battery woooos

[ekap1200]

Well after two attempts at keeping the batt at 100% I pulled it out to discover it had been in the bike since Feb,2017. Not to shabby but it is a AGM glass mat. and never had an issue . So an hour wasted there , and I decided to remove the cap's . ya know the one that says DO NOT REMOVE. Well I know why the batt went south . NO liquid seen. A NO brainer , If the agm don't read 12.6 or better yet, measure it Unloaded, it should read a voltage of 12.8 ,if not its time to toss it. I can live with over 3.75 years on it. So in closing , when in doubt of these sealed batt's , well it's been cooked to death by being set right on the valve cover.
Gene Kap.


just found and ordered one thru AMAZON, same batt/brand with tax 108, and change.

[Lucasind]

Well it makes me happy to read that you are feeling well enough to be out in the workshop "tinkering around" with your XII there Gene ! You gave us quite a scare there mister !

[cushman eagle]

Well,Gene,they do not last any longer on the Cushman, mounted under the luggage rack.
But it is a hardtail,so there is that rough ride thing going on.

[SgtSlag]

I used to get 2 years out of a flooded battery. I switched to AGM, and they seem to last around 3 years. Most folks seem to be getting 5+ years out of AGM's, but not me. I believe you are correct, Gene: the batteries are getting cooked off, sitting above the cylinders. That makes me feel better, only getting 3 years out of them. I've been using a Battery Tender, religiously, since the late 2000's, so I'm doing all that I can to extend their lives...

The past two years, we haven't ridden our bike very much, less than 3,000 miles each year. It may last longer due to the lack of baking. I got one of the last available voltmeter/battery monitors, which I transferred to my Voyager, after I sold our Honda; the maker got sued as they stole the technology. Never seen its likeness on the market since they went under. I will be sad the day that thing fails... It has warned me, several times, of a failing battery, with few other signs. Took the first two failures to test, and they were failing, alright. I rely heavily upon that meter: it shows when the starting power of the battery is failing, reading a percentage of starting life left in it. Saved us on the road, 100 miles from home, warning us the battery was dying. Made it into a Kawi dealership minutes before they closed. They stayed late, and put a new AGM battery in for us. That was a close one. Would have needed to call AAA, if the gadget hadn't warned us; would have been a much more expensive failure.

There should not, however, be any liquid acid inside of an AGM: they absorb the liquid acid, suspending it in the glass mat. That is why they can be used in any position, and they are permanently sealed, and maintenance free. Still, the heat will do them no favors, fluid acid, or not.

I prefer AGM's, even though I don't get 5+ years out of them. Still worth every penny, IMO. Cheers!

[VoyKimmer]

I get 5 to 7 years out of my interstate lead acid batteries in every kind of vehicle. I’ll stick with lead acid. I usually top off the water level once a year.

[Van Voyager]

I've never got more than 2 seasons out of a lead acid battery and often, only one. I typically get 5 to 8 years out of an AGM and never typically use a trickle charger, even when the bikes sit unused for 6 months of year (sadly, have to use the trickle charger occasionally in the off-season on my Voyager as the static drain is, weirdly, too much). Money well spent IMHO. Interesting theory about the heat.

[Barry]

This thread made me go look. My AGM that I purchased from batteries+ will be 7 years old next month. For the last 3 years it won't charge beyond 12.5v on the battery tender. Also running down the road it rarely will go beyond 13v. Prior to that it would get to 14.2 running down the road. I know it's been weak, but the vxii starts right up with almost zero cranking. You've convinced me that this will be on the winter maintenance list. You guys are making me spend money!

Anyone out there with deep pockets tried a lithium on their vxii? I know several aircraft owners that have made the switch & really like them.

[cranky]

.. wish ya hadn't posted that..... tested mine and 12.4... sigh... been worried about it for a while,
but like you, touch the starter and its going.. I've had the scoot for a tad >4 years... don't
know when it was last changed... decisions, decisions.... I put iridium plugs in it and I
think it gives it a bit more "kick"..... I know I could feel the change after installing them...

[cranky]

.. ya got me thinkin' and I wanted better numbers, and I found a nice table on Revzilla,
and I think they do good work. Enjoy!!! ,,, and yes, I was looking at motorcycle batteries....
------------------- Revzilla Tip --------------------------------------------
Even though you are testing a 12-volt battery, you should know that a battery that is truly 12.0 volts is a boat anchor. The following table shows how battery voltage corresponds with state of charge at 80 degrees F:
Voltage State of Charge/What to do
12.73 or better 100 percent. Go ride.
12.62 90 percent. Charge it, then go ride.
12.50 80 percent. Charge it, then go ride.
12.32 70 percent. Charge it, then go ride.
12.20 60 percent. Charge it, then go ride.
12.06 50 percent. Charge it, then go ride.
11.90 40 percent. Try charging it, but it might be toast.
11.75 30 percent. Try charging it, but it might be toast.
11.58 20 percent. Battery has converted to doorstop.
11.31 10 percent. Battery has morphed into boat anchor.
10.50 No meaningful charge. Check to see if battery has been replaced with rock.
Note that most of you will stop here. You’ll probably find that your battery is shot. You can attempt to charge the battery, possibly with good results, or you may also want to look into replacing the battery

[Barry]

.. wish ya hadn't posted that..... tested mine and 12.4... sigh... been worried about it for a while,
but like you, touch the starter and its going.. I've had the scoot for a tad >4 years... don't
know when it was last changed... decisions, decisions.... I put iridium plugs in it and I
think it gives it a bit more "kick"..... I know I could feel the change after installing them...

This last spring I too put in new iridiums, new wires and spark plug boots. It's now the best it's ever ran. If I was to ever go on an extended trip I would put in a new battery first. Thankfully riding season is about over so I can budget this winters maintenance.

[ekap1200]

.. wish ya hadn't posted that..... tested mine and 12.4... sigh... been worried about it for a while,
but like you, touch the starter and its going.. I've had the scoot for a tad >4 years... don't
know when it was last changed... decisions, decisions.... I put iridium plugs in it and I
think it gives it a bit more "kick"..... I know I could feel the change after installing them...

This last spring I too put in new iridiums, new wires and spark plug boots. It's now the best it's ever ran. If I was to ever go on an extended trip I would put in a new battery first. Thankfully riding season is about over so I can budget this winters maintenance.

Hello all. So I wait and wait for the new battery to be shipped. Amazon/Prime, usually quick and well packaged, box was 3" too large and they just used those cheep air/pillows to fill the gap . Well they didn't last long and it looked like this battery went for a rough ride. Marie called right away and the next day I gambled and filled it with acid, waiting for it to become very hot from shorted plates or other internal damage. But it was all good and after the initial 2hours wait I charged it to 100%. (Still awaiting a response from Marie's call)
Now yesterday I installed it and fired it up. BUT it had a miss..... So here is the story. After the bike sat for several weeks while I somewhat recovered enough to get around I went out to start it. BLA- cranked for about 4sec . Figuring it normal since the 3amp/radio fuse and gps were still installed I charged it . second attempt NO JOY... So again I put it right on the charger , I needed to get some seafoam/treated fuel into the carbs. (didn't know how long my recovery would take ) That time it turned over and backfired on the left side. OK bad batt, ordered it ..... So now back to the future, it has a miss.
My grandfather always told me, "it can't break down just sitting there." Pulled the # 4 plug. OK.... pulled the #1 plug and there it was -fouled plug. Rpl the plug and all is ok. That one backfire from being loaded up on raw fuel fouled it.
Some issues are just so easy. Shame it is raining here in south Jersey, I may attempt to get it off the center stand and go for a ride this weekend. It has been to long, I need wind therapy badly .
Gene Kap.

[cushman eagle]

Hi,Gene,I am glad you are feeling well enough to ride again
I am hoping to have good enough weather to ride Saturday also
That depends on if the fields do not get dry enough, from all the rain we have had,to get back to harvesting again
It has been about 3 weeks since I have been on a bike!

[SgtSlag]

I've posted this before, but I'll say it again...

The Iridium plugs requires less energy to generate a spark. My '79 Honda had weak, OEM coils. I priced new coils, versus Iridium plugs: the plugs were around 1/4 the price, so I gambled on them, instead of new coils.

Before installing the Iridium plugs, from NGK, I had to grind the starter for 5-6 seconds, let it rest, then grind it another 1-3 seconds, to get it to start. After installing the Iridium plugs, I hit the starter button, and the bike was running! It startled me, making me physically jump! It started like that, every time thereafter. Money well spent!

When I got my Voyager, I dropped the $40 on a set of Iridium plugs: the coils are very robust, unlike the Honda; they will almost always fire, burning the fuel, every time; they are good for 100,000 miles in a car, so they should go at least 50,000-100,000 miles in my Voyager; they make it easier, though it is undetectable, for the starter to do its job; they give me piece of mind that this link in the ignition system, is NOT, "the weakest link," in the chain; with more reliable ignition in the cylinders, there is less emissions (unburned hydrocarbons) out of my tailpipes, as well. To me, Iridium plugs are cheap insurance. We ride alone, just the two of us, on one bike. I try to maintain our bike in top condition, as we both rely upon it, far from home. Cheers!

[mayhem8]

I just had to replace my battery. It got to a point where my bike stalled and would not start. If I hooked the battery up to a charger it would appear to charge, but it would drain quickly and the bike would not start unless I connected my 3000a battery pack to it.

I was going to wait till the end of the season, but we have a stretch of really nice weather and I wanted to get more riding in so decided to do the plugs too, since I have to remove the battery to get to them.

The 2 outer plugs are a piece of cake, but the inner ones are a PITA. No matter how hard I tried to be carefull, the boots pulled out from the wires. Looking into the end of the boot where the wires go, I noticed it had what looked like a little screw sticking up inside there.

I snipped about an 1/8" off the end of the wires. I took the separate rubber boot cover off the end off the plastic plug boot and pushed it onto the wire. Then I basically screwed that little screw into the freshly snipped end of the wire by twisting the boot while pushing it into the wire.

I saw where someone else had mentioned using silicone tape. I found some at an autoparts place. After pushing the rubber boot onto plug boot, I started on the plastic boot and wrapped it with the silicone tape all the way to the plug wire, to hold things together better so it didn't pull off when reinserting it. The plug wires have what looks like about a 12 ga stranded wire inside, so they do not bend easily.

To do this to plug #2, I had to remove the 2 screws holding a metal box that had a cable running into and out of it. This gave me just enough clearance to be able to pull the wire around it to do what I needed to do. It was kind of a PITA, so really glad I went with the iridium spark plugs.

The bike now starts easier and feels like it has a little more power. I notice it if I'm climbing a hill in 4th or 5th gear. The bike has 55K miles on it and it looked to me like the plugs were original. I am the 3rd owner and forgot to ask the second owner if/when the plugs were changed.

[SgtSlag]

Glad to hear you invested in Iridium plugs. When you only have two wheels carrying you, and your spouse, far from home, remember those plugs, and be thankful. Our bike is a toy, which gives us sooo many hours of joy. We also rely heavily upon it, as we ride hundreds of miles from home, with only our CC and our AAA card as backup. The Voyager is an amazingly reliable bike.

We rode our 1979 Honda, two up, alone, around Lake Superior. Never had an issue, aside from the throttle grip coming off, in Thunder Bay. We glued that on, and rode the rest of our 1,935 mile tour (we were 967.5 miles from home, at the most distant point), without any bike issues. That was in 2009, when our scoot was 30 years old...

Our Voyager is now 27 years young. I try to maintain it as best as I can, within the age limitations (limited parts availability). A few extra dollars spent on plugs, is nothing. Changing all of the fluids, is cheap insurance. Replacing the battery, is relatively inexpensive, as well. I do the best that I can. Life still happens (new bikes can fail, just like older bikes...). I'm not one to sit on the porch and watch life go by. We need to be in the wind, smelling it, breathing it, feeling it. So we ride, minimizing the risks as much as possible, for me, and the Missus. On the bike, we can experience the amazing beauty of this incredible world we live in. Riding in a car, just cuts us off from nature. On the bike, we can smell it, taste it, breathe it in! What a rush, it is!

Our riding season is over. Time to put the bike into hibernation for the long Winter. Time to plan our rides for next year... Enjoy your rides. Cheers!

[mayhem8]

This is my first season with this bike. I asked the prior owner when I bought it when the oil was changed and he said it was done less than 300 miles ago. Plan was to get the season in as-is then do the maintenance in the off season. The battery going bad forced some of that to happen sooner. The plugs was probably the hardest part of what I wanted to do and it made sense to do them while I had the battery out.

Over the winter I want to replace the front fork oil, rear shock oil, gear lube, oil/filter, and the coolant. The bike was in pretty good shape when I got it and 54K on a 2003 is fairly low mileage for the year, but enough where it likely got used most every year.

[cushman eagle]

Glad to hear you invested in Iridium plugs. When you only have two wheels carrying you, and your spouse, far from home, remember those plugs, and be thankful. Our bike is a toy, which gives us sooo many hours of joy. We also rely heavily upon it, as we ride hundreds of miles from home, with only our CC and our AAA card as backup. The Voyager is an amazingly reliable bike.

We rode our 1979 Honda, two up, alone, around Lake Superior. Never had an issue, aside from the throttle grip coming off, in Thunder Bay. We glued that on, and rode the rest of our 1,935 mile tour (we were 967.5 miles from home, at the most distant point), without any bike issues. That was in 2009, when our scoot was 30 years old...

Our Voyager is now 27 years young. I try to maintain it as best as I can, within the age limitations (limited parts availability). A few extra dollars spent on plugs, is nothing. Changing all of the fluids, is cheap insurance. Replacing the battery, is relatively inexpensive, as well. I do the best that I can. Life still happens (new bikes can fail, just like older bikes...). I'm not one to sit on the porch and watch life go by. We need to be in the wind, smelling it, breathing it, feeling it. So we ride, minimizing the risks as much as possible, for me, and the Missus. On the bike, we can experience the amazing beauty of this incredible world we live in. Riding in a car, just cuts us off from nature. On the bike, we can smell it, taste it, breathe it in! What a rush, it is!

Our riding season is over. Time to put the bike into hibernation for the long Winter. Time to plan our rides for next year... Enjoy your rides. Cheers!

I am still hoping to get one more month of riding

[SgtSlag]

We have freezing rain, currently, with 3-4 inches of snow forecast for this afternoon... Sweet dreams, Voyager; we will wake you come Spring!
Cheers!