I see we have a few threads about battery failures here in the What's Your Deal! section today.
I will add my tale of woe.

Every machine that I own that has rubber tires and an internal combustion engine has a battery.
Every single machine that I have has a battery tender pigtail installed, including my "daily driver" Jeep.
I routinely get 7 to 10 years of useful battery life before they require replacement.
If any machine isn't actively being used/driven/ridden, it is hooked up to a battery tender.
AGM batteries really need a battery tender to achieve a long duration service life, particularly machines that are not in use every single day.

I purchased a brand new 2023 Yamaha YZF R3 sport bike last spring.
When I am not riding it, it is hooked up to a battery tender. It was connected all winter. It sat in the barn unused starting in late October, 2023.

I needed another battery tender when the new Yamaha arrived. I went to my Harley Davidson dealership and purchased another battery tender.
These Harley Davidson battery tenders have worked very well for me over the last 20 years or so. I've only had one battery tender fail.

The design for the new HD battery tender was different from all of the previously purchased models.
It has a small front mounted pushbutton switch on the plug in power pack. It is selectable for different types of batteries. Conventional, AGM, and Lithium Ion.
Each different type of battery has a small LED indicator lamp showing your selected choice of battery type.

Last week we had some weather where temperatures were significantly higher than average. Great! First motorcycle ride for 2024!
I disconnected the battery tender, rolled the Yamaha out of the barn, aired up the tires, and using compressed air, blew the winter accumulation of dust off of the bike.
I had my motorcycle riding gear close, and got all ready to ride.
I climbed on the bike, turned on the key, and pushed the starter button.
I was rewarded with about two revolutions of very slow lethargic cranking of the engine, then a chattering starter solenoid, and a flashing digital dash display.
Then absolutely nothing. I did some diagnosis, and the one year old (from initial delivery date for the bike) battery has failed. I checked the warranty, 30 days from delivery date.
Thank You Yamaha! For selecting the cheapest shortest life span battery on the market.
Just to be sure, I tested the new battery tender. It has correct voltage and amperage output.

The OEM battery is "GS" which is a Yuasa brand. I've always had exceptional performance from Yuasa AGM batteries in my Powersports applications. But this time I got a dud.
Made in Indonesia if it matters.

A replacement "GS" brand battery could be purchased for around $40, but the good Yuasa AGM battery for my bike was $177 which I thought was somewhat ridiculous.
It's only a tiny battery, 120 cold cranking amps.

I ended up purchasing a "Antigravity" brand Lithium Ion battery for the Yamaha R3 for $144 from sportbiketrackgear.com and it has 150 cold cranking amps.
The battery arrived today, but we are now back to below average outside temperatures, 40 F outside now, and I have no desire to ride the Yamaha, or even go outside and install the new battery.
The new HD battery tender described above having the selectable Lithium Ion battery choice sure ended up being a nice coincidence.
The Antigravity Lithium Ion battery is about the physical size of three packs of cigarettes, about one half or less of the physical size of the OEM lead acid battery.
The Lithium Ion battery weighs about one pound, the OEM lead acid battery weighs about four pounds.
You must use the supplied foam rubber shims to position the much smaller Lithium Ion battery in the OEM battery location to prevent damage from rattling around in the OEM battery box location.

Using a conventional battery tender, or an AGM battery tender, on a Lithium Ion battery will damage the new battery. Overcharge, swollen battery cells/case, failed Lithium Ion battery.
According to the instructions, the charging voltage for the Lithium Ion battery needs to be about 13.8 volts DC, while lead acid/AGM will be about 14.2+ volts DC.
Also according to the instructions, modern solid state vehicle voltage regulators will function perfectly with Lithium Ion batteries.
Removing around three pounds of bike weight should also be noticed during "spirited" riding!

I will report back after installing and using the new Antigravity Lithium Ion battery.

Link to my purchased Antigravity Lithium Ion battery: https://www.sportbiketrackgear...lithium-ion-battery/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: cee_Kamp,

Similar instance, have used a Battery Tender brand unit for about 20 years, it's always done it's thing flashing while charging and a Green Light when maintaining.

Last battery was bought at o'Reilly's and had a 6 month warranty, it proceeded to die while on the tender during that term, however I wasn't riding the bike and 8 months later was SOL.

The BT was showing maintaining the battery but the battery wasn't holding a charge, defective, out of warranty and out $150ish. OR wasn't sympathetic to the plight, offered to sell me another cheap ass chungking battery for even more.

SF Member CAPhil owns an independent motorcycle store in middle nowhere KS, he suggested the Drag Specialties labelled charger/tender to replace the Battery Tender, since I no longer trust it and it's 20 years old. Also bought a new battery from him, again the Drag labelled battery for the HD big twins which is made by Optimate, one of the better battery charging diagnosis companies. It does the LA, AGM and Lithium as well.


So far so good, the tender hooks right up to the factory connector, keeps the battery charged properly.

You guys that need a battery tender might also consider NOCO's line of products. They have a number of models that can charge/ maintain multiple batteries at the same time. I've had great luck with mine, and they seem to be a little more versatile than the units that are for battery maintenance only.

I just ordered a new lithium battery for my Pan American. There have been issues with newer Harley batteries. Or so the intergoogle says, anyway. I usually can get 3 years out of an OEM battery before it quits. Harley, for some inexplicable reason, has chosen to mount the damn battery under the engine and directly behind the front wheel. This makes inspecting and maintaining the battery very difficult, subjects it to the heat of the engine and lets the front wheel kick back all kind of road dirt onto the battery.
Brilliant move, Harley!

The battery that came with my Indian died 1 year after purchasing (used bike so don't know age of battery). Due to all of the inventory challenges at the time, I couldn't find a battery locally so I shopped on-line. Spent way more money than planned and bought a well reviewed Fire Power Featherweight Lithium Ion from Revzilla. My existing battery tender didn't do Lithium ion so I spent even more money to purchase a Noco Genius 1-amp.

Unfortunately, I only got one season out of my Lithium Ion Battery. Fortunately the inventory BS was over so I was able to drive over to AutoZone and buy their brand of AGM. The Noco Genius also does AGM so didn't have to spend any money.

So nothing has changed in the 40 years since I had a 1983 XZ550 Vision?



Although very advanced for the time, that POS killed two batteries, actually boiling one of them dry, in three years, due to a poor charging system (which also had three alternator stators die). I did have a great deal of fun and a couple of memorable trips with it when it ran, however.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: egregore,

https://www.batterymart.com/?g...5EAAYASAAEgKSxPD_BwE

I’ve liked the link above, battery mart, but haven’t used them recently.

Back when the BMW /7 series were current (that was a while ago ), and most BMW riders were riding /6 or /7, the BMW branded batteries were fairly expensive and had a fairly short life.

One of the engineers in the Chicago club designed, manufactured, and sold a high quality stainless steel battery tray to replace the original. His tray would accommodate a Sears garden tractor battery, better than the BMW battery in every way. It was a bit larger, had more cranking power, lasted longer, and was about half the price of the BMW battery. Most of the Chicago BMW club members who had /6 or /7 bikes used his tray, and he did a brisk mail-order business, as well. I had one of his trays on my R100RS.

I installed the Antigravity lithium ion battery in my 2023 Yamaha R3 yesterday.
It is so much smaller in physical dimensions that I needed to cut a block of Styrofoam insulation board for underneath the battery. Otherwise, the battery cables would not reach the battery terminals.
The bike started right up.
While the seat was removed, I decided to measure the parasitic circuit draw. With my Fluke 87 digital multimeter, I measured 0.2 milliamps current draw with everything turned off.

The digital dash and the engine control module have 12 volts supplied when everything is powered down. This keeps the digital dash data/settings saved, along with fuel trim data in the ECM.
Back in the day, we considered 15 to 20 milliamps parasitic circuit draw acceptable in the period correct computer controlled automobiles and trucks.

We got some snow last weekend and the roads are still filthy with road salt, sand, and cinders. However, I did manage a 40 yard ride from the barn out around my circular driveway, and back to the barn.
We will need substantial rain here until the roads are cleaned off before it will be safe to get out on the roads and do some real riding.

Time will tell about the longevity of the lithium ion battery.
I did hook it up to the battery tender, and within several minutes it progressed from showing the charge indication LED to the different color LED indication of maintain.
I unplugged the battery tender.

IMG_20230720_172421622_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr

IMG_20230720_172200637_HDR by cee_Kamp 32ACP, on Flickr