Horizons Unlimited - The HUBB - Higher capacity AGM Battery for 1VJ

I fancied one of those beefy AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) batteries. (not the same as gel battery - even better)

Only because the Odyssey AGM, comes in DELICIOUS tangerine orange, and I felt the 1VJ's under-seat area, needed a make-over. :innocent:

Okay - also because:

a) AGM batteries last forever - or at least are warrantied for 3 years

b) My bike and I find ourselves horizontal a lot of the time - and jeans with battery acid holes are soooo eighties. (AGM's don't leak)

c) AGM's don't have to be mollycoddled, kept warm, filled up and all that tedious nonsence.

ALSO -- since I want to have my hair straighteners plugged in while I travel (so they're ready to use at my first stop) I figured that I should get a 14 Amps, rather than the prescribed 12 Amps for that extra bit of juice. :thumbup1:

I was a little unprepared for the Odyssey's £80 price tag... so I decided on the spot, that TANGERINE ORANGE clashes a bit with Ténéré red, and the satin black of VARTA's AGM FUNSTART battery, would look JUST the business. (And at £40, leave me with some shopping money)

Can you IMAGINE my suprise and horror, when I found out, that in the whole of Her Majesty's Great Brittain, one could NOT find a gel / AGM battery that came in the shape of a YB12AL2 (which is what the 1VJ requires) !!! :eek3:

I tried Odessey, Varta, Yuasa, Landport and even DURACELL and nope - no one made an AGM battery, to fit the 1VJ!!!

What to do!!??

Well, being a resourceful and brilliant XT Girl, I decided that I would have one after all - and simply INSTALL IT ON ITS SIDE - since you can do that with AGMs.

I carefully measured the space -- and then bought a VARTA Funstart AGM, which would fit on its side.

Ofcourse, when it arrived, the dimensions had somehow changed, because now it wouldn't fit on its side either... but luckily I had the services of a lovely gentleman with a bending machine -- and he just bent the battery bracket a smidgeon.. (5mm each side, to be precise) .and

EH PRESTO!!! :clap:

http://xtgirls.co.uk/gel-battery-thumb.jpg

Behold the 1VJ with AGM Gel battery make-over - and it didn't even have to go in sideways!

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