| Author | Message | ||
     Mookie |
just a simple question, but does anyone use a battery other than the recommended buell/harley from the dealership and if so, why and what kind? | ||
| Barker |
pm froggy | ||
| Andymnelson |
Cheap ass one from Wally World. I think it has an Energizer brand on it. Works great, not worth the money to me to get anything else. Whatever you get, carefully follow the instructions for initial charge, and ALWAYS put tender on it when not riding for an extended period of time and the battery will last a long time. I've been able to get 6-7 years out of cheap batteries, and that's in MN with cold, no-riding winters. | ||
| Bumblebee |
If it's one of the models that mounts the battery on it's side make certain it's a sealed AGM or gel type. A flooded battery there would not be good at all. I have a Deka I got from Interstate battery - and put in a project XB; works fine and looks like the original-except its a different color. So far so good. The HD battery is also excellent-and costs about the same as the Deka - (Message edited by Bumblebee on May 01, 2009) | ||
| Darthane |
I have really good luck with the HD ones. My Blast is still going strong on its original battery (nearly 8 years old). The Firebolt finally kicked it last year (6 years old). ...somehow I don't see the Uly's battery lasting that long, but whenever it goes south I'll get another HD. | ||
| Froggy |
I use a battery from Speedcell. It is smaller and lighter than any lead based battery. It weights about 2lbs, and is the size of two packs of cigarettes. I got the largest size as I need the extra juice to power my goodies at idle, but most people can get away with the smaller 11oz pack, about the size of one pack of cigarettes. Oh and costs less than the big one too. Here are my comparison pics with the HD battery:    ______________________ Pwning noobs on a Buell since 2007  | ||
| Ochoa0042 |
the thing wrong with froggys choise is that buells need bigger batterys to fight off the heat coming from the bike. heat lowers the efficiency of a battery, thats why buell batterys are so large. and froggers seem to have even less casing to protect them from the heat, i'd value that part of the equation.... | ||
| Froggy |
Except that the battery is not lead based, its uses Lithium Ferrous from A123 systems, has a temperature range of -50°C to +50° (-60 to 120F). Mine passed the winter test with flying colors, cranking my XB12 in below freezing temps with no issues with the clock resetting like the stock battery. Summer is coming, its getting hotter, but so far no issues to report. ______________________ Pwning noobs on a Buell since 2007 | ||
| Icunh |
Keep us informed Froggy about the extreme heat of summer performance. I love weight savings especially up high on the bike. May think about going with the speedcell. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Bigger batteries to fight heat, say what? Guess I'll look that up. Froggy, can you show us this battery installed and provide link please. | ||
| Froggy |
Ok this is an old picture, I have since swapped tail sections on my bike and did a billion other things:  I got it directly from the guy that makes them, Josh Kauffman, speedcell@me.com ______________________ Pwning noobs on a Buell since 2007 | ||
| Barker |
how much does a batt like that go for? yours and the smaller one that will work. | ||
| Froggy |
Mine was $368.50, including shipping. The smaller battery is $160 if I remember right. ______________________ Pwning noobs on a Buell since 2007 | ||
| Iamarchangel |
Froggy: how long have you been using that battery? | ||
| Froggy |
Since December (too lazy to paste sig again) | ||
| Augustus74 |
I guess if you wanna play...you gotta pay.  | ||
| Froggy |
The cost isn't that bad. A new HD battery is about $120, but then you got an extra 11 pounds and that space hogging design. The guy that sells the Speedcell races, and he removed the stator on his bike to reduce rotating mass. He swaps batteries in between sessions so he always has a fresh charge. The cells are the same ones used in the Killacycle electric drag bike, and are going to be used in future Chrysler electric cars. The company (A123) was competing to get the contract for the battery in the Chevy Volt, but couldn't meet GM's needs. Wither you get the Speedcell or the stock HD battery, you are making a good choice. Oh yea, the Speedcell is non-toxic, you could eat it if you so desired.  ______________________ Pwning noobs on a Buell since 2007 | ||
| Ochoa0042 |
HA!!! YUM!!!  | ||
| Smiley1eye |
Froggy, you beat me to it! That Speedcell was gonna be my next upgrade! You haven't had any type of issues? Good news, you just 'green-lighted' my next purchase. | ||
| Froggy |
Only real issue I had was fitment. Because of its small size, it refuses to stay in place. Getting crafty with some cardboard and zip ties will work. | ||
| Skinstains |
Holy spaghetti Batman... | ||
| Froggy |
At least I knew what every wire did Thank you for cleaning it up, its so awkward looking under the seat. Now I have room to add more crap  | ||
| Skinstains |
Yeah, we got to get you back in one day... | ||
| Thepod |
Can you explain the scissor mod? | ||
| Froggy |
How else to you remove those extra wires coming out of the ECM? | ||
| Dynasport |
I just bought a new battery. I decided to just go with the plain old HD battery. I got five years out of the last one, so I figured it was worth the cost. | ||
| Andymnelson |
 The HD batteries really cost $120? When they go on sale, I can buy 3 of the Wally World batteries for that price! They last me plenty long, but even if their life was 1/2 that of an HD battery, I'd still be waaaay ahead... | ||
| Bumblebee |
Lithium-Ferrous batteries can really crank out the amps for starting. The downside is the capacity is very low, about 4.6 AH which is about 25% of what the stock battery has...so if your generator stops generating you will be stopping a lot sooner. The other thing that worries me is the cooling fan spin down cycle will use quite a bit if the batteries reserve if it needs to run for a while. If I was still racing THAT'S the battery I would use. It's perfect for that. | ||
| Darthane |
The new HD battery for my XB9R last summer cost me about $75...is that $120 Canadian?  | ||
| Hogs |
I just got quoted like 160.00 Plus there abouts for a stock Dealer battery plus taxes here in Eastern Canada for a xb battery... with taxes etc. maybe over 180.00 + |
