Battery

Hi Folks. My GPZ 550 battery has (when totaly disconnected from everything) 13 volts in it but dies when the starter is pressed then the solenoid clicks. Is this a dying battery and should it have more voltage to start the engine ? I am not sure how old the battery is .
Many thanks.

Check the acid level and if needed fill up the battery cells with distilled water only! One dry cell kill the starting power.

Interesting coincidence. My wife's KZ 550 LTD quit on her two days ago and we're working through the possible issues. In her case she thought it was the ignition switch so I had it all apart today to clean it and re-install. I should have started with the battery.

If you have a volt meter check your battery voltage. It should be around 13.5 volts with a fully charged and operational battery.

Check your battery fluid level. If needed, add only distilled water with an eye dropper. Be careful to avoid any spills of acid from the battery.



If the fluid level is low it could be a bad rectifier/regulator. But first you should check your alternator to ensure it's working properly. If so, you will need to check your rectifier/regulator to ensure it's charging the battery correctly.

If all of the above is still fine then check your main ground connection. It runs from the battery to the right side of the engine (black wire) where there is a screw to ground to the engine.

We've seen sudden, inexplicable battery failures on relatively new batteries that were in service for only a year or two, sometimes less, wherein good voltage is present at no load (testing with a multi-meter) but, when high current (amperage) demand occurs, such as when cranking or during a load test, the battery is unable to produce the needed amperage & voltage drops to near zero.

American-manufactured Yuasa batteries of various brands (Die Hard & Interstate come to mind from experience) were notorious for doing just that many years ago. One minute they're fine then, next minute when asked to produce enough energy to crank there'd be a muffled snap, then... dead. Wouldn't even light the headlight, but 12.8~13 volts no-load would be present when tested with a multi-meter. We finally bought a cheap HF battery load tester because of these failures.

We returned two failed YB14LA2 batteries to Yuasa USA at their request & on their nickle so they could determine the reasons for failure. In both instances a weld on an internal bus between cells had failed, such that full voltage was present but the batteries could not pass high current. It was a manufacturing QC issue. We had a half-dozen or more more Yuasa USA-manufactured batteries in our Z1's and CB750 Nighthawks that failed in the exact same manner over a period of a decade or so. We never saw a sudden failure with Japanese-sourced Yuasa batteries.

We never bought Yuasa USA-manufactured batteries again. We've never had a sudden battery failure with any of the Japanese or Taiwanese made batteries, regardless of brand. Routine battery maintenance has always been the same for decades.

With the exception of the Yuasa-USA batteries mentioned, we have always gotten 4 ~ 6 years out of a flooded wet cell battery before they begin to die a slow, predictable death.

All that is a long way to get around around to the suggestion to have your battery load tested.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

A good 12 volt battery will have ~12.8 volts engine off. The Charge voltage should be ~13.5 volts, engine running (depending upon make / model of bike) The lead acid batteries seem to have a higher failure rate than the AGM sealed batteries. I thought my 2 year old AGM battery had failed, but after closer diagnosis, it turned out that the stator was shorted, yet it charged at the proper levels. I may have replaced a good battery before I bought my AGM battery because of the stator issues. Live and learn.

Both sealed batteries . I think the NAPA battery was good.

Sorry to steal the thread but this may be relevant.

In my wife's case we went out for a ride. Her bike started with no issues. We rode about 30 miles to a local bike shop where she dickered over a DR 650 she wants to buy. I bought a new helmet. We left the shop and her bike started fine. We went down a backroad, heading towards home and I had trouble with my new helmet so we stopped where I could adjust it. When she went to restart her bike she had no lights, horn or anything else. It was like there was no power getting to anything, which made me think it was in the switch.

After getting the bike home I checked the battery...12.8 volts. But no lights, and no cranking...not eve the solenoid clicking. Fuses all checked out. So I assumed it was the switch and started pulling the gauges, etc apart to get at the switch. When I pulled it apart it looked OK. I cleaned it up and put it back together and tried it on the bike....and I had the neutral light! So I knew the switch was OK. I tried the horn and it clicked but wouldn't beep. Again, more evidence that the electrics were fine. I put the trickle charger on the battery and voila! I had lights and horn! I am now suspecting the charging system has failed somehow.

So now I have to check out the battery to see if fluid level is OK, and then move on to figure out why the battery lost its charge. That's my task for today.

On the subject of batteries, I'm shopping for a new one for my KZ1000A1. I currently have a 4 year old YB14L-A2 that has a flaky terminal. I can't get one locally, so have to order online. A replacement YB14L-A2 is available, but it ships without acid and the acid is OOS at the moment. I can either wait for it or order a sealed YTX14AHL-BS for $20-$30 more. ( Both are YUASA made in the USA). Any thoughts or alternatives?

We've been buying YB14L-A2's at either WalMart or Meijers. They come with a jug of acid in the box.

If you go that route, open the box & examine the battery carefully before purchase. We've seen used batteries in new boxes that were apparently "returned" nefariously for store credit or whatever.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE

Fluid level was very low...must have boiled off because it was checked when the bike was insured in early July. I refilled with distilled H2O but the battery will not hold a charge.

I ordered a new Bikemaster TruGel from Lockitt.com. I looked for an MF acid battery but could not find one. The old one is equivalent to a YB12A-A Yuasa. The Yuasa batteries are made in Taiwan but they get terrible reviews. The Bikemaster is made in China, which is a negative to me. But it was almost the only one available other than refillable acid.

Still have to check the alternator and voltage regulator but the bike needs to run in order to do that. I have a spare battery from my Z1B but it doesn't fit the case so I need to jumper it. Not the best thing to do but....

BCScott, I got my Z1B batteries from Lordco. Had one since 2014 and the other since 2017. Both are still good, but I take care of them....not like in the old days!!

slmjim+Z1BEBE wrote: We've been buying YB14L-A2's at either WalMart or Meijers. They come with a jug of acid in the box.

If you go that route, open the box & examine the battery carefully before purchase. We've seen used batteries in new boxes that were apparently "returned" nefariously for store credit or whatever. Good Ridin' slmjim & Z1BEBE

The Walmart description says this is a sealed AGM battery. I paid ~50 bucks on eBay for the orange AGM that I posted a pic of above. At any rate, I can see some douche sticking a junk battery into the box and returning it to the store.. Good advice to inspect ir before purchase, for sure. BTW, my Sealed AGM battery did not need any acid added, since it is a gel cel.. (absorbent glass mat)

www.walmart.com/ip/YB14L-A2-High-Perform...cle-Battery/35451176

hardrockminer wrote:
BCScott, I got my Z1B batteries from Lordco. Had one since 2014 and the other since 2017. Both are still good, but I take care of them....not like in the old days!!

Funny you should say that. After a bit of research, I decided to go with a sealed unit (YTX14AHL-BS), as Fortnine couldn't say for sure when the electrolyte would come in, but they had the AGM one in stock. I phoned the local Lordco in Invermere and they'll have one in for me at 8 AM tomorrow and with the discount for First Responders, it will be about $20 cheaper than Fortnine and I'll get it tomorrow.

slmjim & Z1BEBE thanks for the Walmart suggestion, but in Canada (where I am) they just stock Yuasa "equivalent" batteries.

BCScott wrote: slmjim & Z1BEBE thanks for the Walmart suggestion, but in Canada (where I am) they just stock Yuasa "equivalent" batteries.

Mmmm... yeah, we should clarify that.

The YB prefix seems unique to Yuasa. The MagnaPower brand that Meijers sells shows a prefix of CB, so CB14L-A2 for that. WalMart's EverStart brand is ES14L-A2. Some brands do away with the prefix altogether & simply show 14L-A2 on the case, which is the critical designation anyway. The main thing we look for is country of origin.

Our CB750 Nighthawks originally had 14-A2 batteries from the factory. The only difference between the 14-A2 and 14L-A2 is the + and - terminals are reversed on the case. Otherwise they're identical, and 14L-A2's are much more common & easier to find locally than 14-A2's. We installed longer battery cables on the Nighthawks the first time they needed new batteries to reach the reversed battery terminals on the 14L-A2's, so we would only have to stock one model of battery as spares for all our bikes except the ST1300A.

AGM batteries have come way down in price since the Nighthawks were new, so when we use the remaining flooded wet cell batteries we still have on the shelf we'll move to AGM batteries.

Good Ridin'
slmjim & Z1BEBE