Battery replacement

[mrcrab]

Found the battery in my 2000 1100R to be dead this morning. Since it's the original battery and it did not hold the charge from a 300 mile trip last weekend it looks like time for a new one.

I'm looking at the following brands:
Exide (the oem brand)
Yuasa
Westco
Odyssey

Does anyone have a stong opinion of any of these? I want to get a sealed battery to avoid having to add water in the future, and several of these brands offer sealed/AGM/GEL batteries.

Thanks for the help.

[LORAZEPAM]

I have been lucky with the stock batteries, but a lot of folks on the RS forum really like the odyssey battery.

[darrylri]

I also have been fortunate with the stock batteries, at least up until 3 weeks ago. Then the stocker in my R90S, only 3 years old, suddenly refused to hold much of a charge. I got a Panasonic battery, so it will be interesting to see how well that holds out. Normally I expect to get at least 6 years out of a battery.

[mika]

I have used both stock and Yuasa on various models and marques with good results. All my battery problems were of my own making due to neglect or abuse. I am not familiar with all the brands mentioned; however, I believe you will have a good experience with any of them if you take reasonable care of the one you choose.

[burnszilla]

Odyssey rock. The supplier West Coast Battery says the PC680 is on backorder until mid November. Someone said it's because the military is buying them all up. The dealer also told me they use that little PC680 motorcycle battery in their Dodge Ram truck.
I now have an Odysseys in each of my K's. No worries about acid dripping all over the bike.

[mrcrab]

Thanks for the input. Based on some of the past threads I ordered a Panasonic LC-X1220P sealed battery yesterday from digikey.com. At first I was concerned about such a low price ($45 plus about $10 shipping) compared to the other brands/suppliers ($90), but I found the Panasonic price to also be around $90 from other suppliers, so I guess digikey just has an exceptional price. The expected life on the spec sheet is 10 years so it may be a while before I can post my results (I hope).

[AntonLargiader]

The expected life on the spec sheet is 10 years so it may be a while before I can post my results (I hope).

Not on a bike. We'll be reading your post in two years.

[GlobalRider]

Based on some of the past threads I ordered a Panasonic LC-X1220P sealed battery yesterday. The expected life on the spec sheet is 10 years so it may be a while before I can post my results (I hope).

I hope that Panasonic battery is as good as the Panasonic batteries in my cars which at the moment are just over 15 years old and just over 6 years old. Note though that the LC-X1220P isn't listed as a motorcycle battery. I believe its use is in a UPS. I'm not sure how it'll handle vibration.

My other OEM BMW Mareg batteries have lasted 7 full years (with minimal care) and 8 full years (with periodic maintenance), failing in the 9th.

No complaints!

[bmwmick]

Thanks for the input. Based on some of the past threads I ordered a Panasonic LC-X1220P sealed battery yesterday from digikey.com. At first I was concerned about such a low price ($45 plus about $10 shipping) compared to the other brands/suppliers ($90), but I found the Panasonic price to also be around $90 from other suppliers, so I guess digikey just has an exceptional price. The expected life on the spec sheet is 10 years so it may be a while before I can post my results (I hope).

MrCrab,
Here's another vote for the Panasonic. If you order it, send a check and they ship it free. $44.68 last I checked. I use this battery in my R1100RT. I use the LC-X1228P in my K1100LT and my R100RS. I replace them about every 4 years just because I'd rather do the replacing in my garage and not on the road. Roughly $10 per year with no messy acid drips is worth it for me.
I've only had ONE of these AGM batteries fail since about 1996 and it failed to hold a charge after just over 2 years. Even with judicious maintenance, I've NEVER had a BMW Mareg wet-cell last more than 2 years.
__________________

[CustomSarge]

I believe the LC-X1220 is a gel cell. Gel is best suited to deep cycle apps like UPSs, their starting amperage suffers from lack of electrolyte mobility.
As I've posted elsewhere: AGMs have been great for me. But as with everything else YMMV & "season to taste". Charge!!! (ouch da'pun) <<<)))

[bmwmick]

I believe the LC-X1220 is a gel cell. Gel is best suited to deep cycle apps like UPSs, their starting amperage suffers from lack of electrolyte mobility.
As I've posted elsewhere: AGMs have been great for me. But as with everything else YMMV & "season to taste". Charge!!! (ouch da'pun) <<<)))

Sorry, Wrong Answer.
The Panasonics are AGM/VRLA batteries. The BMW/Exide are the GEL's and are not suited for operation in elevated temperature environments. They are also prone to damage caused by high current charging.

[mrcrab]

bmwmick:

I saw the free shipping offer if you sent a check along with the order, but the fine print said this was not available on orders below $200 when the shipping exceeded 10% of the order. The shipping was about 20% in this case, so rather than risk a delay I paid both ahead.

Ordered the battery online Sunday and it was delivered Thursday here in Virginia - can't complian about the service.

[mrcrab]

Wow - what an old thread.

So, the Panasonic battery that I bought when I started this tread almost 7 years ago has finally died, and in the interest of helping as all make informed decisions about things such as batteries, here's how it did.

In that time it's gone about 50,000 miles. It lived 5 years in an unheated garage in the mountains of Virginia and through 2 years of desert heat in Phoenix. All without ever being on a battery tender. Not bad.

On the recommendations I saw here in other more recent posts it's being replaced this time with a UB12220 battery that I found online for $45 with free shipping (note: the Panasonic battery is now over $100 total from Digikey).

I'll let you know what happens to this one - in another 7 years I hope.

[happy wanderer]

Wow - what an old thread.

So, the Panasonic battery that I bought when I started this tread almost 7 years ago has finally died, and in the interest of helping as all make informed decisions about things such as batteries, here's how it did.

In that time it's gone about 50,000 miles. It lived 5 years in an unheated garage in the mountains of Virginia and through 2 years of desert heat in Phoenix. All without ever being on a battery tender. Not bad.

On the recommendations I saw here in other more recent posts it's being replaced this time with a UB12220 battery that I found online for $45 with free shipping (note: the Panasonic battery is now over $100 total from Digikey).

I'll let you know what happens to this one - in another 7 years I hope.

Thanks for the update! I have a Panasonic in my R100RS and that bikes sits a lot so I suspect it will be battery time by next season. I did a search today and found the 1220P on sale at Apex battery for $37 so it seems you can still find deals out there. $89 at Digikey but compared to $158 at Newark here in Canada, still a good deal!

Since the Odyssey PC680 can be had for just over $100 with free shipping, I think that it's the best battery for an oilhead.

[NavyDad]

I like my Odyssey battery. Got it from Amazon for $89 last spring. The tabs to make it fit my 04RT were in the box with the battery.