Busa battery...the latest and greatest...CCA/reliability/etc

Before I sold the busa I installed a SSB lithium battery and was impressed with its lack of weight and starting power also it finally cured the dreaded warm start issues i had on my bike I would get one for the wing but it retails for like $400 right now :thumbsup:
 
I have a Shorai in my ZX-14 for 10 years now. It's a smaller lighter battery than they recomended for the 14 but it has never let me down. I do not think it holds a charge as wel as it did when new but as long as I ride the bike at least every several days, it's fine. A week might be pushing it. It actually sat over two months off a charger when new and it started right up when I installed it. When I don't ride the 14 I have the Shorai on a Shorai maintainer. I'm riding it until it gives up.

My busa's stock battery is at least 10 years old and still works. I keep that on a maintainer over winter too.
 
Rubb I just brought a VICTRON blue smart IP65 battery charger it charges all types of battery's including lithium comes with a 5 year warranty at is reasonable priced :thumbsup:
I will suggest one of those for my buddy's shop. Good info. :thumbsup:
I have a Shorai in my ZX-14 for 10 years now.
My Bro,member @hayabuser gave me a Shorai AND charger. I used to have one,but it sold with Busa # 2 or 3...IDK. Never had it long enuff to give a good testimonial,but you can't beat 10 years Mythos.
Good "latest and greatest" battery info for everybody. :thumbsup:
Thanks men,
Rubb.
 
:hijack: sorry not sorry;)
Convince me that this

is worth the extra money over this

Or is the full spectrum P10S still the best? supposedly, this place still has them!

That is...if they will both fit in a stock gen 1 battery slot. My corbin seat is already pressing hard into the current battery. I'm open to the other options, but both of those seemed popular in other threads.
 
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Tuff call @BlueBacon. The best bet is usually real world daily use by people who's opinions you trust. Claims by companies are just that, claims. Every man and his dog has jumped on the Li battery bandwagon and some will survive,others won't. I would go with what daily users have in their bikes. Sometimes trying to save a buck is not the answer.
Battery's are odd things. My buddy was sending back 2 or 3 a month that customers had ordered. They were Yuasa battery's. They were weak right outa the box. The opinion seems to be that now with lots of riders going hi-end,like what you posted links to...or they are trying to get a deal and cheap out by buying an 80 dollar battery.This is leaving the big players battery's sitting in warehouses instead of on dealer shelves being sold. Some are of the opinion that long term storage (not on a soft charge) shortens their life span. I'm skeptical of that opinion,but who knows. I read a fair amount about battery's just for my own knowledge,learned a lot,but its still tuff to make the 100% correct choice with so many offerings from the industry. I got years of good service out of low budget battery's.
The one thing that caught my eye was the chargers. @busafan08 likes what he just purchased...a 5 year warrantee on a battery is pretty awesome. Can't really go wrong with that. The only thing I'm unsure of is in this situ is multi use chargers.
The reason why I like Shorai batts/chargers is that they charge or dis-charge to 80% while in maintain/storage mode.Then they will dis-charge the battery to 60% capacity. This cycle apparantly extends battery life bigtime. If you believe the science on that,then they are worth considering and seeing what other manufactures technology is in use. Opinions...good luck bro.
Rubb.
Rubb.
 
So thankfully before I dropped $300+ on a new battery...motorcycle died on the way home.
1. had to get a jump at work to leave
2. bike idled fine for 10 mins, headlight started flickering, turned off bike, unplugged headlight, bike no start.
3. plugged lights back in, jumped off again, no lights, no highbeam, 1/4 mile down the road gauges not moving and losing gauge lights.
4. bike dies while in 4th gear, I get it to kickstart, dies again in 40feet.
5. hooked up to car battery for 10 mins (neither running), jumped off again, dies within 3 mins, pushed back home.
Battery was at 11.88V before jumping off at work and 11.60V when hooked up for the 3rd time. Battery slowly rose to 12.32V (hence the 10 min wait) before starting the 3rd time and dropped down to 10.7V within 10seconds of starting. Battery holds a charge by itself if bike is not run.

My guess is the Stator. Any suggestions and upgrade opinions? What else to do while I'm in the area of whatever needs replacing?
 
You need to understand that unlike a car a bike's charging system cannot handle the stress of charging a completely dead battery and running the bike. Thus whatever issue began this can also be made worse by jump starting the bike. Try to avoid jump starting but instead get a dead battery onto a charger, if possible.

Step 1: Fully charge the battery. It has internal damage from being run so low but it has life left in it.

Step 2: Run the rectifier and stator tests in the service manual using a multimeter (voltmeter and ohmeter are required.) Run the tests with the bike fully heated as issues can happen when components are hot that will not happen when cold.

Step 3: According to those tests replace the stator or rectifier or both. Use OEM parts.

Step 4: Do this anytime: have that battery load tested. The more you trust the retail guy to run the load tester the better. The battery can pass but be at diminished capacity and will die an earlier death. Some guys can tell you that, many just know to push the button on the tester device.

Step 5: Rerun all of the tests after fixing it. Also run the "leakage" or short circuit test (ammeter required.)
 
You need to understand that unlike a car a bike's charging system cannot handle the stress of charging a completely dead battery and running the bike. Thus whatever issue began this can also be made worse by jump starting the bike. Try to avoid jump starting but instead get a dead battery onto a charger, if possible.

Step 1: Fully charge the battery. It has internal damage from being run so low but it has life left in it.

Step 2: Run the rectifier and stator tests in the service manual using a multimeter (voltmeter and ohmeter are required.) Run the tests with the bike fully heated as issues can happen when components are hot that will not happen when cold.

Step 3: According to those tests replace the stator or rectifier or both. Use OEM parts.

Step 4: Do this anytime: have that battery load tested. The more you trust the retail guy to run the load tester the better. The battery can pass but be at diminished capacity and will die an earlier death. Some guys can tell you that, many just know to push the button on the tester device.

Step 5: Rerun all of the tests after fixing it. Also run the "leakage" or short circuit test (ammeter required.)
Bike will only run 3-5 minutes now...I trickled the battery back to 13v+ and she started, but immediately began losing power again. She dies before the engine even reaches 1/2 the temp gauge...headlights and dash pod are the first things to go, and they stop working within less than 1minute. I'll see if I can do anything with the multimeter tests quick enough.

Battery is less than a year old and has been giving me cold (ambient temperature) starting issues for the last two months. Motorcycle would start in the garage fine, but would only have enough power to turn on the lights when I left from work. Lately, I have been bringing a trickle charger to work and plugging it in during my last hour.
The stator, regulator, rectifier, and starter (gears+motor) are all '03 originals as far as I know.
 
You might as well purchase a stator, rectifier, and battery. They are all completely roasted.

Moving forward with the new parts I suggest that you avoid a quick charge and avoid a jump start if at all possible. The first time that the turnover is slow, fully charge the battery and have it load tested. If you run the bike on a low battery that will begin to fry the new charging system.

It would be good at some point to do preventive maintenance on the electrical system such as inspecting all high power connections like the lights, inspecting all fuses for any discoloration, cleaning the grounds, switches, etc. The bike has seventeen years of corrosion on all connections and this contributes to stressing the system. Being thorough here could assure the next seventeen years goes by without any problems.
 
Having electrical issues suck....I guess it's not too bad if only component changes are needed, it's when one is chasing a "gremlin" is when it gets real challenging...

I chased such a "gremlin" on a bike one time only to find out it was a connector which had come loose and every time I hit a slight bump it would cause issues...it took me a long time to find that connector...I did and the bike ran great for 10 yrs after that...

I too will be battery shopping this winter and am torn between a LiPo or conventional Yuasa battery...I do know these bikes like to have a very well charged battery.
 
Bike will only run 3-5 minutes now...I trickled the battery back to 13v+ and she started, but immediately began losing power again. She dies before the engine even reaches 1/2 the temp gauge...headlights and dash pod are the first things to go, and they stop working within less than 1minute. I'll see if I can do anything with the multimeter tests quick enough.

Battery is less than a year old and has been giving me cold (ambient temperature) starting issues for the last two months. Motorcycle would start in the garage fine, but would only have enough power to turn on the lights when I left from work. Lately, I have been bringing a trickle charger to work and plugging it in during my last hour.
The stator, regulator, rectifier, and starter (gears+motor) are all '03 originals as far as I know.
You can do the tests on the stator and regulator as suggested, I usually reccomend replacing together if money allows and the battery usually takes a hit as well as @Hayabusa Wannabe said. Also take a good look at the connector coming off the stator they are known to get hot and burn and lose connection, I've had a few that I was able to just rewire and were good to go.
 
Before just throwing money at parts there 'Bacon, do some simple checks,but do them with a known good battery.(pointless testing with a failed(ing) batt. A battery that has fallen to 10V as you said,is prolly done. Battery's are fickle things and can be fugged brand new outa the box. I know a dealer who is sending back Yuasa battery's under warrantee.
My guess is,your problem will be solved with a new batt.. If not,then step by step. Key off,check for good voltage. Fire it up,rev to 5000RPM and look for an increase in voltage to at least 15+V. If you don't have it,move to the connection at the first point out of the stator.(they can burn and melt at this connection,althou its rare. At 5000+RPM it should put out 70V. If not,there's yer issue. If it does,look to the reg/rec.
With all you have stated,my money is on a toasted battery,nothing more,
Rubb.
 
...also,jumping a M/C with a car battery is never a good idea. It is however a necessary thing sometimes when yer stranded,
Rubb.
 
Alright boys! I didn't see any fried connections under the tank or around the battery. The only thing that looked bad was this plug (below-Gen1). It is on the left-hand side of the bike, under the tank, against the frame, and above the front sprocket. It was coated in grease and has oil inside the plug...these two were the only plugs with grime in the area. The plug does not look damaged, just wet and filthy.
plug3.jpg
plug2.jpg

What does it go to?
Battery was also trickle charged from 11.3V to 12.8V, and after 5 days of no use the battery registers 12.4V
I will hopefully have time to use a multimeter on the bike within the next few days...might be pushed to next week.
 
On the Gen2 that large black connector is the generator coupler. On the Gen2, the wire goes to the stator cover. The small black connector there is the CKP sensor and it has a white female on the Gen2.

Petroleum doesn't conduct electricity. Dielectric grease is silicone but it doesn't conduct electricity either, it is safe to use on rubber which is why it's good for electric parts with rubber gaskets and it helps keep water out. You depend on tight fitting contacts to squeeze out enough grease to make contact. I guess your oil in there will help keep water out but any kind of grease attracts dust which can conduct electricity and should be kept out as much as possible. I use dielectric on the contacts but not repeatedly. One time should last years.

My Shorai charger doesn't get the voltage higher that 12.something. The bike has to run to get it 14v. It's an old battery as mentioned before and it doesn't hold a charge nearly as well as new but I'm not sure if the Shorai charger I use ever charged it fully.
 
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