Bought an AGM battery today!

[Bonz]

OK, it's not that exciting however I think it's a great price on a good battery. And this is the time of year to find good deals on motorcycle batteries, IMO.

Listed as a replacement for our XS1100's, all years.

21AH by the specs, 350 CCA, 1 year warranty.
$56.73 shipped

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-YTX24HL-...tYBSLD&vxp=mtr

As rdmcguy knows I picked up an '82 Yamaha Vision shortly after Christmas. It needs a battery. I have been running a smaller than standard battery in my XS1100 for the past year, it happens to be the proper size for the Vision.

Perfect reason to upgrade to an AGM battery for not a lot of dough.

[Ranger_xs1100]

good deal!

[QUOTE=Bonz;493991]OK, it's not that exciting however I think it's a great price on a good battery. And this is the time of year to find good deals on motorcycle batteries, IMO.

Thanks Bonz!
I just ordered one too,
appears to be a good deal!

[Bonz]

For me I like it's coming from Nebraska which is just one state over.

I kept seeing other batteries that seem to be the same thing and might have been a few bucks less, but this one I felt most sure about.

This thing will darn near start my Jeep on most days of the year while I have the radio on listening to an Alabama CD.

[Bonz]

Battery showed up. It is not the brand shown in the eBay ad, however it is the same battery size and specs. It is a "Kinetik" brand, model APTX24HL.

Very pleased with the speed with which the battery arrived.

Here is a link to a picture of the battery I received. It is not the link I ordered from, just using it for a picture of the battery and specs.

https://www.amazon.com/12V-21AH-350-.../dp/B01AOPJ6LY

The AGM batteries say "ready to go out of the box". I went ahead and hooked it up to my Schumacher charger and after a couple minutes charging at 2A it registered 25% charge. Three and a half hours later it shows 75% charge. I assume it just needs a "topping off".

Is this fairly typical that some AGM batteries may not have as much charge from sitting around waiting to be sold, even though it's advertised that they should? Or, like I asked above, is this simply a normal "topping off"?

Never bought an AGM battery before, thus thanks in advance for any thoughts!

[CaptonZap]

http://harleytechtalk.org/htt/index.php?topic=35746.0

Yeah, I know, Hoggley riders. But batteries are batteries.

CZ

[Bonz]

Funny, I had already read that same form link when searching before I posted. I just want to hear from you guys that sticking it on the charger at 2A wasn't gonna over-do a 21AH battery.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Funny, I had already read that same form link when searching before I posted. I just want to hear from you guys that sticking it on the charger at 2A wasn't gonna over-do a 21AH battery.

Howard,
I doubt it'll be a problem for the initial charge to top it off.

I usually use a 900 ma smart maintainer, but I've also learned to use even this sparingly. (Usually extreme cold, sitting for long periods.)
I'll charge it up, then take it off the charger for a couple days, then back on.

Can't tell ya how many batteries I've burned up leaving them on "smart chargers" all winter. I don't do that any more.

When I get the occaisional warm day in the winter, I'll either start it and run for about 20 minutes or ride it a bit.

Haven't lost a battery since going this route.
Bob

[Bonz]

Thanks for the input! On another note I got the ZRX out yesterday for about a 110 miles of Break In riding. It was 34 degrees but I couldn't stay off the thing any longer.

After I checked compression at 110 miles it stabilized so I drained the non detergent 30 weight Shell Oil to break in with, and put in a dino 10W40. I typically run a heavier oil but felt a lighter oil while still trying to break it in the last bit would make more sense. We'll try and get as much riding in the next couple months on the engine and then check compression as it gets closer to riding season. Everything looks good to this point! And it does have a nice bit of added Grunt and acceleration especially in the mid-range and above. It flat gets with the program.

[3Phase]

Man! Brass monkeys and all that!

If you're really going to be out riding in 30 to 40 degree weather and not just posing in the parking lot like a pirate on parade you should be using a good 30 weight multivis like a 0 or 5W-30. A (mumble)W-40 is a little too thick unless you're running really hard and screaming between the ice patches, then you'll need a thicker skull to go with it.

[IanDMacDonald]

Is this fairly typical that some AGM batteries may not have as much charge from sitting around waiting to be sold, even though it's advertised that they should? Or, like I asked above, is this simply a normal "topping off"?

All of my bikes have AGM's now, and it just depends on how long it's been sitting. If I have time, I'll drop it on the battery tender, if not, I'll throw it on the bike in the parking lot and go.

I have four bikes connected to a battery tender, and three more batteries connected to one as-well.

[XJOK2PLAY]

Thanks for the input! On another note I got the ZRX out yesterday for about a 110 miles of Break In riding. It was 34 degrees but I couldn't stay off the thing any longer.

After I checked compression at 110 miles it stabilized so I drained the non detergent 30 weight Shell Oil to break in with, and put in a dino 10W40. I typically run a heavier oil but felt a lighter oil while still trying to break it in the last bit would make more sense. We'll try and get as much riding in the next couple months on the engine and then check compression as it gets closer to riding season. Everything looks good to this point! And it does have a nice bit of added Grunt and acceleration especially in the mid-range and above. It flat gets with the program.

Cool Man!...

Literaly!! Lol...

[Bonz]

10W40 is fine for what I'm doing now. I don't care if it shears out in a thousand miles and the 10W is fine for startup around the freezing mark. I would rather have a little bit more "wear and tear" during this break-in.

[3Phase]

Shearing down out of grade isn't the problem. If the oil is too thick then it won't want to pump and flow correctly, especially at engine startup when most of the wear happens. The oil pump pressure regulator and possibly the relief valve will dump oil back into the pan instead of the oil system and the oil filter bypass will kick open instead of running the oil through the filter.

If you've ever noticed that when you use oil thicker oil it makes the engine temperature go up. If the oil is too thick then the engine temperature goes up a lot. Part of it's because the engine's working harder to pump the oil but part of it's the friction from parts that can't get lubrication.

Think of something visual like one of those flat spray hoses. At normal temperature (not frozen! ) and pressure, water will run the full length of the hose and you can see it spray out of the holes.

If you tried something thicker like cooking oil at the same temperature and pressure then it would fill the hose but most of it would only go through the holes at the beginning of the hose instead of evenly along the entire length and it wouldn't spray correctly.

Then try it with Bosco chocolate syrup.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Bonz,

The 2 amp charger is probably okay for this initial topoff, but I would monitor the battery temperature, if it feels very warm on the sides, then I would take it off, and get a lower powered charger like was mentioned by others....a battery tender type charger/maintainer that doesn't go over 1 amp.

https://www.amazon.com/BatteryMINDer...y+tender+pulse

IIRC, it was also recommended for me to topoff the charge on my AGM battery when I got it a couple of years ago. I used it 2 years ago, then screwed up and allowed it to get almost completely discharged down to about 2 volts! I did a parallel battery charge to bring it up to ~11 volts, and then put it on the above pulse/desulfator charger for several more DAYS before it finally showed it was charged up and was at over 13V's. I then used it this last year on my XS SouthEast rally run where it was again stressed a bit when my fancy hi output automotive mini-race alt died and I was running it for at least a half hour before I realized that I wasn't getting any charge to it from the dead alt. Was then able to replace the ALT and it still had enough oomph to start the bike without a boost.

Now, for some trivia for you Scott/3Phase. You mentioned Bonz's "Brass Monkeys"!

Here's the story behind this phrase: In the olden days of wooden triple master ships and cannons, they stored the cannon balls on deck in a stacked pyramid shape. To hold the shape, they used a square shaped strip of railing made of brass to keep the balls in place. This was called a Brass Monkey. But any sailor knows that temperatures can drop rather quickly when out at sea. When a ship got into this type of climate change environment, the brass would shrink faster than the cast iron balls, and the leverage point would reduce to the point that the balls would run over the railing and spill out all over the deck!

So....the phrase originally was "It got so cold that it froze the balls 'over' a brass monkey", then later changed to "OFF" a brass monkey, and then later just off a Monkey.

And now you know the rest of the story.

Source was a book of nautical lore I "had"/received from an old Navy Uncle several decades ago, since lost....the book!

T.C.

[3Phase]

Bonz,

First off, thank you for the link to the AGM batteries! D'oh! I don't need any at the moment but I will in a few months.

Unless you buy a dry charged battery that has to be filled with acid, AGM batteries are supposed to ship fully charged and activated so the manufacturer/reseller doesn't put themselves out of business replacing batteries under warranty.


Technically, the battery you bought should be a APTX24HL-BS.
Battery Sharks | What Do Motorcycle Battery Model Names Stand For?

The two letters after the hyphen signify the type of the battery, as in whether it is conventional or sealed. The BS means Battery Sealed. A sealed battery is one that’s filled with acid and sealed after filling. It can be used in any orientation and is(sic) offers easier maintenance.

If you want to use the belt-and-suspenders approach (I do) just in case you got the last battery from the back of the shelf you can charge it at 2A for 10 or 12 hours before you put it to work and that should be all you need -- trust but verify, watch the temperature while it's charging and all of that.

If you run the starter a lot to do some engine work, make a lot of short trips or even medium trips in cold weather, then just toss it on the charger overnight so it doesn't sit partially discharged and start to sulfate. Like Bob says, take it off the charger and don't let it sit after it's charged. There are chargers designed -- or claim to be designed for 24/7/365 charging but some of them cost as much or more than a new battery.

All of that can save anywhere from a whole month to a couple of years of battery life.


T.C., that's exactly what I was thinking -- ouch! It was below 40F here last night and I had a chilly ride to the doctor's this morning but my XJ's kept in the garage so I don't have to worry about it getting too cold.