New battery for a Kawasaki ER-6N

[sapstar]

I am looking for a new battery for ER-6N 2015. I see that I need a YTX12-BS or YTX14-BS.
On my searches, I get mostly AGM batteries. Is this the right battery technology for this bike?

Is Powerline battery from Tayna batteries any good? Or should I go for Varta which is my go to choice for my car.

Went through kawasaki parts finder and it says the battery I should get is the below one. Bit confused now as with my REG I get different recommendations.

26012-0999 BATTERY,YT12A-BS,12V
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First/Current Bike - Kawasaki ER-6N

[sapstar]

Just pulled the battery out and it's a YT12A-BS and it isn't an AGM battery. Is this a safe upgrade?
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First/Current Bike - Kawasaki ER-6N

[Evil Hans]

Shouldn't be any problem with installing an AGM battery. Only downside is that they are usually a bit pricier than the equivalent standard LA.

(Unless you have a clunky old unregulated charger)
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Triumph Sprint ST 1050. And it's Red.

[Easy-X]

I went for an AGM on my XSR and it seems to like it.
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[stinkwheel]

I have them on all my bikes. The powerline ones seem fine.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[sapstar]

Thanks for all the advise. I went with a Motobatt battery. The powerline one has lower Ah and CCA compared to the Original Yuasa and Motobatt. I have added more electrical stuff to my bike like heated grips, phone charger, heated gloves etc. So didn't want to go for lower Ah.
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First/Current Bike - Kawasaki ER-6N

[Nobby the Bastard]

Amp hours are for starting. You really shouldn't exceed the capability of the charging system and rely only on your battery to power accessories....
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[sapstar]

I thought CCA (Cold Cranking Amps) was for starting and Ah is the total power draw of the devices connected in general.

My current Yuasa battery is 10.5Ah so is the new one, so not exceeding. In terms of CCA, Yuasa was 175 and motobatt is 160. I guess this is OK too.
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First/Current Bike - Kawasaki ER-6N

[sapstar]

Also have another question regarding trickle charging the battery with a maintainer. My battery charger has a "Small 12V Battery" mode which I used with the old battery. It also has an "AGM" mode. What should I be using to charge this new battery?
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First/Current Bike - Kawasaki ER-6N

[MCN]

[MCN]

[sapstar]

Don't want to invest in another charger at the moment. I have this one.
https://amzn.eu/d/1gaXbMe
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First/Current Bike - Kawasaki ER-6N

[Nobby the Bastard]

Regardless of the AH of the battery you have, if your accessories use more power than you charging system can provide you will end up with a flat battery.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[grr666]

[Islander]

The AH rating gives the energy capacity and discharge rate of the battery. CCA gives the maximum current output for short (starting) bursts.

You're fine if you've chosen an identical or higher AH figure than the original just don't go lower.

If your charger has an AGM mode then it's probably a good idea to use that although most don't distinguish between lead acid/gel/agm types and they seem to do well on standard charging and maintenance profiles.

[stinkwheel]

I've always thought the "You must use special charger because AGM" thing was a bit of an odd one. I can't think of a more lacklusture way of charging a battery than by connecting it to a motorcycle alternator. Dirty overlapping halfwaves with constantly fluctuating voltages.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[jeffyjeff]

[Nobby the Bastard]

Isn't that what the regulator does?
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[MCN]

[Islander]

A simplified view is that the rectifier turns the AC output of the alternator into DC. The regulator controls and limits (regulates) the output voltage. Smoothing is provided by the battery itself.

[Easy-X]

AGM batteries optimally require a higher charging voltage (~14.6V) vs. old skool Lead-Acid (~13.8V) so if you don't have an AGM mode on your charger it just won't charge AGM batteries to their full capacity. AFAIK undercharging batteries a little won't do them any harm.
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Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Robby]

Use the small battery setting.

That charger can output 4A. Motorcycle battery chargers generally output around 1A. 4A is too much for a ~10-14Ah battery. As a rule of thumb, you want to charge at 20% of the capacity or less.

It's also easy to overthink all of this, and chargers like that make it easy to get paranoid. A motobatt holds onto its charge very well and is typically supplied fully charged, so you could just fit it and forget it.

Traditionally, lead-acid batteries were supplied with the acid separate, or had sat on a shelf in a shop gently discharging for ages. They needed to be fully charged before use, for 6-10 hours. If you fitted a bike battery with a 50% charge, it would take several hours of riding for the bike to charge it up. That's bad for all kinds of reasons.

Don't overtighten the terminals. Use the crappy little allen key that comes with the battery, it will bend before overtightening.

[sapstar]

The charger does have a small battery setting which I think is 2A. So should work out under 20% of 10.5A.

Just fitted the motobatt and the bike came back to life. Also the battery came 100% charged.
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First/Current Bike - Kawasaki ER-6N

[sickpup]