MottoBatt battery has FAILED!!!

[Vincent]

[lihp]

[Vincent]

[MarJay]

[bamt]

[rubyhorse2]

well was just about to replace my battery, was considering a motobatt but after the last few posts it'll be sticking to Yuasa.

2 years is not acceptable.

[Rogerborg]

If data don't exist, and you eschew anecdotes, on what are you going to base purchasing decisions?

Marketing?
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Biking is 1/20th as dangerous as horse riding.
GONE: HN125-8, LF-250B, GPz 305, GPZ 500S, Burgman 400 // RIDING: F650GS (800 twin), Royal Enfield Bullet Electra 500 AVL, Ninja 250R because racebike

[Vincent]

[MarkJ]

Funnily enough my motobatt is on its last legs at around the 2 year mark. It does get used daily though, short journeys, year round, sat outside work in winter, heated grips on in winter. 'Normal' batteries used to last about 3 years before getting to this state with me. Unfortunately the reconditioner on my CTEK charger doesn't seem to have brought this motobatt back to life like it does with normal batteries.

However the motobatt was brilliant in my Triumph Sprint where the battery was laid on its side - no acid leaks.

I gave this motobatt a full overnight charge before putting it in the bike.

[Alpha-9]

Necro eh

Yeah I still exist

Motobatts have been great on the YBR and the XJ600, never had battery issues after changing to them

They have a higher cold crank amperage for ez starts
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Fzr-600 1999

[mentalboy]

I was (initially) a little disappointed with my Motobatt. It was sold to me upon the assurances that I 'could leave it for 3 months and it wouldn't discharge'

Sounded great as I was hopping to and from the US in 3 month stints. First time I returned from the US after a 3 month stint it was as flat as a pancake (and upon returning from every subsequent visit thereafter).
I put up with it for a little while and then went and had a friendly chat with my local supplier, he had a jolly good laugh and told me that my '12 month old battery' had been sold to me 3 years previously and that I might want to reconsider my external charging system (a slightly modified mobile phone charger)

[UrbanRacer]

Funny this thread has popped up, I have an R1 with a Motobatt that is less than a year old, it's been on an optimate all winter and I tried to start it the other day.... Its Fucked.
Seems to have charge in it but fuck all cranking power. Jump started the bike so I know bike itself is fine.

I'm going back to YUASA or going to try the AGM batteries that Ducati recommend

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

FWIW the one on the duc is 5 years old an still working.
Through winter I've been using my other bike so every couple of weeks the duc has been put on trickle charge for a day or so.
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The Harry Turner Project

[Fin]

The cheapo battery I got on ebay is great, haven't used the bike for 6 months over winter and it still has plenty of power to turn the engine over.

[woo]

i created this post ages ago and in that time i have had 2 mottobatt batteries fail and had replacements sent out to me which worked but didn't have the bike long enough to comment on the replacements

there was nothing wrong with both bikes charging systems as these were check by MH Motorcycles in bromley and confirmed the bikes all good and its the battery

the first battery on the R1 i had was my error as the R1 regulator was potatoe as was the reason for this post

the second battery was for my mates R1 which is used regular and battery died on him as i recommended these batts so after that he went back to yuasa

the third battery i fully charged over night and then installed it on the bike and left the bike over night in the garage
came out next to start bike and the battery was flat
mandp sent me a fresh one as i had to take the top cover off the dead batt and post that in to them

despite all that i went back to yuasa and am staying there


lots of people have very good results from mottobatt but as for me, in the words of Duncan bayatine.......IM OUT!
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Elen sila lummen omentielvo!

[sickpup]

Batteries have a working life and there is always a reason for premature failure. Understanding what the failure is is where there is difficulty.
As I said Earlier in this thread there is nothing particularly special about MotoBatt batteries, they are just put together with some care and attention, with this in mind they are prone to pretty much the exact same problems of every other battery manufacturer although their failures due to bad manufacture tend to be lower.

As MotoBatts tend to cost the same or as little as 10% or so more then a cheap battery I will probably stay using them, after all a DOA battery is replaced for free and I've yet to see another battery with a 2 year warranty that is so easy to claim on.

[craik]

[doggone]

Something is wrong is you think less than two years is 'good'.
I just changed mine as it was just starting to struggle at 9 years old.
Is it definitely charging properly on bike?
Maybe something is drawing current a faulty component somewhere.
Most bike batteries will struggle with reduced or no use through winter and benefit from battery tender and trickle charger weekly or on all the time is perfectly OK.

[recman]

I remember my first Motobatt lasting a very long time. It was old stock from a shop called Coburn & Hughes in Luton which closed down not long after I passed my test back in 2012.
I think I fitted the battery to the bike in 2014.
I replaced it just after the MOT in 2023.
I now keep the latest battery on a Halfords solar panel trickle charger so it should be good for many years to come.

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

[doggone]

[craik]

Thanks guys. I don't use the bike for long periods and it's mainly short journeys too, less than 10 miles which probably isn't good for battery life. I also don't put it on a maintenance charge over winter.
Having said that, the reg/rectifier unit is prone to failure on my bike (a 1980s Suzuki 650 Katana), so it's something I should look into.
As far as I recall, if revving the bike to ca 4-5K with a multimeter attached goes outside the 13.5 - 15 V range, then the reg/rec is likely the problem.
I also a few years ago changed to an LED headlight bulb which I've heard can also strain the reg/rec unit rather than using an old style filament bulb which draws more power.
Talking to other 1980s Kat owners on another forum though, they also report short Yuasa battery life of ca 2 years.

[woo]

Wow this post I posted 12 years ago is still going lol!!!
Wishing you lot all the best with whichever battery you choose, and may the battery Gods bless your charging systems with good life.
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Elen sila lummen omentielvo!