[JimGnitecki]

Anyone out there who has done the swap from the Yuasa YT12B-BS battery (7.5 lb) to the Yusas YTZ7-S battery (4.5 lb):

How well has this worked out long term?

In other words, have you had any problems with inadequate battery capacity as a result of the change to the much smaller battery?

I realize that your "reserve" capacity for starting the engine is going to be much smaller when the weather gets cold, or the bike is not in perfect tune, but in practice, how has it worked out, and how long have you been running the smaller battery?

Also, do you keep the bike on a battery tender when parked, or not?

The 3 easy pounds of weight reduction is attractive, but I thought I'd check on people's experience with it FIRST!

Jim G

 

[bozcorob]

Anybody done this - I am about ready to buy a battery and would like to go lighter, if the down side is not to bad.

 

[MonsterHooligan]

I did it.
The battery started the bike fine, but didnt last very long.
i think 1 or 2 seasons.

i went back to a YTX9-BS (it's also nice that i have this same battery on all the bikes, so if the one i wanted to ride has a dead battery, i can steal it from another one. >

i had it on a tender off and on. there are 4 bikes in the garage....so the tender gets rotated around.

 

[JimGnitecki]

I have had this setup in place for 1.5 years now.

It works well, saves a lot of weight, and does start the bike ok, BUT

If the engine has any trouble firing off, the juice from the battery starts losing its fizz much sooner than with the larger stock battery. I have had a couple of incidents where the engine was nasty about starting, and after several attemopts, the battery just didn't have enough lft to keep trying, and I had to put the bike on a charger for an hour.

So, ok, but not perfection.

Jim G

 

[moto]

I've had the battery for 2 years as well. It is always on an ACI charger (which charges at a higher amps than the Tender- this works better on dry cell batteries).

On cold mornings the bike has trouble starting with the Flatslides no matter what battery I use.
I have an old spare battery that I use to jump the bikes if any have problems starting the bikes. Once the bike is warmed up--I have no problems.

 

[battlecry]

1 1/2 years on my setup. No problems so far. I'ts kept on battery tender when idle.

I also installed a headlamp-gizmo and upgraded the case ground and hot leads to 4ga cabling. This reduced the potential weight savings quite a lot and if I were to do it again, I'd do it with 6ga cabling instead.

I had a bad episode of a faulty PCIII which killed the engine at every light. The little puppy fired the lump flawlessly on every red light for about 7 miles of congested city traffic to bring me home. I'm happy with it.

 

[scoobyrex27]

Can't talk long term but had mine for two weeks now and it works great. I had some idle problems after rerouting the fuel line and must had killed it 7-10 times riding around that day but that little battery kept firing it up right away.

 

[ELP_JC]

Honestly? Lose the 3 lbs. yourself :... which sit a lot higher than the battery. Even a tad low voltage plays havoc on modern electronic components; not worth the aggravation IMHO. Take care.
JC

 

[JimGnitecki]

Measured on a precise digital postal scale, the weight difference bewteen the two batteries was actually 4.2 lb.

That's HUGE.

Jim G

 

[MonstaS4]

I have run with the lighter YTZ7-S for a season now and haven't really had any issues except when one of my lovely neighbors unplugs my ACI charger. Same day re-starts are never an issue but if she sits for more than two days w/o a charger I cannot get her to kick over.

 

[wheelinman900]

JimG where have you been, haven't seen you post in awhile. Still have all the CF and the 996?

Patrick

 

[JimGnitecki]

wheelinman900: I've had my hands full with 6 months of unemployment and health problems on top of that. I still have the Carbon fiber S4, the 996, and the CBR900RR, but need to sell at least one of them to pay the bills. It's been a very tough year.

Jim G