What's the record for the longest lasting battery?

[DrzDick]

I bought my current one almost 8 years ago and she still cranking just fine.? I can't remember what brand it is but I remember that it isn't a big brand name battery.

I tend to charge with an optimate the night before I'm planning to use her and the rest of the time she just sits - I don't leave the charger hooked up as a tender.

Mine's an E so it is kinder on the battery during storage (very low leakage current - no LCD dash), but harder when cranking.

I also run a sat nav most of the time and have not done any 'free power mods' as I have never had an issue with battery charge.

She a 2000 model with 7500 miles on the clock and is only used about once or twice a month.

Has anyone got longer out of their battery?

[FIVEWIDE]

Just swapped out the stick battery in my 02 e. I never trickle charge, just crank and go.

[707drz]

My oem was toast at 14K miles I think. I rarely put it on the tender and it never left me stranded until I stored the bike without the tender for 2 months and it was down for the count

[Noble]

Many of the early bikes had a GS brand battery that I did like better than Yuasa although I think they are made by the same company. I still have my GS battery and keep it charged but it has not been in the motorcycle since 2006 and is not reliable for starting.

[DrzDick]

Just swapped out the stick battery in my 02 e. I never trickle charge, just crank and go.

What happened to make you change the previous one?

Could you tell it was getting weak?

it has not been in the motorcycle since 2006 and is not reliable for starting.

How does that manifest itself?

What I trying to gauge now is when to replacement before it lets me down.

Is there any test I should be doing, for example not topping it up the night before (every other ride) just to see if it's strong enough to start the bike on it's previous stored charge only.

[drass]

Mine went 35,000 miles and was the original 2003 battery and still worked good, I just replaced it so I didnt get stranded when it decided to die.

[Dylan921]

You get good ones and bad ones - It's a lottery.

[DrzDick]

I bought another battery in the end, a nice one came up on ebay (less than a year old) so I thought I'd snap it up.

It's a BOSCH with 20% more cranking power apparently...?

anyway, I charged the Bosch (and my old one) up and did some cranking tests.

In the bike, kill switch off, DVM strapped to battery and the three long cranking sessions each - just to see what would happen.

Results were.

8 year old battery - 10.8 volts, 10.7 volts 10.6 volts.

It was getting weaker each crank.

Bosch battery - 11.2 volts, 11.3 volts, 11.3 volts.

Seemed to get stronger once it had warmed up and no sign of diminished operation in that short test.

So I think I'll use the old battery for this winter then swap to Bosch in spring/summer.

next - the free power mod as my head light takes more than the R/R can put through those wires so it is flattening my battery after prolonged use..?

Edited November 24, 2011 by DrzDick

[Craigo]

The winner here is usually batteries that live in warm climates...The cold really shortens battery life....

[Qqqqqqqqqqqq]

8 years is pretty good , i have 5 years on mine , a record for me

[DRZ-Nut]

Mine's an S model and I have 6 years on my stock battery.

[speedtoad]

I had an old battery up till 2 years ago. The battery went real slow. It seemed as long as it had enough current to pop the solenoid it had enough current to turn the stock engine. So I had plenty of time to order the battery and get it in the mail.

[drz400s_guy]

I still have the original battery from when I bought the bike new in October 2001, still kicking. It lives on the trickle charger 24/7, 365 when not riding.

[mitchp]

Just sold my 2001 Kawasaki ZRX1200R with the original battery still starting the bike right up. Was never charged up with any sort of battery charger. The battery was 10 years old. I told the new owner to replace it before it just quits. Mitch

[hinksy]

My original 7 amp battery lasted me about 2 years and then I replaced it with a 10 amp . But the 10 amp didnt even last a year , so I have had to buy another . I put it down to not riding the bike enough , sometimes it will sit up to 2 months before I get the time to ride it lately , greg

[Debi]

Going on 4 years for my after market batt?

[Duken4evr]

OEM '02 S battery, always on a BT when not in use, worked fine when I sold the bike last year, 9 years old. Half of it's life was in Sunny southern CA, the other half in hot in the summer, cold in the winter Colorado.

Had a '97 TL1000 with an 8 year old Yuasa battery in it when I sold it, that was also working fine, and that bike had it's auto decompressors removed (they fail sometimes in the early TLs) so it was not easy on batteries. The TL originally came with a Furikawa battery, that POS died in 1 year.?

Yuasa batteries and a battery tender/Optimate are a good combo!

[granitebaygeezer]

When I sold my 2000 DRZ 400E after 9 years it still had the original battery and it still worked as good as the day it was purchased. However it lived on a trickle charger when not ridden and the bike was kept in the garage whenever not ridden. And living in NorCal provided a nicer climate than many of you have. I have no idea how long that battery would have lasted ... for all I know it still is doing fine. BTW, my son's 2001 DRZ 400E is still on its original battery so it's 10 years old (and yes, it lives on a trickle charger when not ridden).