Annoyed! :rant:

[mogster]

Have finally admitted defeat & going to order new battery for my 2yr old bike!

Seems it's a fairly common problem with the Hinckley Triumphs.

My fella also had to get new battery for his Rocket III after 2 yrs.

The problem is that the aftermarket Datatool alarm drains the battery (happened over winter), & despite trickle charging on a regular basis we have had to jump start it a few times recently.

This means that U am losing confidence in taking the bike out (especially on my own), as there is a background anxiety of will it/won't it start.

It's a pretty poor show though that an expensive well maintained bike should require a new battery within this time.

We phoned up Triumph & they only guarantee a battery for 6 months! So take £8,500 of my Tactually fella's) money & fit a new bike with a battery unfit for purpose!

Can anyone recommend good battery for '09 1050 Speed Triple? Has to be sealed as it lies sideways + available in UK.

[Thumper]

If no one here has the answer, someone on Triumph Rat probably will...

[Wrider]

I'd say go and get one of these. Shorai Batteries
I've installed them in a couple of customers bikes and they seem very happy with them. Plus if you read reviews on them people can be super hard on them and they won't miss a beat. About twice the price of a normal battery, but supposed to last 2-5 times as long, plus it's lithium so the power lasts and lasts and lasts at a constant level that's higher than a comparable lead acid battery.

[jstark47]

Don't know if Triumph is using gel batteries..... BMW is, and there have been all kinds of problems. The biggest issue seems to be initializing the batteries, and many dealerships apparently don't know how or don't take care to do it right. The local Triumph dealership does know how - a friend recently replaced the battery on his 2002 Trophy. Not because it had a problem, just because it was 9 years old, and he was getting nervous about running a 9 year old battery. My Bonneville came from the same dealership, battery will be 6 years old next month and shows no sign of trouble.

[totalmotorcycle]

Yuasa batteries are top notch, they are the only battery brand I will buy when it REALLY matters. They are more expensive but you get what you pay for when it comes to CCA (that's cold cranking amps).

I have a aftermarket META alarm and it too drains the battery, I wish I could just cut if off, in fact, my motorcycle is up for MOT next week, maybe I'll ask them.

Mike

[mogster]

Cheers guys for advice.

I will pass on info to my in house mechanic

[agraebner]

A local battery SPECIALTY store sells lead acid, absorbed glass mat sealed and gel batteries. I have a very long running problem with them as they like to sell people stuff they don't need. The very intentionally damage new batteries knowing people will just buy another one in a year or two. The fill them and immediately charge them using a 50 amp charger. they also have no problem buying pallets of many year old still new in box batteries and re-branding date codes in them. Even reputable parts stores are sometimes hard to get good FRESH batteries from. My local NAPA store who I was a dealer for until my business was put on hold (long ugly story) often got 3 yr old batteries and didn't know how to read the codes. A gel battery in a bike with a charging system designed for it works wonderfully. Absorbed glass mat batteries are my normal recommendation as they dont over charge at normal system voltages. (true gel requires lower charging voltages) General rule, I get 6 yrs of an agm battery in my bikes. I replace them not because they are failing but they age at that point. My car and truck have a tender installed on them as they do not get regularly driven anymore. The cages go dead if not driven for a month.

[High_Side]

Yuasa batteries are top notch, they are the only battery brand I will buy when it REALLY matters. They are more expensive but you get what you pay for when it comes to CCA (that's cold cranking amps).

Mike

Bingo. 11 years on the one in my VTR 1000. I thought that it was screwed when the rectifier went so I bought a new one, only to find out that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the original battery. I sold it with the bike. Awesome quality with every one of them that I have owned.

[Tony216]

I know it is kinda old, but it seems like I can come here every six months and get caught up.

Anyway, I have the stock battery in my 2008 Speed Triple. It's a Yuasa and I put the bike on a batterytender every day. If not, it'll die in short order.