Battery confusion!

[SmudgerVTR]

Hello

Just picked up a awesome orange VTR 99. Love the twin, hate fours!

I need to get a new battery and had search on here but now am more confused!

I definitely like the idea of 14ah to give more of a kick in the mornings and the Yuasa YTX14-BS sems to be recommended (albeit it is 15mm taller). however when I look these up they're only quoted as 12ah.

Not sure it is worth the hassle of a bigger sized battery and trying to squeeze it in if it hasn't really got any more ommphh!

Help! and go easy I'm new!

Chris

[sirch345]

Hi Chris,
You're not the only one to be slightly confused over the amp hour ratings, quite a few have got this mixed up. I think the confusion comes from the battery code.

The standard battery for the (96-2001)Firestorm is a 10amp hr, not a 12amp hour The 15mm taller (the one that is used in the earlier Varadero) battery is 12amp hour, so by going for the taller battery you'll be getting a battery with slightly more umph which will be noticeable in the colder months. The only down side with a taller battery is you'll need to cut off the battery box top, so just make sure the live (+) terminal is covered, so a loose spanner can't connect the live (+) terminal to earth

I personally recommend a Yuasa battery too


Chris.

PS. Welcome to the forum

[SmudgerVTR]

Arrrh, thanks Chris, that explains it.

After a bit of digging, this shop near me sells a battery similar to the factory size however is 14 amp hour. Is a bit pricey at £60 (compated to £40 for the other 12amp hour larger battery).

Any have any experience of this brand / model etc?????

http://www.wemoto.com/bikes/Honda/VTR_1 ... gh_Torque/

[elric]

I just brought a YTX12-BS, so far it has loads umph. Tad under £40.00.

[sirch345]

Arrrh, thanks Chris, that explains it.

After a bit of digging, this shop near me sells a battery similar to the factory size however is 14 amp hour. Is a bit pricey at £60 (compated to £40 for the other 12amp hour larger battery).

Any have any experience of this brand / model etc?????

http://www.wemoto.com/bikes/Honda/VTR_1 ... gh_Torque/

Chris,
True, there are bigger amp hour batteries available for the Firestorm, but IMHO start to get a bit silly price-wise. I don't really see the need for say a 18amp hour battery which will be a lot more money. May be something with that amount of cranking power would be suitable for a colder climate in a different country, or a bike with higher compression.

It's really down to personal choice and how much you want to spend on a new battery IMO.

I don't know anything about the Motobatt battery, but funnily enough I was looking myself a while back at this very same make battery and posted about it on here. I couldn't find anyone on here who tried one at the time, but we've had a fair few new members join since, so may be someone will be able to offer their experience on one of these now.

One thing I did notice about the Motobatt battery was most seem to have four terminals, that could be handy for any extras you might want to wire in.

Do keep us posted on which battery you end up getting

Chris.

[benny hedges]

the 18ah battery also weighs in at 12lb lol!

see 'occasional misfire' thread for part numbers. you can go as high as 20ah with the lid off.