Just found out my battery is knackered despite spending the winter on an expensive battery charger/conditioner.

It's the original battery that has gone so I suppose 12 years isn't too bad.

I'm looking at replacing the standard fit OEM Jap battery with one of these -

ODYSSEY PC310 12V 310 Cranking Amps - Odyssey Batteries - Odyssey Drycell Batteries

It's an ODESSEY battery. Apparently these are the Dogs danglies? Sealed and therefore maintenance fee?

These SVR's look good too -
SVR Batteries - Motorcycle Batteries

I presume this particular model (Odessey) would fit my 1999 XT6E? For some reason every website listing XT's seems to end at 1995? Wierd because Yamaha didn't hit the stop button until 2003 or thereabouts. Obviously I don't want to get the wrong battery...

Is it worth paying the extra for one of these or not? If not what would you recommend?

I'd like to hear if you know a good supplier of Odessey batteries (cheapest as possible of course). This one does seem expensive I prefer to spend upto a ton.

Thanks chaps.
Neil

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Triumph Bonneville 800 (2004), Yamaha XT600E (1999), Honda XBR500 (1986).

How much?????!!!! That seems like alot for a bike battery.

If the original lasted 12 years, why would you want to spend 111 quid on a 'better' one?

That's true. I just like the idea of top performance. Perhaps I'm wasting money here?

Economy battery is about £30, OEM mid-range (Yasua) £60 or so. Is it worth the extra £30-40 quid?

Thanks for your valued opinion Timus.

Direct (online) Links would be helpful chaps...

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Triumph Bonneville 800 (2004), Yamaha XT600E (1999), Honda XBR500 (1986).

Get a Gel battery!
Not the gelled ones, the real Gel ones!

They are much better than even OEM..about 60quid..


BTW, how many volts should a normal charged battery have?
Mine has 12.36v right now..


Good luck!
Vando

i always go for the ones in the middle ie the Yasua does the job very well my last one lasted 5 years why spend more , do you really think you need more

I had the Odyssey on my XT600E...

Cranks over like a mother plucker. I really recommend it.

It's not maintenance free though. No battery is....

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

A fully charged battery in good condition should be hitting 12.7 to 12.8v. Your voltage suggests it's a bit flat.
Geoff

I'm a firm gel battery convert. There's a 10yr old one in my CCM which is still going strong. I'd never touched it until last year when I pulled it out to have a look at it and found it was a gel type. I put an Odyssey PC680 in my classic Lotus a few years ago and it cranks the engine over at about twice the rate. Too early to tell on longevity (3yrs at the moment) but it fired the engine up yesterday without any problems after not being touched since October. It also got my Honda CBX running in about 10 secs when the std battery just cranked and cranked until it went flat.

The 680 is about £85 (just about the same price everywhere) so I can't understand why the 310 is so much more expensive - it's only about half the size of the 680. I've got a couple of other bikes that have knackered their std batteries over the winter so I've been looking at gel replacements for them. The next level down in the pecking order after Odyssey seems to be Westco. They're a fair bit cheaper so that's probably what I'll get.

Measure up your existing battery and check it against the dimensions on the Westco site; you'll probably find something that'll be close to an exact fit. The Odysseys tend to need padding out unless you've got a lucky match.