rec.motorcycles.tech Date: Tue, Mar 2, 2004, 8:49pm From:
(Falc)

2-3 years is average. I wouldn't keep any battery longer than that.
Brand isn't as important as type. Get a sealed maintenance free. It
will last longer, have more cranking power, and hold a charge longer.
It eliminates a lot of hassle. Why put up with the 1950's technology
of adding water?

 

You have enough room to get a car into the garage? You need some more bikes.

 

You're right- three isn't enough, I've been thinking of getting at least
one more.

<my secret shame>
I do have a JC Penney Pinto moped too
</mss>

 

What is the average number of bikes you guys own? how much of an insurance
break is there in owning more then one?

 

Not enough to notice. I'd have to dig out the paperwork, but iirc the
multivehicle discount is something like US$50 for 4 vehicles. The insurance
compamies thought is based on the potential of all vehicles being in use at
once, something I've never mastered since there is only one of me and if
someone else is riding one of my bikes they stole it.

otoh, this state doesn't require insurance on bikes.

 

Also, on the subject of extending the life of your battery:

When not riding your bike on a regular basis, the battery "juices" tend to
stratify*. This is accelerated by lack of agitation and temperature
differential. So, shake up your battery to stir the "juices" and keep it
off the floor or heat transferring surfaces at all times (try wood or
styrofoam). If shaking is out of the question, get a GOOD charger (there
are some that occasionally, purposefully overcharge a battery in order to
stir the "juices" via boiling).

* Your dad or granddad probably told you that putting a battery directly on
the floor or ground was bad because it sucked the juice out of it (or
shorted it out). They were right about it shortening the lifespan of a
battery. They just had the wrong reason.

Robert

 

Correct. Also, beginning this year, the registration is $35 and is permanent
as long as yuo own the bike. Nice seeing 999999999 for the expiration date.

Cage insurance is mandatory. I got stopped a couple of years ago, and didn't
have a current card. I had insurance, I just screwed up with the little
proof of insurance card and threw the wrong one away. It was going to be a
$350 pop until I produced a current card.

Right now the bikes are insured because they are new enough that I wanted
the theft, collision, etc.

The state has always put bikes in a not-quite-real-vehicle category, and
apparently there haven't been enough problems for anyone to change things.
I don't know the breakdown, but I would imagine most accidents are bike vs
landscape or bike versus large quadruped. If there is another vehicle
involved, it's the biker with the short dirty end when the dust settles.

 

I've found that I get 3 years of battery life in my Voyager whether it
is a Yuasa or a cheap Champion brand from Wally World.


Matt

 

I really haven't noticed any difference in cranking, even in cooler
weather. My Voyager started well so it never had to crank long.


Matt

 

bikes.

Depends on the size of the garage, doesn't it? My garage will easily hold 2
Suburbans and 3+ bikes. Not that either of my vehicles is a Suburban, but
the people I bought the place from had a pair of them.