2011 RT battery question

[stanleyjhuber]

I had to get my RT jumped today. I was running errands around town, came out and she wouldn't start. I attempted to use my battery tender 600 amp, but it wouldn't do the trick. I had no notification that the battery was on its way out. No issues starting before this, voltmeter was at 13.X volts. I keep a tender plugged in whenever I"m not riding.
I have a few questions regarding replacement batteries...
1) I have to replace my battery every 1-2 years. Is this normal?
2) The last several times, I replaced the battery with a Yuasa - YUAM7250H YTX24HL (This last one lasted 24 1/2 months). I can't seem to find this available anywhere. Are there other batteries that are reliable? Are there issues with the -BS model?
3) Is there any insight to availability of this battery. Should I buy now (end of the riding season is near) or hold off until next spring?

 

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I had to get my RT jumped today. I was running errands around town, came out and she wouldn't start. I attempted to use my battery tender 600 amp, but it wouldn't do the trick. I had no notification that the battery was on its way out. No issues starting before this, voltmeter was at 13.X volts. I keep a tender plugged in whenever I"m not riding.
I have a few questions regarding replacement batteries...
1) I have to replace my battery every 1-2 years. Is this normal?
2) The last several times, I replaced the battery with a Yuasa - YUAM7250H YTX24HL (This last one lasted 24 1/2 months). I can't seem to find this available anywhere. Are there other batteries that are reliable? Are there issues with the -BS model?
3) Is there any insight to availability of this battery. Should I buy now (end of the riding season is near) or hold off until next spring?

1-2 years ....NO this isn't Normal .... I usually get 6 yrs. from a small battery ..... I No longer keep it on Maintainer, if it sits for awhile ( not likely ) and shows signs of reluctant starting, I'll put it on the Maintainer over-night ..... I always get the BS Yuasa version .... it comes with the Acid in an EASY fill container, ( and it is EASY ) ... then give it the initial charge EXACTLY according to directions ..... If you fill it & Charge it you know it's fresh ..... Un-filled Batteries have a VERY long shelf life ..... good luck .... Mike :thumbup:

 

[Little Blue]

Battery Life

I had to get my RT jumped today. I was running errands around town, came out and she wouldn't start. I attempted to use my battery tender 600 amp, but it wouldn't do the trick. I had no notification that the battery was on its way out. No issues starting before this, voltmeter was at 13.X volts. I keep a tender plugged in whenever I"m not riding.
I have a few questions regarding replacement batteries...
1) I have to replace my battery every 1-2 years. Is this normal?
2) The last several times, I replaced the battery with a Yuasa - YUAM7250H YTX24HL (This last one lasted 24 1/2 months). I can't seem to find this available anywhere. Are there other batteries that are reliable? Are there issues with the -BS model?
3) Is there any insight to availability of this battery. Should I buy now (end of the riding season is near) or hold off until next spring?

Battery life should be about 4 to 6 years.

If you only get a little over 2 years, something is wrong.
I have the Yuasa Battery YTX24HL installed in my Spyder
They have all lasted for 5+ years.

You need to carefully inspect your vehicle for some issues or why the battery only lasts 2 years.

Hopefully you ryde for 45 minutes to a hour when you Ryde. This will help keep your battery fully charged.

Good Luck on Your Mission. ....:thumbup:

 

[Peter Aawen]

Keeping a battery on a tender needlessly WILL shorten its life - and stanleyj, I reckon that's what you've done!! You've killed your battery (more than one by the sound of it?!? :dontknow: ) with kindness!! :lecturef_smilie: :banghead:

If you aren't going to be riding your Spyder for saaay, a few weeks/a month or more, then sure, put it on a tender; BUT putting it on a tender whenever you're not riding can easily hide a dying battery/a dead or dying cell/a failing charge system, and doing that can also help cause that battery's death by never letting it cycle thru a proper discharge/recharge cycle so that the battery, while for all intents & purpose still maintaing the proper charge voltage, juuust gradually chews away & depletes it's heavy load capacity - which is the deep discharge/full recharge cycle that'll help make sure it's in good health & see it recharge fairly quickly after hitting it with the heavy starting load or leaving it running power to things like accessory lights, radio etc for a while/ a lot straight off the battery, with no engine or deep charging!! :banghead:

So if you're planning on riding your Spyder again in a day or 3, or maybe just next weekend, you probably shouldn't put it on the tender - the battery's not gonna die in juust a week of sitting, not unless it's already on its way out, anyway!! And whenever you DO ride it, you should aim to ride for at least 30 mins of riding, preferably at highway speeds for that sorta period (that latter bit is far more important on the V-Twin Spyders, with their magneto type charging system, than it is on the 1330's with alternators, but it still applies, only not quite so strictly! ) Any shorter ride probably won't put back all the charge/grunt you took out of the battery when you started the engine, so even with a tender, lotsa short runs (less than 30 mins) will be just sucking the life out of the battery, and most normal 'battery tenders' (as opposed to 'maintainers' &/or full on 'chargers' ) probably don't have a great enough/quick enough charge capacity to do anything more than bring the 'cover charge' back up to spec/voltage in anything less than a solid week or three, IF they'll even charge for that long, & most won't/don't/shouldn't! :gaah:

All of which means that if that's what your're doing, the repeated short runs/back on the tender cycle is basically causing your batteries to die a death by a thousand small cuts!! :shocked: So if you've been taking it easy on your Spyder/battery, it's not helping - instead of taking it easy &/or just pottering around, you're faaarr better off to work it harder, ie, you've really gotta ride more, ride faster, ride longer, and rely on the tender/charger a whole lot less! hyea:

Hope that sorta explains it a bit & maybe helps some - over to you! :cheers:

 

[Mikey]

What brand of tender are you using? Maybe it's not working the way it should, and not stepping down! The only time I put mine on a tender, or maintainer, whatever you want to call it, is in the winter when I put it up for the season! Clean, tight terminals you should not have a problem getting 4-5 years from your battery's, unless you are one of these types of people that don't take any rides and just make short trips to the store and what not, that will not replace the charge back in your battery to maintain a good charge! I think like some above, that you are cooking your battery! Good luck!!

 

[Little Blue]

Battery Life?

:chat:...Just checking back to see if you made any progress on your Battery issues?

Stay Healthy. ....:thumbup: