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I own a 2015 F3-S that was manufactured in May of '15. I bought it in January of '16. I have 38,000 miles on it and it still has the original Yuasa battery. I keep it on a battery tender/maintainer in my garage when not riding. In September I will be riding to California for the NorCal Spyder rally. I expect to put on 6,000 to 7,000 miles on the trip. I was contemplating replacing the battery before the trip to be extra cautious. Is that a good idea?
I would think it might be a good idea. The battery is almost 4 years old and it has served you well. Time for a new fresh battery. I would hate for the battery to cause you any trouble on your upcoming trip.
I have a 14 Rt, still running original battery. If it ain't broke dont fix it.Quote:
Originally Posted by JKMSPYDER
Your battery is four years old if my math is correct; it strikes me that replacing it for peace of mind qualifies as preventive maintenance and that isn't a bad thing at all. It will increase your confidence concerning the trip and that's much better than being stranded in limp home mode, in my humble opinion.
We faced the weak battery problem with my wife's RT Limited last year. Fortunately, were day tripping in the Texas hill Country not far from home and managed to limp back to our dealer (who stayed open till we arrived and installed a new battery). In reality our Spyders are all COWS - computers on wheels - and, among other things, they don't react kindly to less than expected voltage. Perhaps a load test of your current battery might shed light on its overall state of health, and help with replace-or-not question.
I would run it till August and then replace the battery. I recommend replacing before the long trip. Replace it now or later, You Make the CALL....:thumbup:
I ride a 2013 RT Ltd that was manufactured sometime in the first half of 2013 & hit the streets in Oct 2013, since then it has done well over 38K miles and it still runs the original YUASA battery.
My Spyder experiences a wide range of temperatures (-10°C to about 50°C) temp extremes which I'm told are pretty tough on batteries, and it is pretty much at its limit for running electrical accessories as it has the older magneto style charging system. I very rarely think about putting it on a battery tender & whenever I do I usually just sit down for a while & wait for the feeling to pass. ;) On the odd occasion I don't just sit & wait for a bit, I simply ignore that thought.:D
I did spend a couple of months not ryding at all a couple of years back due to unavoidable medical issues, & when I tried to start the Spyder after that break it really didn't want to play at all, so I connected it up to a CTEK charger & let it charge for a couple of hours before trying again. It started fine after that so I carried on ryding & haven't had any issues since. It generally sits for only a day ot two between rydes, but every now & then it might sit for a week or so, but rarely any longer than that; and whenever I ryde it is usually for a couple of hours at least - sometimes a couple of weeks! :ohyea:
Recently, it dawned on me that my Spyder was still on the original battery so I took the Spyder down to my local Battery World & had the battery load tested - it passed with flying colours, so well in fact that the Battery Bloke compared it to one of the new 'factory filled' & then properly charged jobbies they had recently put on their shelves and the readings from mine was almost identical, only a little better than the brand new unused units..... so he compared mine to a few more - same result. :2thumbs:
So on his recommendation I'm not going to change my battery just yet, and maybe you don't actually need to change yours just yet either JKM - but I'd strongly suggest that you too get your battery load tested before you make up your mind! You might be pleasantly surprised like I was - or not! :shocked: But whatever way, by getting that load test done, you'll KNOW if it needs changing or not! :thumbup:
I have to strongly agree with Peter Aawen. Load test the battery. Not a voltage check. Battery fully charged. BRP specs call for 150 amp draw for 5 seconds with a result of a minimum 10V during test. I personally would replace the battery if the voltage drop was near 10V but did not fail.
The thing that nobody ever talks about is the high rate of batteries that fail when nearly new. In my life I have 3 batteries that way. Brand new car on the second day of ownership. Left me stranded. Battery done had to be replaced. Another car replacement battery lasted 2 weeks. Left me stranded. The last one. Replaced the 8 year old battery on Ford Escape because it failed a load test. Still started just fine. Less then a year later the new battery failed a load test. Still started just fine. It was replaced for free no argument.
Would all depend on you and your confort zone. My battery lasted almost 7 years but then I feel if it had died along the way a jump start and a ryde to the nearest supplier of that type battery is not a trip breaker. I carry a jump pack ( also have a manual and can bump start it) and have found most batteries don't die when on a trip with decent ryding times between stops. If you don't change it and need some assurance the above advise to load test it is very good...:thumbup:
After reading the responses I decided to load test my battery. Upon cranking, the lowest reading was 11.7. Looks like my battery is in great shape!��
I just ordered the Motobatt from lamostser today. I haven’t had any problems & I do keep a tender on it but it’s cheap insurance because you never know when 1 cell decides to give up or break loose. Plus I wanted the double post (bonus)!
I don’t know what way you are planning on going but if you pass through CA on your way up to the rally let me know. I was planning on going up there one day.Quote:
Originally Posted by JKMSPYDER