buying an affordable 'generic' battery, '81 kz650

Hi folks, this will be (probably) a simple question, sorry in advance.

I need to buy a new battery for my '81 CSR kz650. I plan to go buy a generic 12 volt motorcycle battery that will fit into the battery box of the bike.

In other words I'm going to ignore the fact that the battery is not a name-match (as in '12n5-6a' or whatever), I'm simply thinking about saving a few bucks here and buying as same-size or smaller 12 volt generic motorcycle battery.

Since I have no plans to add any electrical accessories etc. can I get away with this? I can save $40 to $50 on a new battery.

Obviously I don't want to do it if my wiring harness will fry.

Any warnings/advice here?

I'm kind of tired of plunking down $75 for the model-correct battery on the older bikes I buy. 12 volts is 12 volts, and if the battery is roughly the same size, surely the amps will be similar also...?

Hello, you can usually find batteries around for cheaper sometimes autozone has good prices or somewhere like farm and home, walmart. pay attention to which side your terminals are on sometimes they are reversed. but you should beable to find a battery that will work for around $35. the cheaper batteries may not last as long, maybe 2 seasons instead of 3 or 4 with an expensive battery. you should be ok bikes without kick start will have problems before those with kickers. hope this helps!

Make sure the battery has sufficient Amp-hour rating and also cold cranking Amps. If you "undersize" on either of those, the battery won't live long.

go to wal mart with your battery,leave yours in the trunk and walk in.....go to the auto isle..type in the yr and model/make in the battery helper on the isle...buy the battery right off the shelf...take it out to the car and match it with your dead one...looks right?...then take the receipt and the dead one back in to the returns desk and get your 9 dollar core charge back...keep the new receipt in your tool box if the battery goes bad return it the will credit the months on anther battery...charge it for a 1/2 hour and ride away...mine works great...was way cheap..and the look and quality was better than a MC shops cut rate deal looked...cheap/fast/money back offer/great battery/quick drive and done /same day/....any questions??:woohoo: ...

You want to make sure that you set up the battery correctly. Once you add the acid it should have about an hour soak time before charging and then be charged at 1.5 to 2 amps for what ever time is specified in the instructions. Excessive heat on initial setup will greatly shorten battery life. I have a WalMart AGM battery that is almost 3 years old and the only thing I have done is put it on a tender when the bike has sat for a long period of time.

i just bought a battery for mine last week at a bumper to bumper store for 50 bucks and it was for my bike

trianglelaguna wrote:

go to wal mart with your battery,leave yours in the trunk and walk in.....go to the auto isle..type in the yr and model/make in the battery helper on the isle...buy the battery right off the shelf...take it out to the car and match it with your dead one...looks right?...then take the receipt and the dead one back in to the returns desk and get your 9 dollar core charge back...keep the new receipt in your tool box if the battery goes bad return it the will credit the months on anther battery...charge it for a 1/2 hour and ride away...mine works great...was way cheap..and the look and quality was better than a MC shops cut rate deal looked...cheap/fast/money back offer/great battery/quick drive and done /same day/....any questions??:woohoo: ...

I'm going to WalMart this morning! Do you think they will have my 1981 bike in their computer though?

they have em all...it may not say the exact sub model...but it will say kz 650...take your battery in the trunk....cardboard box...ect...buy the one that is for a kz650 and then go out to the car and set em side by side and read and see /match em...they had a battery in stock for all of the bikes in my fine print below when i was there...they take acid packs..included.... and on my harbor freight mini charger were ready to rock in about 30 minutes...go figure..

let us know what your results were....

i am not saying they are gonna be the "best" or the "best deal"

i am saying it was chump change and my lights are bright...the bike bangs right up...and the receipt is good for 3 yrs i think.....same day turn around, was the seller fro me

trianglelaguna wrote:

they have em all...it may not say the exact sub model...but it will say kz 650...take your battery in the trunk....cardboard box...ect...buy the one that is for a kz650 and then go out to the car and set em side by side and read and see /match em...they had a battery in stock for all of the bikes in my fine print below when i was there...they take acid packs..included.... and on my harbor freight mini charger were ready to rock in about 30 minutes...go figure..

let us know what your results were....

i am not saying they are gonna be the "best" or the "best deal"

i am saying it was chump change and my lights are bright...the bike bangs right up...and the receipt is good for 3 yrs i think.....same day turn around, was the seller fro me

Okay the story is I just got back from Walmart, thank you TL they computer is a Playstation-sized on the rack at chest level next to the batteries in the Auto aisle.

Went there selected 'motorcycle' selected 'I through L' selected 'Kawasaki' selected '1980 to 1990' selected '1981' then I just scrolled and found my bike -- all the Kz650 models use the same battery -- the computer showed 'Kz650 B - H CSR' I selected that one

battery 'ES12AA' THIRTY FIVE BUCKS with a smile from the WalMart lady and battery acid INCLUDED

Now it is a brand called 'EverStart' please dont put an N in front

Thank you TL I will be rocking with my 'new' Kz650 CSR this morning I reckon meanwhile my '79 Kz650 'SR' is still soaking in atf+acetone

will post later after I get her started for my first time

Okay I filled the new battery with acid.

The instructions say 'charge for 2 to 5 hours after filling and waiting for at least 1/2 hour.'

So I waited even longer, I waited 1 1/2 hours.

Just checked the voltage -- it reads 12.55volts.
I have not put it on my 1.5amp charger yet.


I don't want to overcharge a brand new battery!

Am I good to go here, or does this new battery need charging?

(yes this is the first time I filled a new battery myself)

Yes it still needs charging because even though it is showing 12.55 volts it only a surface charge and won't last if not fully charged. By the way Everstart batteries are made by Johnson controls the same company that makes Optima they also produce batteries for most of the major chains so they are a good quality battery. As long as you stick to the charge times in the instructions you should be fine. You just don't want to use a high amp charge because excessive heat will hurt it especially during initial setup.

dejavoodo41 wrote:

Yes it still needs charging because even though it is showing 12.55 volts it only a surface charge and won't last if not fully charged. By the way Everstart batteries are made by Johnson controls the same company that makes Optima they also produce batteries for most of the major chains so they are a good quality battery. As long as you stick to the charge times in the instructions you should be fine. You just don't want to use a high amp charge because excessive heat will hurt it especially during initial setup.

Okay man thanks for the heads up.
Sounds like a reputable vendor then.

I have a 2amp charger, a 1amp charger and a 1.5amp charger. I will go with the 1.5amp charger as the 1amp charger calls for a 3 to 7 hour charge time, while my 1.5amp will do it in 2 to 5 hours. I may stop using my 2amp charger altogether as it is the max charging amps for these small batteries apparently, and I have read that anything over 2 amps can damage them. So 2amps is too close to the edge for me.

How will I know, though, whether to charge it for 2 hours, or 3, or 4 or 5 hours? Doesn't seem right now, with battery new and its surface charge, that I can rely on the voltage reading.

Should I go for 3 hours and call it even, or is there a way to know?

Complicating things is -- this will go into a bike not run in 1 year and will take (I'm not sure yet) to start her up, might need have some 'cold cranking' ability on tap in the battery -- 3 hours you think will do it?